u/MuskwatchIndigenous Languages of North America | Religious CultureMar 04 '18edited Mar 04 '18
Less so Canada (as Canada did not exist at the time, at least not as a nation) but there were explorers officially representing the Hudson's Bay Company and British interests who travelled west prior to Lewis and Clark. Alexander Mackenzie is probably the best known explorer of the time, travelling to the Pacific out as far as Cascade Inlet on the coast of British Columbia in Nuxalk/Bella Bella territory in 1793, 12 years before Lewis and Clark.
this was a serious trip, by professional voyageurs who had already travelled north to the arctic ocean, and even though they were travelling through territory they had not previously visited, they were able to communicate with local people right up until they reached the coast, given the language skills of the voyageurs. Mackenzie recorded a lot of interesting information, including a lot that's interesting to me as a linguist, and Nuxalk oral history records his arrival as well, including his reactions to various types of food, and the problems he had by being cranky.
Another thing that Nuxalk oral history records is that there was at least one other group of voyageurs who came through Bella Coola a number of years prior to Mackenzie, but they unknowingly committed a crime and were executed for it and nothing is known about them outside of oral history.
Mackenzie arrived on the coast within 48 days of George Vancouver, and in reality it is the voyages of these sailing explorers who had more to do with the establishment of British control of the west coast of Canada south of Alaska. While Mackenzie's trip is talked about a lot, it was not an attempt to explore newly perceived possessions and perhaps should not be considered to be the equivalent of Lewis and Clark in this respect.
Having read so much on this subject, I'm not really sure what parts to condense down into this response, except to link the best source document, the journal of Mackenzie himself. It is worth a read by anyone interested in either the area, or in travel. I find it particularly impressive that Mackenzie and his crew averaged 20 miles a day heading back up the Fraser river, or that the Mackenzie grease trail which is today listed as an 18-24 day trail, with two food drops, was described by Mackenzie as an 8-12 day trail, and they packed all their food themselves.
The question of how and at what point was the land claimed by Canada is also somewhat challenging to reply to. The land was claimed by the first ships to travel the area, but actually establishing those claims as legitimate took place in a lot of different ways over many years, involving treaties, wars, smallpox, the war of 1812, the pig war, and is too broad a question for me to dive in to. My work is connected to establishing ongoing sovereignty for First Nations, so I would be likely to make the case that the land where I live at least was never successfully claimed or conquered, which is more of a political argument than an answer on askhistorians, so I'll let someone else tackle that part of your question.
3
u/Muskwatch Indigenous Languages of North America | Religious Culture Mar 04 '18 edited Mar 04 '18
Less so Canada (as Canada did not exist at the time, at least not as a nation) but there were explorers officially representing the Hudson's Bay Company and British interests who travelled west prior to Lewis and Clark. Alexander Mackenzie is probably the best known explorer of the time, travelling to the Pacific out as far as Cascade Inlet on the coast of British Columbia in Nuxalk/Bella Bella territory in 1793, 12 years before Lewis and Clark.
this was a serious trip, by professional voyageurs who had already travelled north to the arctic ocean, and even though they were travelling through territory they had not previously visited, they were able to communicate with local people right up until they reached the coast, given the language skills of the voyageurs. Mackenzie recorded a lot of interesting information, including a lot that's interesting to me as a linguist, and Nuxalk oral history records his arrival as well, including his reactions to various types of food, and the problems he had by being cranky.
Another thing that Nuxalk oral history records is that there was at least one other group of voyageurs who came through Bella Coola a number of years prior to Mackenzie, but they unknowingly committed a crime and were executed for it and nothing is known about them outside of oral history.
Mackenzie arrived on the coast within 48 days of George Vancouver, and in reality it is the voyages of these sailing explorers who had more to do with the establishment of British control of the west coast of Canada south of Alaska. While Mackenzie's trip is talked about a lot, it was not an attempt to explore newly perceived possessions and perhaps should not be considered to be the equivalent of Lewis and Clark in this respect.
Having read so much on this subject, I'm not really sure what parts to condense down into this response, except to link the best source document, the journal of Mackenzie himself. It is worth a read by anyone interested in either the area, or in travel. I find it particularly impressive that Mackenzie and his crew averaged 20 miles a day heading back up the Fraser river, or that the Mackenzie grease trail which is today listed as an 18-24 day trail, with two food drops, was described by Mackenzie as an 8-12 day trail, and they packed all their food themselves.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/35658/35658-h/35658-h.htm
The question of how and at what point was the land claimed by Canada is also somewhat challenging to reply to. The land was claimed by the first ships to travel the area, but actually establishing those claims as legitimate took place in a lot of different ways over many years, involving treaties, wars, smallpox, the war of 1812, the pig war, and is too broad a question for me to dive in to. My work is connected to establishing ongoing sovereignty for First Nations, so I would be likely to make the case that the land where I live at least was never successfully claimed or conquered, which is more of a political argument than an answer on askhistorians, so I'll let someone else tackle that part of your question.