CHAPTER VI 
POLAR CANADA 
THE northern seacoast of America was first 
reached in 1771 by Samuel Hearne, who, in search 
of copper and to extend trade, attained the mouth 
of the Coppermine River. His successor, Alexan- 
der Mackenzie, reached the delta of the Mackenzie 
River in July, 1798. The tracing of the coast 
between these two isolated points was due to the 
energy of that great explorer, John Franklin, in 
two land journeys, 1819-1822 and 1825-1827 
(Franklin: “First and Second Journey to the 
Shores of Polar Ocean.” 1824 and 1828). 
Under conditions of almost insuperable difficul- 
ties and of extreme hardships, with his indomitable 
assistants George Back and John Richardson, 
Franklin from his headquarters at Fort Enterprise, 
64° 25’ N., 113° W,, filled in the coast line from 
the Coppermine east to Dease Strait, in the expe- 
dition of 1819-1822. The explorations of 182% 
were made from a station on Great Bear Lake. 
Richardson traced the unknown coast between the 
Mackenzie and the Coppermine. Franklin, work- 
ing westward from the Mackenzie, followed the 
coast to Return Reef, 149° W. Thomas Simpson 
[57]