Convinced more than ever that the North West Company — the Hudson's Bay Company's main competitor — needed a base on the Pacific coast, explorer and adventurer Alexander Mackenzie set out in 1793 with a small crew and only essential supplies to map a route to the west.

After braving rushing rapids in their specially-designed canoe, Mackenzie's group began a trek by land. Climbing from cliff to cliff, from precipice to precipice, Mackenzie and his party made their way across the mountains.

Twelve years ahead of American explorers Lewis and Clark, Mackenzie had accomplished what so many explorers had only dreamed of — he had reached the Pacific. They had logged an incredible 2,811 miles in territory never before visited by Europeans.

Watch a movie clip of Alexander Mackenzie's path to the Pacific in RealVideo.