MacKenzie, George Patton | genealogyhistory

George Patton MacKenzie (Oct. 17, 1873 - June 10, 1954)

Excerpted from an article by Francis W. Grant in The Citizen (Amherst) of July 7, 1984

George Patton MacKenzie was born at Malagash. His parents, John Roderick MacKenzie and Jean Porteous were both Scots.

He enrolled at Truro Normal School in 1895 and taught very successfully at Wallace Bridge. In 1897, he was moved to teach at Wallace, but hearing about gold in the Yukon, like so many of his generation, he set off for Dawson.

No gold was found, but he took a job with the Dawson Times. This led to a job as manager of a mine in nearby Mayo from where he returned to teaching. He was soon chosen to found the first high school and became its principal.

He moved from there in 1904 to a job as an employee in the Gold Commissioner’s office. By 1912, he became Gold Commissioner and stayed in this position until 1918. This brought him to the attention of the government in Ottawa. He was now 35 years old.

He was called to Ottawa and named Chief Executive Officer of the Yukon. In 1919, under his tenure, women in the Yukon were granted the right to vote. He was to undertake an even more important task and was soon appointed Commander of Eastern Arctic Explorations. There had been considerable concern that other countries were casting their eyes on and sending explorers to islands where Canadians had claimed title through exploring and charting. It was apparent that some countries did not recognize Canada’s claims. These claims were founded in law as Britain had claimed ownership or the Arctic and, in 1880, had passed the title to Canada of all British possessions in North America excepting Newfoundland.

Canada, lacking manpower, had sent expeditions but had established no permanent bases until 1922.

One of them was on Ellesmere Island, which was just as well as the Norwegians probably had a better claim.

One of their explorers, Sverdrup, had mapped the whole island, but the Norwegian government had no

interest, and so Canada paid $67,000 to Sverdrup and he dropped his claim

In 1923, MacKenzie became Commander of Eastern Arctic Explorations for the Canadian government.

In 1925, the government learned that Americans Byrd and MacMillan were launching an expedition to the

far north without a permit which was evidence that the US did not acknowledge Canadian sovereignty in the

far-northern area. Canada quickly arranged its own expedition with George MacKenzie as officer in charge.

They set out on July 1st.

The voyage north proved to be very difficult and dangerous because of weather and ice conditions.

Nevertheless, they met with the Americans on August 19th. An all-night meeting between the Americans

and the Canadians took place. On August 23rd, the two American ships sailed away as MacKenzie

had “clearly and emphatically” affirmed Canada’s right and title to these lands.

For the next 7 years, MacKenzie led 11 expeditions to the high Arctic. He established posts and coped with any problem that confronted him. One time, the ship he was on, the “Beothic”, was almost lost in North Greenland as the magnetic compass was useless. Drawing on his experience, MacKenzie used dynamite to blast a channel through the ice to free the vessel. In 1927, he carried Sir Frederick Banting and A.Y. Jackson and an excellent surgeon Livingstone of whom books were written. When calling at bases on the coast, the Inuit were invited aboard the ship, offered medical service and made to feel at home.

Upon his retirement, he was retained by the government as a lecturer. His love of the land and the people inspired many just as his dealings with the Inuit had made him many friends in the north.

He married Danish Opera singer Thora Bartram (Aug. 16, 1870 - Feb. 11, 1966) and set up house in Ottawa. They are buried together in Beechwood Cemetery.

His contribution to Canada was immeasurable, and it is still unknown what the Arctic will bring to this country. But without him, it is debatable whether the north would still be Canadian.