0:00:04 > 0:00:06For over two centuries, a remarkable collection of Scots
0:00:06 > 0:00:10blazed a trail into unknown corners of the world.
0:00:10 > 0:00:15Their epic journeys in the harshest of conditions helped forge nations
0:00:15 > 0:00:18and draw the maps of three continents.
0:00:19 > 0:00:24From the frozen wastes of Canada to the unseen heart of Africa
0:00:24 > 0:00:28and across the rolling oceans to the parched deserts of Australia,
0:00:28 > 0:00:31Scottish explorers have been at the forefront
0:00:31 > 0:00:35of expanding the frontiers of the world in which we live.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40This is the story of the Scottish discovery of our world.
0:00:56 > 0:00:57Canada.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01Thousands of miles of pristine forest,
0:01:01 > 0:01:04forbidding mountains and frozen wastes,
0:01:04 > 0:01:08stretching from ocean to ocean across the top of the world.
0:01:08 > 0:01:13This is a country whose history is intimately connected with Scotland -
0:01:13 > 0:01:18Canada was settled by Scots and explored by Scots.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21As a nation, it was shaped by Scots.
0:01:21 > 0:01:23The Scots sent leaders.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26Well-educated young people, energetic,
0:01:26 > 0:01:30and suddenly they arrived in this vast land
0:01:30 > 0:01:32and there was all kinds of opportunity there.
0:01:35 > 0:01:40By the end of the 18th century, only a few thousand Europeans lived here.
0:01:40 > 0:01:45Many of the first to arrive had sailed due west from Orkney.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48They crossed the Atlantic in great numbers,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51becoming trappers and merchants for gigantic fur-trading enterprises
0:01:51 > 0:01:54like the Hudson's Bay Company.
0:01:55 > 0:02:00They tried bringing Englishmen, but they didn't take so well.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04They hadn't been toughened up the way the Orcadians had,
0:02:04 > 0:02:07and if you look at the landscape of Orkney, you can see
0:02:07 > 0:02:10how it would have prepared them for the hardships
0:02:10 > 0:02:15they might find working for the Hudson's Bay Company.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17Life at these bay side posts was tough,
0:02:17 > 0:02:22even for the Orcadians, who were used to tough conditions.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26One man actually wrote home about how, during the night,
0:02:26 > 0:02:28he had rolled over in his bunk
0:02:28 > 0:02:31to lean his head against the wall while he slept.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34He awoke to his horror in the morning
0:02:34 > 0:02:37to discover his hair had frozen to the wall.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41From these cold and isolated settlements,
0:02:41 > 0:02:47Scottish traders began to explore the interior of this vast land.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51Theirs were the first Scottish footprints in Canada.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54The first tentative steps in the Scottish discovery
0:02:54 > 0:02:58of a new world that they intended to make their own.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03Soon they were being joined by their fellow countrymen.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11Thomas Douglas Selkirk, 5th Earl of Selkirk,
0:03:11 > 0:03:14was an idealistic young Aristocrat
0:03:14 > 0:03:16from St Mary's Isle, Kirkcudbrightshire.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19In 1792, he had toured the Highlands,
0:03:19 > 0:03:22which were in turmoil.
0:03:22 > 0:03:24Tenant farmers were being driven off the land
0:03:24 > 0:03:27to make way for more profitable sheep.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31Selkirk was shocked by the extreme poverty he witnessed
0:03:31 > 0:03:33and decided to dedicate his life
0:03:33 > 0:03:38and substantial fortune to helping the poor and dispossessed Scots.
0:03:41 > 0:03:42He was a dreamer.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44He wanted to do something philanthropic
0:03:44 > 0:03:50and useful for the Highlanders, and he had lots of money and ambition.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53What are you going to do?
0:03:53 > 0:03:56About the only thing you can do under those circumstances
0:03:56 > 0:04:01is try to use the money to make some kind of reputation,
0:04:01 > 0:04:08and Selkirk decided to attempt to re-colonize Scots
0:04:08 > 0:04:13and Irish who were leaving for the United States, to redirect them
0:04:13 > 0:04:17to British North America, to what is now Canada.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26'Now it is our duty to befriend these people.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28'Let us direct their immigration
0:04:28 > 0:04:31'and let them be led abroad to new possession.
0:04:31 > 0:04:36'Give them homes under our flag and they will strengthen the nation.'
0:04:36 > 0:04:41Selkirk's highlanders began making their way across the ocean.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44Well, there were a variety of reasons that Scots immigrated.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47In some cases, they were really given no choice.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50In some cases, they were actually actively encouraged -
0:04:50 > 0:04:54that is, assisted - in their emigration by landlords,
0:04:54 > 0:04:58by private land companies here or by the British Government itself.
0:04:58 > 0:05:03Selkirk believed that Canada could be the saviour of his countrymen.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06He planned a series of ambitious settlements
0:05:06 > 0:05:11in which entire Highland communities would relocate to the new world.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15He was convinced he was delivering his people to a promised land.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19This was a great attraction for people from Scotland
0:05:19 > 0:05:21in the 18th and 19th century.
0:05:21 > 0:05:26The opportunity to become an independent landowner,
0:05:26 > 0:05:30no longer beholden to anybody else
0:05:30 > 0:05:35for decisions to be made about their economic and other futures.
0:05:35 > 0:05:40In 1811, Selkirk purchased land along the Red River,
0:05:40 > 0:05:43in the modern-day province of Manitoba.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46The area was several times the size of Scotland
0:05:46 > 0:05:50and offered bountiful land for farming and settlement.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54But the Scottish settlers would not be the only people living there.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57Canada's always portrayed, or the Americas are always portrayed,
0:05:57 > 0:06:02as this place just waiting for somebody to discover it
0:06:02 > 0:06:08without any... It's like history started after the Europeans arrive,
0:06:08 > 0:06:12but this was a country that... There were lots of people here.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15You know, the territories belonged to different people.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17It was their homeland.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23The Metis - First Nations people of mixed blood -
0:06:23 > 0:06:26already inhabited this area.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30Many of the Metis people on the Red River were half Scots -
0:06:30 > 0:06:34the legacy of relations with Orcadian fur traders.
0:06:34 > 0:06:35I'm a Scottish half-breed.
0:06:35 > 0:06:41Lots of inter-marriages, so in the end, we now are Metis.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44We identify as Metis people.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50Initially, the Metis got on well with the Highlanders.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54There were some really good relationships formed.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57They were dressed poorly and they were poor people,
0:06:57 > 0:07:01and the Aboriginal people felt really sorry for them.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06But soon, the Scots ran into problems.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10As winter closed in, Selkirk's promised land
0:07:10 > 0:07:13began to look less and less promising.
0:07:13 > 0:07:15It was a terrible business getting there,
0:07:15 > 0:07:19and then once you got there, you didn't find very much.
0:07:19 > 0:07:26There was very little shelter and very little food.
0:07:26 > 0:07:32The problems were almost overwhelming for these people.
0:07:35 > 0:07:40A Hudson's Bay Company officer wrote of the settlers' misery.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42'The settlers are in a very melancholy
0:07:42 > 0:07:44'and very distressed condition.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46'What will become of these miserable people
0:07:46 > 0:07:50'and ourselves? God in heaven alone can know.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53'I look forward with horror to the long, dreadful winter.'
0:07:59 > 0:08:03And not all of the Scots' neighbours were pleased to see them.
0:08:03 > 0:08:08A dubious venture from the beginning made even more dubious
0:08:08 > 0:08:11by the fact that the North West Company
0:08:11 > 0:08:15already had a fur-trading post in the valley.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21Selkirk's new settlement was right in the middle
0:08:21 > 0:08:24of an important fur-trading route.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27The management of the North West Company,
0:08:27 > 0:08:31whose traders saw the settlement as a threat to their lucrative work,
0:08:31 > 0:08:32were not amused.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40Low supplies made the prospect of winter even worse.
0:08:40 > 0:08:45To stave off hunger, the export of nutritious buffalo meat was banned.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49But Pemerken, as it was known, sustained both the fur-traders
0:08:49 > 0:08:52and the Metis on their expeditions.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54If they couldn't take it with them,
0:08:54 > 0:08:56their way of life would be destroyed.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59This seemingly-innocuous decision
0:08:59 > 0:09:04pitted the highlanders against the fur traders and the Metis.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08It was the beginning of the battle of Scot against half-Scot
0:09:08 > 0:09:10on the edge of the known world.
0:09:12 > 0:09:17But it was also the battle of two visions of Canada -
0:09:17 > 0:09:21Selkirk's vision of ordered settlement and migration
0:09:21 > 0:09:25and the Metis people's desperate fight to remain masters
0:09:25 > 0:09:27of their own land.
0:09:27 > 0:09:29One Metis was ready to lead the fight.
0:09:32 > 0:09:37Cuthbert Grant was half-Scottish and half-Native American.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41Educated in Scotland, but with the prairie in his blood,
0:09:41 > 0:09:46he would become one of the most important leaders in Metis history.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50Mixed-blood people, we like heroes, we like bravery.
0:09:51 > 0:09:56He was very passionate, and he was very charismatic.
0:09:56 > 0:09:57He was able to lead people and...
0:10:02 > 0:10:05Very much, I guess, like the old Highland chiefs.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09He could convince people that, "OK, let's all go to war."
0:10:09 > 0:10:12He made people believe in who they were and what they had.
0:10:12 > 0:10:17# The light is finally fading
0:10:17 > 0:10:20# And so I say goodnight... #
0:10:20 > 0:10:23Grant began a guerrilla campaign to reclaim the Pemerken
0:10:23 > 0:10:27for the Metis, seizing supplies from the Red River settlement.
0:10:27 > 0:10:32On June 19th 1816, he was stopped at Seven Oaks
0:10:32 > 0:10:34by a group of Red River settlers.
0:10:34 > 0:10:40In the ensuing battle, 22 settlers were killed, along with one Metis.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42Grant led his men to Fort Douglas,
0:10:42 > 0:10:45at the heart of the Red River settlement,
0:10:45 > 0:10:47and burned it to the ground.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51The highlanders, who had hoped for a better life,
0:10:51 > 0:10:53were again evicted from their homes.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04This crushing victory was to have a profound significance
0:11:04 > 0:11:05on the Metis nation -
0:11:05 > 0:11:07their resistance to outsiders
0:11:07 > 0:11:11became a focal point for their shared identity.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18History and historians have treated Seven Oaks
0:11:18 > 0:11:24as if it were a massacre, and our people attacked these white people
0:11:24 > 0:11:29and just wiped them out, when, in fact, not knowing the history,
0:11:29 > 0:11:32that people were fighting for their land and their survival.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36People called themselves Metis long before,
0:11:36 > 0:11:40but we say that our history started in Red River.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48Cuthbert Grant went on to lead his own Metis settlement
0:11:48 > 0:11:52of over 2,000 people just west of the Red River.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55It was named Grant Town in his honour.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02But in the years since, the Metis experience in Canada
0:12:02 > 0:12:04has been a difficult one.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12# The dream has come
0:12:12 > 0:12:16# And gone... #
0:12:16 > 0:12:19Here in Point Douglas, in downtown Winnipeg,
0:12:19 > 0:12:21is where Fort Douglas once stood.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28It was at the heart of the Red River settlement.
0:12:28 > 0:12:34# The dream is back in space... #
0:12:35 > 0:12:41Today, around 40% of residents identify as Metis or Aboriginal.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46The area is home to some of the poorest families in the city.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49# The dream has come
0:12:50 > 0:12:55# And gone. #
0:13:05 > 0:13:09For Selkirk, the defeat of the settlers was a disaster.
0:13:09 > 0:13:15He had devoted most of his life and wealth to the settling of Canada.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18With mounting debts, he left Canada a broken man,
0:13:18 > 0:13:22and died just two years after the battle of Seven Oaks.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29Yet it is Selkirk's vision that has triumphed in Canada.
0:13:29 > 0:13:35After 1815, it turns out that Selkirk was on the winning side,
0:13:35 > 0:13:37rather than being a lone voice.
0:13:37 > 0:13:43Everybody joined him in supporting assisted settlement
0:13:43 > 0:13:46and immigration to British North America.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50They were coming to a place that was already inhabited,
0:13:50 > 0:13:54and they, in that respect, became agents of modernisation.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59Kildonan Cemetery, near the Red River in Winnipeg,
0:13:59 > 0:14:03is the final resting place for many of Selkirk's settlers.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07# Let us pause in life's pleasures
0:14:07 > 0:14:10# And count his many tears
0:14:10 > 0:14:17# While we all sup sorrow with the poor
0:14:18 > 0:14:23# There's a song that will linger
0:14:23 > 0:14:26# Forever in our ears
0:14:26 > 0:14:32# Oh, hard times, come again no more... #
0:14:32 > 0:14:35John McKay, one of the first settlers at Red River,
0:14:35 > 0:14:38predicted their eventual triumph.
0:14:38 > 0:14:44'You may tread with pride and wonder, o'er this ever-sacred sod,
0:14:44 > 0:14:46'but a little band of crofters
0:14:46 > 0:14:50'claimed the great, new West for God.'
0:14:50 > 0:14:55# Oh, hard times, come again no more. #
0:15:04 > 0:15:09Far beyond the Red River lay a vast, frozen wilderness.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12The High Arctic is where Scots explorers would unlock
0:15:12 > 0:15:16some of the greatest mysteries of science and geography.
0:15:16 > 0:15:21Churchill, a town on the shore of Hudson Bay in Manitoba,
0:15:21 > 0:15:24was an important trading post for the Hudson's Bay Company,
0:15:24 > 0:15:29and the site of its first permanent settlement.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31Many explorers made their way through here
0:15:31 > 0:15:34en route to the High Arctic.
0:15:34 > 0:15:39It's probably the toughest sailing you can possibly imagine.
0:15:39 > 0:15:45The passageways are narrow, they're ice-choked for much of the year.
0:15:45 > 0:15:50They have strong currents. To this day, they have uncharted reefs.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55For Europeans, the Arctic was a blank space on the map,
0:15:55 > 0:16:00but hidden here was the Holy Grail of 19th-century exploration -
0:16:00 > 0:16:04the mysterious and fabled Northwest Passage.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11Explorers of the time speculated on the existence of a sea route
0:16:11 > 0:16:16from the Atlantic to the Arctic Ocean and on to the Pacific.
0:16:16 > 0:16:21If such a route existed, it would revolutionise world trade.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27The search for the Northwest Passage had been going on for centuries.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31The whole idea was to get from Europe
0:16:31 > 0:16:37over to the riches of the Far East, of China and so forth.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40So North America at that point was conceived as something,
0:16:40 > 0:16:42"Well, this is just in the way.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45"There must be a way through from here to there
0:16:45 > 0:16:48"that's going to be much shorter."
0:16:48 > 0:16:51That would be a tremendous trade route that would save them
0:16:51 > 0:16:55a lot of time and money and that would make everybody rich.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05John Ross, from Stranraer, joined the Royal Navy
0:17:05 > 0:17:07at just nine years old.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09He spent most of the next 30 years at sea,
0:17:09 > 0:17:15serving in the Napoleonic wars and reaching the rank of commander.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19In 1818, Ross was asked to command an expedition
0:17:19 > 0:17:22to find the Northwest Passage.
0:17:22 > 0:17:24He would need all those years of experience
0:17:24 > 0:17:27as he sailed into the ice-bound Arctic.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31After several fruitless forays,
0:17:31 > 0:17:34which ended in ice-bound frustration,
0:17:34 > 0:17:37John Ross spotted something in the distance.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41'I distinctly saw the land round the bottom of the bay
0:17:41 > 0:17:43'forming a connected chain of mountains.'
0:17:45 > 0:17:47He named them Croker Mountains,
0:17:47 > 0:17:50after the secretary of the admiralty.
0:17:50 > 0:17:55The mountains meant this stretch of water could not be the passage.
0:17:55 > 0:18:00Ross turned for home, but many of his crew argued the decision.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04Not everyone had seen Croker Mountains. For good reason...
0:18:06 > 0:18:07..they didn't exist.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12The Arctic can not only play tricks on the mind,
0:18:12 > 0:18:15but can also play tricks on the eye.
0:18:15 > 0:18:20John Ross' Croker Mountains were a mirage.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22It's a mirage called Phantom Morgana,
0:18:22 > 0:18:26where it looks as though there are mountains
0:18:26 > 0:18:28in the distance on sunny days.
0:18:30 > 0:18:35The imaginary mountains cost John Ross his reputation,
0:18:35 > 0:18:38and his distinguished career was ruined.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40The illusion of Croker Mountains
0:18:40 > 0:18:43haunted him for the rest of his life.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48But the family reputation would be restored
0:18:48 > 0:18:51by John Ross' nephew, James,
0:18:51 > 0:18:54who was to become the most experienced Royal Navy officer
0:18:54 > 0:18:56in Arctic exploration.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59He was also admired as its most handsome officer.
0:19:06 > 0:19:11In 1831, Commander James Clark Ross set out on a mission
0:19:11 > 0:19:16to find the location of the North Magnetic Pole.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20If he could find it, he could revolutionise maritime navigation.
0:19:20 > 0:19:26A magnetic compass was one of the main instruments used in navigation.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29But a compass does not point exactly north.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33It points instead to the North Magnetic Pole.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35The difference between magnetic north
0:19:35 > 0:19:39and true north meant that sailors were not able to use a compass
0:19:39 > 0:19:42to navigate precisely in unknown lands.
0:19:44 > 0:19:49The actual magnetic field of the Earth is a small force.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52Something we can't necessarily feel it ourselves,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55but it's enough to tamper with instruments,
0:19:55 > 0:19:58affect electrical transmissions.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01But if the magnetic north could be found,
0:20:01 > 0:20:05mariners would be able to calculate the difference between the two poles
0:20:05 > 0:20:08and allow ships sailing in any part of the world
0:20:08 > 0:20:11to better fix their position.
0:20:11 > 0:20:12From a Churchill standpoint,
0:20:12 > 0:20:15we have a lot of ships navigating in and out of the bay,
0:20:15 > 0:20:18which is important to the economy here,
0:20:18 > 0:20:21and obviously understanding the Magnetic North Pole
0:20:21 > 0:20:23is a big part of navigation.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38Whilst sailing through treacherous channels, Ross' ship, the Victory,
0:20:38 > 0:20:40became trapped in ice.
0:20:40 > 0:20:45Spring turned to summer, and then quickly to winter.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48Valiant attempts were made to break free,
0:20:48 > 0:20:51resulting in nothing more than soul-destroying voyages
0:20:51 > 0:20:55of three or four miles before being frozen in again.
0:20:55 > 0:21:01'Today was as yesterday, and as was today, so would be tomorrow.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04'To us, the sight of the ice was a plague, a vexation,
0:21:04 > 0:21:08'a torment, an evil, a matter of despair.'
0:21:10 > 0:21:15We also get in the Arctic multi-winter ice.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19Multi-winter sea ice is ice that doesn't thaw in the summer.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22It keeps growing in thickness.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25It can be as much as seven metres thick.
0:21:26 > 0:21:31And it has a hardness about the same as reinforced concrete.
0:21:31 > 0:21:36He knew what he was doing to have survived that many winters there.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40Life on board a ship that's locked in the ice
0:21:40 > 0:21:44is an exercise in terror and boredom combined together.
0:21:44 > 0:21:49You know the ice around you can close essentially at any minute
0:21:49 > 0:21:50and crush your ship.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54There's no-one for hundreds or even thousands of kilometres
0:21:54 > 0:21:58in any direction, and you know no rescue is possible.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05In his second year trapped in the ice,
0:22:05 > 0:22:07Ross led his men to try and locate
0:22:07 > 0:22:09the position of the North Magnetic Pole.
0:22:13 > 0:22:18Using a dip circle - an instrument that calculates magnetic fields -
0:22:18 > 0:22:20Ross searched for a point in the frozen landscape
0:22:20 > 0:22:25where the needle of the dip circle would point vertically downwards.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28Ross and his men made a series of sledge journeys
0:22:28 > 0:22:32hundreds of miles north in severe cold and rough ice.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36Men suffered frostbite, fatigue and snow-blindness.
0:22:36 > 0:22:41But, at eight in the morning on 1st June 1831,
0:22:41 > 0:22:44the needle sank towards the snow.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47'I believe I must leave it to others to imagine the elation of mind
0:22:47 > 0:22:50'with which we found ourselves now at length arrived
0:22:50 > 0:22:52'at this great object of our ambition.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55'It almost seemed as if we had accomplished everything
0:22:55 > 0:22:58'that we had come so far to see and do.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02'As if our voyage and all its labours were at an end
0:23:02 > 0:23:04'and that nothing now remained for us
0:23:04 > 0:23:08'but to return home and be happy for the rest of our days.'
0:23:08 > 0:23:10The measurements showed that
0:23:10 > 0:23:14the Magnetic North Pole was beneath Ross' feet.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18Ross stood on the verge of revolutionising navigation.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21The crucial discrepancy between the magnetic north
0:23:21 > 0:23:26and true north could now be factored into charts all over the world.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29James Clark Ross and the crew of the Victory
0:23:29 > 0:23:33had also survived four winters in the Arctic -
0:23:33 > 0:23:36an unheard-of feat for Europeans.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39He returned to Britain a hero.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42But a greater mystery remained -
0:23:42 > 0:23:45the whereabouts of the Northwest Passage,
0:23:45 > 0:23:47the route that would turn the Canadian Arctic
0:23:47 > 0:23:50into a highway of trade and riches.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59The Hudson's Bay Company had devised their own plan
0:23:59 > 0:24:01to find the Northwest Passage,
0:24:01 > 0:24:04and they chose a doctor from Orkney to lead the way.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09John Rae was born in Orphir in 1813.
0:24:09 > 0:24:10By his mid-30s,
0:24:10 > 0:24:14he'd become one of the most respected explorers in the Arctic.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17George Simpson - the venerable Scot
0:24:17 > 0:24:19in charge of the Hudson's Bay Company -
0:24:19 > 0:24:23believed that only Rae possessed the unique combination of skills
0:24:23 > 0:24:24the mission required.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29'We look confidently to you for the solution of what may be deemed
0:24:29 > 0:24:33'the final problem in the geography of the northern hemisphere.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36'For almost the world expects the final settlement of the question
0:24:36 > 0:24:41'that has occupied the attention of our country for 200 years.'
0:24:42 > 0:24:47As a young boy, Rae learned to sail small boats and to shoot.
0:24:47 > 0:24:49He explored the hills and moors
0:24:49 > 0:24:52and climbed the rocks on the sea cliffs of Orkney.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58He qualified as a surgeon at the University of Edinburgh aged 19,
0:24:58 > 0:25:02and in 1833 took up a summer job as a doctor
0:25:02 > 0:25:05on one of the Hudson's Bay Company ships.
0:25:07 > 0:25:12For ten years, his work as a surgeon took him across the vast lands
0:25:12 > 0:25:15controlled by the company. He learned local methods
0:25:15 > 0:25:19of travelling and hunting from aboriginal people.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23He became an expert snowshoer,
0:25:23 > 0:25:27and once walked 1,000 miles to treat an injured Inuit man.
0:25:27 > 0:25:32This feat earned him the Inuit nickname Aglooka -
0:25:32 > 0:25:35he who takes long strides.
0:25:37 > 0:25:42This was a man who adapted to the conditions here,
0:25:42 > 0:25:47and knowing what it's like to live in this area, it is just amazing.
0:25:47 > 0:25:52It's not impossible to survive here - that's one of the things.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55While this landscape looks hard and bleak
0:25:55 > 0:25:58and almost inhospitable to life,
0:25:58 > 0:26:01if you know where to look, life abounds in the Arctic.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04You just have to know how to live off this land.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17One of the things Rae had
0:26:17 > 0:26:20was an incredible relationship with the Inuit people.
0:26:20 > 0:26:24He had an incredible relationship with all aboriginal peoples,
0:26:24 > 0:26:27and there's a wonderful portrait of Rae
0:26:27 > 0:26:32in which he is dressed in a variety of aboriginal dress,
0:26:32 > 0:26:36and I know purists has kind of said, "Well, that's kind of strange.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40"He's got Inuit footwear on and he's got Cree leggings,
0:26:40 > 0:26:44"and it's all confused," and that was Rae's precise point.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47He was a friend of the aboriginal people generally.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51'I have had some opportunities of studying Eskimo character,
0:26:51 > 0:26:53'and from what I have seen, I consider them
0:26:53 > 0:26:56'superior to all the tribes of the Red Men in America.
0:26:56 > 0:26:58'In their domestic relationship,
0:26:58 > 0:27:01'they show a bright example to the most civilised people.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05'They are dutiful sons and daughters, kind brothers and sisters
0:27:05 > 0:27:07'and most affectionate parents.'
0:27:07 > 0:27:13The Inuit tradition of using dog teams was also adopted by Rae.
0:27:13 > 0:27:17For some, that tradition is as important today as it was then.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21Well, in the 1800s, that's all they had back then was the dog team,
0:27:21 > 0:27:23and for them to travel
0:27:23 > 0:27:29out in the land the way they do up here,
0:27:29 > 0:27:32dogs were the best suited for that terrain.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35And, without their dogs, a lot of them would perish,
0:27:35 > 0:27:38because they couldn't make it to the next stop
0:27:38 > 0:27:39with all their freight and stuff.
0:27:39 > 0:27:44So, the dogs were depended on very heavily to carry supplies
0:27:44 > 0:27:48and carry the mail and all those types of things.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54Hup-hup-hup! Good dogs!
0:27:54 > 0:27:56Good doggies. Let's go. Hup-hup!
0:27:59 > 0:28:02It's a freedom that I can't find anywhere else.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06When you're on the back of a dog team and they're running down a trail
0:28:06 > 0:28:09and they're all just doing their jobs,
0:28:09 > 0:28:12it's just beautiful to watch them do what they love to do.
0:28:12 > 0:28:13They love to run,
0:28:13 > 0:28:17and I'm just the lucky fella who gets to see them work.
0:28:37 > 0:28:41If you take the time to listen to the local people where you go,
0:28:41 > 0:28:45they've learned to survive in the climates that they lived in,
0:28:45 > 0:28:47and it's no different here in the north.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54When we go from here up north
0:28:54 > 0:28:57to where the Inuit people live,
0:28:57 > 0:29:01we take their advice and we listen to what they tell us.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05Because out there is their land, and they know how to survive out there.
0:29:14 > 0:29:18John Rae's talents would soon be tested to the limits,
0:29:18 > 0:29:19and he would soon be looking for
0:29:19 > 0:29:21more than just a way through the ice.
0:29:25 > 0:29:30The Royal Navy was determined to be the first to find the passage.
0:29:30 > 0:29:32In 1845, it had put together
0:29:32 > 0:29:37an expedition on two steam-powered ships - the Erebus and the Terror.
0:29:39 > 0:29:43The hull of each ship was reinforced with steel
0:29:43 > 0:29:46to withstand the crushing pressure of the ice.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51The expedition consisted of 128 men,
0:29:51 > 0:29:53and was lavishly supplied with food and drink
0:29:53 > 0:29:56from Fortnum and Mason, among others.
0:29:57 > 0:29:58There were 1,200 books
0:29:58 > 0:30:02for the men to while away the hours with on board.
0:30:02 > 0:30:07Their leader was Sir John Franklin - a respected Arctic veteran.
0:30:07 > 0:30:13It was the most extravagant and expensive expedition Britain had ever seen.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16A nation expected.
0:30:16 > 0:30:18Explorers had by then established -
0:30:18 > 0:30:21"OK, you can come in here from the Atlantic
0:30:21 > 0:30:25"and you can come in or go out here from the Pacific",
0:30:25 > 0:30:28so when Franklin sailed in 1845,
0:30:28 > 0:30:31they thought he was going to simply link those two channels
0:30:31 > 0:30:35and emerge into the Pacific trailing clouds of glory.
0:30:36 > 0:30:39But instead of glory, there was silence.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43Nothing was heard for months.
0:30:44 > 0:30:46Then years.
0:30:51 > 0:30:56These guys sailed in and they bring their world with them on the ship,
0:30:56 > 0:31:01but it's not like today - you've got a GPS, you've got a satellite radio,
0:31:01 > 0:31:06and you can phone home and say, "This is what's happening today",
0:31:06 > 0:31:10or you can text a message - no, no!
0:31:10 > 0:31:16When you sailed into the North, you were gone and you were completely out of contact,
0:31:16 > 0:31:20so try to imagine what that world was like then.
0:31:20 > 0:31:25I mean you're shut into a world all by yourself and there's hardship.
0:31:25 > 0:31:30You know, you trek out into that white howling wildness,
0:31:30 > 0:31:36you'd better believe in the man who's leading you,
0:31:36 > 0:31:38that he knows what he's doing.
0:31:39 > 0:31:41Franklin had vanished.
0:31:42 > 0:31:46As well as finding the Northwest Passage,
0:31:46 > 0:31:49John Rae was now asked to find the Franklin expedition.
0:31:49 > 0:31:53But Rae wouldn't need hundreds of men, nor Fortnum and Mason,
0:31:53 > 0:31:55to survive in this brutal landscape.
0:31:55 > 0:31:58He and a small party of men would winter north of the tree line
0:31:58 > 0:32:00and survive by living off the land.
0:32:00 > 0:32:05It would be a test of strength and spirit, of mind and body.
0:32:05 > 0:32:09The landscape does have a tendency to make one feel very small,
0:32:09 > 0:32:11especially if you're in it by yourself.
0:32:11 > 0:32:16You really do get a sense that you're almost alone in the world.
0:32:16 > 0:32:23The silence, especially on a still night, is almost deafening
0:32:23 > 0:32:27and the Northern Lights, I wonder if it was very comforting for them,
0:32:27 > 0:32:33because they're an absolutely unearthly beautiful phenomenon
0:32:33 > 0:32:37but they can definitely be unnerving to those that aren't familiar with them.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44But John Rae was looking forward to the challenge.
0:32:45 > 0:32:49'The novelty of our route and our intended mode of operations
0:32:49 > 0:32:51'had a strong charm for me
0:32:51 > 0:32:55'and gave me an excitement which I could not otherwise have felt.'
0:32:58 > 0:33:03John Rae and his men pushed further and further into uncharted territory.
0:33:03 > 0:33:05While exploring King William Island,
0:33:05 > 0:33:09nine years after the Franklin expedition had left London,
0:33:09 > 0:33:11Rae made contact with local Inuit,
0:33:11 > 0:33:15who were carrying relics from Franklin's ships.
0:33:15 > 0:33:17They gave shocking eyewitness accounts
0:33:17 > 0:33:19of the fate of the lost expedition.
0:33:19 > 0:33:24By chance, he encountered an Inuit, an Inuk,
0:33:24 > 0:33:27who was wearing a cap band,
0:33:27 > 0:33:30that he looked at and that looks kind of strange
0:33:30 > 0:33:33and he talked to him and said, "Well, where did you get that?"
0:33:33 > 0:33:36and it came from the Franklin expedition.
0:33:36 > 0:33:38And they also had the stories
0:33:38 > 0:33:41because they had observed what happened at a distance.
0:33:41 > 0:33:46So these sailors pulling boats and sleds loaded with goods
0:33:46 > 0:33:49across the ice in a pitiful condition
0:33:49 > 0:33:51and that they found the bodies, the graves,
0:33:51 > 0:33:55and even the contents of the kettles
0:33:55 > 0:34:02that suggested that the last pitiful survivors actually resorted to cannibalism of the dead.
0:34:06 > 0:34:10John Rae pieced together what had happened to the expedition.
0:34:10 > 0:34:13The ships had become trapped in ice.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16Franklin had died in the second winter
0:34:16 > 0:34:18and his crew had taken to land,
0:34:18 > 0:34:21desperately hauling two-tonne lifeboats.
0:34:21 > 0:34:24These remaining men ate the bodies of their dead comrades
0:34:24 > 0:34:28in a desperate, futile bid to stay alive.
0:34:29 > 0:34:34The horror of seeing their ships go down or having to evacuate them.
0:34:34 > 0:34:37It must have been almost overwhelming,
0:34:37 > 0:34:42and the ice finally closed in on them off King William Island.
0:34:42 > 0:34:46They were done for - crushed and have never been found.
0:34:46 > 0:34:51Today, Parks Canada still is looking for the Terror and the Erebus
0:34:51 > 0:34:52and we still haven't found them.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55As well as bringing home news about Franklin,
0:34:55 > 0:34:57Rae had other earth-shattering news.
0:35:00 > 0:35:05On May 6th 1854, through fierce winds and heavy blowing snow,
0:35:05 > 0:35:10John Rae had forced his way north along the Boothia Peninsular.
0:35:10 > 0:35:15He noticed that where his charts indicated he should see land,
0:35:15 > 0:35:17he saw instead a frozen channel.
0:35:18 > 0:35:23The channel consisted of young ice, which could melt in the summer,
0:35:23 > 0:35:26and if it could melt, then this was not land
0:35:26 > 0:35:29but it was actually a sea passage -
0:35:29 > 0:35:32the Northwest Passage.
0:35:38 > 0:35:45John Rae in my view is the most underrated but most successful
0:35:45 > 0:35:48and most admirable of all the Arctic explorers.
0:35:48 > 0:35:52He was the greatest explorer of the 19th century.
0:35:52 > 0:35:57He was the one who solved the two great mysteries of Arctic exploration of the time.
0:35:57 > 0:36:01Number one - he discovered the final link in the Northwest Passage,
0:36:01 > 0:36:04and number two - he discovered the fate of the Franklin expedition.
0:36:08 > 0:36:12In just eight years, John Rae had travelled thousands of miles
0:36:12 > 0:36:15in the Arctic, on foot and in small boats.
0:36:19 > 0:36:22He had charted hundreds of miles of unknown coastline
0:36:22 > 0:36:27and he had solved the greatest mystery of 19th century exploration.
0:36:32 > 0:36:36John Rae had been tested under extreme conditions
0:36:36 > 0:36:39in one of the most unforgiving parts of the world,
0:36:39 > 0:36:44yet he was about to face the most difficult ordeal of his life.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49Rae knew his report to the admiralty on the fate of Franklin
0:36:49 > 0:36:51contained shocking news.
0:36:51 > 0:36:56News that would be difficult for the Royal Navy to accept.
0:36:56 > 0:37:01When he arrived in London, his report had already been leaked to The Times.
0:37:02 > 0:37:05Franklin's widow, Lady Jane Franklin,
0:37:05 > 0:37:08was distraught at her husband's disappearance,
0:37:08 > 0:37:12and she refused to accept that his men had resorted to cannibalism.
0:37:13 > 0:37:17She enlisted the aid of Charles Dickens,
0:37:17 > 0:37:22who was the, you know... He was leading author of the age,
0:37:22 > 0:37:25writing great long screeds,
0:37:25 > 0:37:30calling into question Rae's version of events and the Inuit people.
0:37:31 > 0:37:35'The word of a savage is not to be taken for cannibalism.
0:37:35 > 0:37:39'Firstly because he is a liar. Secondly because he is a boaster.
0:37:39 > 0:37:41'Thirdly because he talks figuratively.
0:37:41 > 0:37:45'Even the sight of cooked and dissevered human bodies
0:37:45 > 0:37:48'among this or that tattooed tribe is not proof.'
0:37:50 > 0:37:54Rae was vilified for believing the Inuit people,
0:37:54 > 0:37:56but he stood firm.
0:37:59 > 0:38:03'That 20 or 25 Eskimo could for two months together
0:38:03 > 0:38:08'continue to repeat the same story without variation on any material point
0:38:08 > 0:38:13'and adhere firmly to it, in spite of all sorts of cross-questioning,
0:38:13 > 0:38:16'is to me the clearest proof that the information they gave me
0:38:16 > 0:38:19'was founded on fact.'
0:38:21 > 0:38:23But the British public could not believe
0:38:23 > 0:38:29that God-fearing men of the Royal Navy would resort to such barbarism.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36Every crew member of Franklin's ships received a posthumous knighthood.
0:38:39 > 0:38:42A statue of Franklin, approved by the House of Commons,
0:38:42 > 0:38:45stands in Waterloo Place in London.
0:38:45 > 0:38:49It claims that he found the Northwest Passage.
0:38:51 > 0:38:55I remember, I caught the train into London
0:38:55 > 0:39:00and went to Waterloo Place and there was this statue of Franklin
0:39:00 > 0:39:04and I remember the sense of outrage I felt,
0:39:04 > 0:39:06you know, slapping my head,
0:39:06 > 0:39:11because Franklin was being hailed on this statue as the discoverer of the Northwest Passage
0:39:11 > 0:39:16and to me it's obviously still a wrong that should be righted.
0:39:16 > 0:39:20I mean, it should be a statue of John Rae standing there.
0:39:21 > 0:39:26Rae never wavered from his belief in the Inuit accounts of the Franklin expedition.
0:39:26 > 0:39:29His reputation never recovered.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32His immense achievement of discovering the last link
0:39:32 > 0:39:37in the Northwest Passage was for decades airbrushed from history.
0:39:37 > 0:39:43Rae was laid to rest in St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall in 1893.
0:39:43 > 0:39:47Ten years after his death, Norwegian explorer Roald Adamson
0:39:47 > 0:39:51was the first to successfully navigate the Northwest Passage
0:39:51 > 0:39:54through the strait that now bears John Rae's name.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59John Rae's discovery of the Northwest Passage
0:39:59 > 0:40:02had solved one of the greatest mysteries in exploration.
0:40:02 > 0:40:06But much of Canada's land was still uncharted.
0:40:09 > 0:40:13Across the Pacific, the riches of the Orient awaited,
0:40:13 > 0:40:18along with the possibility of exporting furs to a new and lucrative market.
0:40:18 > 0:40:23Scottish explorers were given the task of charting these new routes.
0:40:25 > 0:40:27They were looking for a route to the sea
0:40:27 > 0:40:32because that would cut off this 4,000km trip that they had to make
0:40:32 > 0:40:36with their furs and their trade goods each year.
0:40:36 > 0:40:42Alexander Mackenzie from Stornoway was confident that he was the man for the job.
0:40:42 > 0:40:47'Being endowed by nature with an inquisitive mind and enterprising spirit,
0:40:47 > 0:40:52'possessing also a constitution and frame of body equal to the most arduous undertakings,
0:40:52 > 0:40:59'I not only contemplated the practicability of penetrating across the continent of America
0:40:59 > 0:41:01'but was confident in the qualifications
0:41:01 > 0:41:06'as I was animated by the desire to undertake the perilous enterprise.'
0:41:08 > 0:41:10Mackenzie was fearless.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13A high spirited and innovative explorer,
0:41:13 > 0:41:19he had travelled far and wide in the service of the North West Company for ten years.
0:41:19 > 0:41:25The journey he embarked upon in 1792 would make him a hero of modern Canada.
0:41:25 > 0:41:31There were thousands of miles standing between Mackenzie and his goal of the Pacific ocean.
0:41:31 > 0:41:35Miles of dense uncharted forest, raging rivers,
0:41:35 > 0:41:38and the formidable Rocky Mountains.
0:41:42 > 0:41:47Mackenzie and his men battled raging rapids in their flimsy birch bark canoes.
0:41:47 > 0:41:53'The toil of our navigation was incessant and oftentimes extreme,
0:41:53 > 0:41:57'and in our progress over land, we had no protection from the severity
0:41:57 > 0:42:01'of the elements and possessed no accommodations or conveniences,
0:42:01 > 0:42:05'but such as could be contained on the burden on our shoulders.'
0:42:07 > 0:42:10Mackenzie's route eventually led him to descend the deep gorge
0:42:10 > 0:42:15of the turbulent river where he encountered indigenous villagers.
0:42:15 > 0:42:17Following their directions,
0:42:17 > 0:42:19Mackenzie's party continued down river.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25"I could perceive the termination of the river
0:42:25 > 0:42:31"and its discharge into the narrow arm of the sea."
0:42:31 > 0:42:35The narrow arm of the sea was the Pacific Ocean.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38Mackenzie had completed the first trans-continental crossing
0:42:38 > 0:42:40of North America north of Mexico.
0:42:42 > 0:42:46He had travelled thousands of miles to reach the Pacific.
0:42:46 > 0:42:50But despite this triumph his employers were unimpressed.
0:42:50 > 0:42:54His route was too difficult to be a useful highway for fur traders.
0:43:09 > 0:43:13Simon Fraser thought he could do better.
0:43:13 > 0:43:15Fraser's parents were highlanders who fled to Canada
0:43:15 > 0:43:20from the United States after the War of Independence.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23Their enterprising son prospered in their new home
0:43:23 > 0:43:27rising from a humble clerk to full partner in the North West Company.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31Fraser was an abrasive and ambitious man.
0:43:31 > 0:43:33He possessed great physical courage
0:43:33 > 0:43:37and had little time for his illustrious fellow Scot.
0:43:37 > 0:43:41Fraser delighted in noting omissions in Mackenzie's journal.
0:43:45 > 0:43:48"The fact that Trout Lake is a considerable large
0:43:48 > 0:43:50"and navigable river in all seasons
0:43:50 > 0:43:53"it does not appear to have been noticed by Sir AMK.
0:43:53 > 0:43:56"Likely he did not see it
0:43:56 > 0:44:00"and I can account for many other omissions in his journal."
0:44:02 > 0:44:05Frazer certainly did not think a great deal of Mackenzie.
0:44:05 > 0:44:09He makes a number of disparaging remarks about him
0:44:09 > 0:44:14in his journal for example when he found the back river which
0:44:14 > 0:44:19led him up to the place where he founded Fort Macleod,
0:44:19 > 0:44:22the first permanent European settlement west of the Rockies
0:44:22 > 0:44:25north of the California Spanish settlements,
0:44:25 > 0:44:27he has a little note in his journal
0:44:27 > 0:44:31that the great man must have been asleep when he went past.
0:44:31 > 0:44:34But there were more important matters at hand
0:44:34 > 0:44:37then a petty feud between explorers.
0:44:37 > 0:44:39Alexander Mackenzie's journal had been read
0:44:39 > 0:44:42by US President Thomas Jefferson
0:44:42 > 0:44:46who was impressed by the commercial possibilities of the Pacific coast.
0:44:46 > 0:44:50He wanted to claim it for the United States.
0:44:50 > 0:44:53In this part of the world exploration was part of the battle
0:44:53 > 0:44:55between competing empires.
0:44:57 > 0:45:01The context of their engagement as explorers
0:45:01 > 0:45:05was with British-based commerce and industry,
0:45:05 > 0:45:09and I think that British-based military activity.
0:45:09 > 0:45:13So while the Scots played a disproportionate role
0:45:13 > 0:45:16which no-one will deny in these kind of enterprises,
0:45:16 > 0:45:21they were still participants, conscious participants,
0:45:21 > 0:45:22in a British enterprise.
0:45:25 > 0:45:26The race for the west was on.
0:45:29 > 0:45:35Fraser was in the middle of the continent working with the North West Company
0:45:35 > 0:45:39when he was given a message that he was to cross the Rocky Mountains
0:45:39 > 0:45:42and conclude the exploration
0:45:42 > 0:45:45that had been begun by Alexander Mackenzie.
0:45:45 > 0:45:47Fraser and his men found themselves riding
0:45:47 > 0:45:51on one of the most turbulent rivers in North America.
0:45:51 > 0:45:54Often the river became so perilous that he was forced
0:45:54 > 0:45:57to hack foot holes into the cliffs rather than paddle through.
0:45:59 > 0:46:02"We had to pass where no human being should venture for surely
0:46:02 > 0:46:04"we have entered the gates of hell.
0:46:04 > 0:46:08"Our situation is critical and highly unpleasant, however,
0:46:08 > 0:46:11"we shall endeavour to make the best of it.
0:46:11 > 0:46:13"What can not be cured must be endured."
0:46:15 > 0:46:19When Fraser tasted salt in the air he knew he was close to the ocean
0:46:19 > 0:46:23and to forging a viable trade route to the Pacific
0:46:23 > 0:46:27but the atmosphere in this new country was hostile.
0:46:27 > 0:46:31The indigenous people were plainly not pleased to see him.
0:46:33 > 0:46:36"Here we are in a strange country surrounded with dangers
0:46:36 > 0:46:40"and difficulties among numberless tribes of savages
0:46:40 > 0:46:42"who never saw the face of a white man.
0:46:42 > 0:46:44"The Indians advised us
0:46:44 > 0:46:48"not to advance any further as the natives of the coast the islanders
0:46:48 > 0:46:49"were at war with them
0:46:49 > 0:46:53"and being very malicious they would destroy us."
0:46:53 > 0:46:57There would have been First Nations villages up and down the river.
0:46:57 > 0:47:02It was here that he first began to experience some conflict.
0:47:02 > 0:47:06Now this region at that particular time seems to have been
0:47:06 > 0:47:08in a state of warfare.
0:47:08 > 0:47:11Fraser's canoes had been damaged.
0:47:11 > 0:47:12He asked a local chief
0:47:12 > 0:47:15if he could borrow a boat to complete his journey.
0:47:15 > 0:47:17But with tensions in the region running high
0:47:17 > 0:47:21this was a bad time to ask for a favour and he was refused.
0:47:21 > 0:47:25"The chief made us understand that he was the greatest of his nation
0:47:25 > 0:47:27"and equal in power to the sun.
0:47:27 > 0:47:31"However, as we could not go without we persisted."
0:47:31 > 0:47:35Fraser ignoring the refusal took a canoe anyway. It was a gamble.
0:47:35 > 0:47:39He needed transport but he also needed First Nations People
0:47:39 > 0:47:42to negotiate a way through the communities on the coast.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45Without this help he was at the mercy of hostile tribes
0:47:45 > 0:47:47like the Musqueam.
0:47:48 > 0:47:51This is the mouth of Musqueam Creek.
0:47:51 > 0:47:55This is one of the most historically significant places in British Columbia.
0:47:55 > 0:47:59This is where Simon Fraser had his meeting with
0:47:59 > 0:48:02and confrontation with the Musqueam warriors.
0:48:02 > 0:48:07He had come down the river at high tide just like this.
0:48:07 > 0:48:10He'd taken his canoe up this small creek
0:48:10 > 0:48:12and there was a lagoon in the back.
0:48:12 > 0:48:14There was fighting going on at the time
0:48:14 > 0:48:18and the warriors seeing a strange canoe had came out making
0:48:18 > 0:48:21a loud noise and banging their weapons.
0:48:21 > 0:48:25Fraser and his crew grabbed their canoe
0:48:25 > 0:48:30and hustled it down to the beach here and came back out.
0:48:30 > 0:48:33They were able to stay out in the current here
0:48:33 > 0:48:35and the Musqueam's were restricted to the shore.
0:48:35 > 0:48:39They were fearful of being massacred by the hostile reception
0:48:39 > 0:48:41they'd received here in Musqueam.
0:48:47 > 0:48:54Fraser had no choice. The hostile Musqueam blocked his path.
0:48:54 > 0:48:57Within sight of the ocean he had to turn back.
0:48:57 > 0:49:01Musqueam marked the end of Fraser's incredible journey.
0:49:01 > 0:49:03He was hugely frustrated.
0:49:03 > 0:49:06He could see the Pacific but he could not reach the open ocean.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11"I must acknowledge my great disappointment in not seeing
0:49:11 > 0:49:18"the main ocean having gone so near it as to almost have been in view."
0:49:21 > 0:49:23But Fraser was no failure.
0:49:23 > 0:49:27His remarkable journey pushed the boundary of Canada
0:49:27 > 0:49:29west to the coast.
0:49:29 > 0:49:32By establishing forts along his route Fraser had planted
0:49:32 > 0:49:36the seeds of Canadian settlement west of the Rockies.
0:49:36 > 0:49:39He had foiled Jefferson's ambitions.
0:49:39 > 0:49:42The region would not become part of the United States.
0:49:44 > 0:49:47If it hadn't been for men like Simon Fraser
0:49:47 > 0:49:52and Alexander Mackenzie this would be part of the United States today.
0:49:52 > 0:49:57By extending the commercial reach of business enterprises
0:49:57 > 0:50:00on the eastern side of the continent across the Rockies
0:50:00 > 0:50:03and creating a permanent base for them and putting down
0:50:03 > 0:50:08an infrastructure of communications and re-supply and settlement
0:50:08 > 0:50:13without a doubt created the possibility of a national
0:50:13 > 0:50:16union from one end of the continent to another.
0:50:16 > 0:50:18So Canada would not be what it is today without
0:50:18 > 0:50:21these Scottish explorers.
0:50:23 > 0:50:27Fraser had named this area New Caledonia as the country
0:50:27 > 0:50:30reminded him of his mother's descriptions of the Highlands.
0:50:30 > 0:50:33It was later named British Columbia.
0:50:33 > 0:50:37I think it's one of the most significant pieces of exploration.
0:50:37 > 0:50:41He covered 1,600km in 2 months.
0:50:41 > 0:50:45He encountered six or seven different nations,
0:50:45 > 0:50:48some of them hostile.
0:50:48 > 0:50:52He didn't inflict an injury on anybody,
0:50:52 > 0:50:55he didn't lose a man,
0:50:55 > 0:50:56and he got them all home safe.
0:51:01 > 0:51:02By the late 19th century
0:51:02 > 0:51:05Canada stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific,
0:51:05 > 0:51:09from the frozen Arctic to the rolling prairies.
0:51:09 > 0:51:13But the country's immense size meant that travel from one end
0:51:13 > 0:51:16to the other remained a daunting task.
0:51:16 > 0:51:20Solving this problem would fall to a man from Fife,
0:51:20 > 0:51:24a man who was an explorer, inventor, engineer and artist
0:51:24 > 0:51:25rolled into one.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32Born in Kirkaldy in 1827,
0:51:32 > 0:51:35Sandford Fleming was a surveyor on the Scottish railway system.
0:51:35 > 0:51:40His job was to find the best route between the country's cities.
0:51:40 > 0:51:44But the problems of building railways between Canadian towns
0:51:44 > 0:51:47and cities far exceeded anything he'd attempted at home.
0:51:47 > 0:51:52Mackenzie and Fraser had pushed out to the west by canoe
0:51:52 > 0:51:56but the Rockies remained a major obstacle to east-west trade.
0:51:56 > 0:52:02Fleming, however, had a great belief in the power of engineering
0:52:02 > 0:52:05and he realised how the railway could transform Canada.
0:52:07 > 0:52:10Mountains were once thought to be effectual barriers
0:52:10 > 0:52:14against railways but that day has gone by.
0:52:14 > 0:52:17This colony is dreaming magnificent dreams of a future when it
0:52:17 > 0:52:22shall be the highway across which the fabrics and products of Asia
0:52:22 > 0:52:26shall be carried to the eastern as well as to the western sides
0:52:26 > 0:52:27of the Atlantic.
0:52:27 > 0:52:31Fleming's task was to smooth the way between one end of Canada
0:52:31 > 0:52:35and the other, conquering mountains, rivers and prairies along the way.
0:52:35 > 0:52:39His railway would be one of the biggest
0:52:39 > 0:52:43and most dangerous surveying jobs in the history of the world.
0:52:43 > 0:52:48But it would also be a powerful physical symbol of Canadian unity.
0:52:53 > 0:52:56# Hey, look yonder coming
0:52:56 > 0:52:59# Coming down that railroad track... #
0:53:04 > 0:53:08Canadian Pacific has a long history in this country.
0:53:08 > 0:53:14Driving the last spike was a symbol of bringing the country together.
0:53:14 > 0:53:18It was the defining moment when east and west rails met
0:53:18 > 0:53:21and Canada became more of a country then.
0:53:24 > 0:53:29"We have but to go forward, to open up for our children
0:53:29 > 0:53:32"and the world that God has given into our possession,
0:53:32 > 0:53:36"bind it together, consolidate it and lay the foundations
0:53:36 > 0:53:38"of an enduring future."
0:53:38 > 0:53:42Fleming and hundreds of men fought their way through swamps
0:53:42 > 0:53:47and forest and across desolate rocky plains and raging rivers.
0:53:47 > 0:53:52The survey teams faced freezing temperatures or soaring heat
0:53:52 > 0:53:55as well as clouds of black flies and mosquitoes.
0:53:57 > 0:54:00It's hard to imagine the difficulties the rail gangs
0:54:00 > 0:54:02went through to build the line.
0:54:02 > 0:54:06You look behind and it's rugged territory, mountains and streams,
0:54:06 > 0:54:12and through the prairies it was relatively easy...
0:54:12 > 0:54:16..going. It was when they reached the mountains -
0:54:16 > 0:54:21the Selkirks and the Rockies - that it took extra time to build it.
0:54:21 > 0:54:25"There are forces that can neither be organised nor bribed.
0:54:25 > 0:54:30"Men have been destroyed by the elements, by fire and by water."
0:54:30 > 0:54:32In spite of the difficulties,
0:54:32 > 0:54:37Sandford Fleming's railway slowly snaked its way across Canada.
0:54:39 > 0:54:41I think he was more than a railway man.
0:54:41 > 0:54:45From the early 1860s
0:54:45 > 0:54:47he had the dream of a trans-continental
0:54:47 > 0:54:49railway across Canada.
0:54:49 > 0:54:53He felt that this was the way of connecting the country
0:54:53 > 0:54:55and promoting immigration.
0:55:03 > 0:55:06"Looking back over the vast breadth of the dominion
0:55:06 > 0:55:09"when our journeyings were ended, it rolled out before us
0:55:09 > 0:55:11"like a panorama,
0:55:11 > 0:55:15"varied and magnificent enough to stir the dullest spirit
0:55:15 > 0:55:17"into patriotic emotion.
0:55:17 > 0:55:22"We have travelled in all 5,300 miles between Halifax and Victoria
0:55:22 > 0:55:26"over a country with features and resources more varied than even
0:55:26 > 0:55:28"our modes of locomotion."
0:55:32 > 0:55:36The last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway was hammered in
0:55:36 > 0:55:41here in Craigellachie, British Columbia on November 7th 1885.
0:55:41 > 0:55:45The achievement is still celebrated annually.
0:55:48 > 0:55:53This event celebrates an important moment in our nation's history.
0:55:53 > 0:55:58On November 7th 1885 the last spike was driven into
0:55:58 > 0:56:01the Canadian Pacific Railroad right here,
0:56:01 > 0:56:05uniting Canada from coast to coast.
0:56:05 > 0:56:08The development and construction of the Trans-continental Railway was
0:56:08 > 0:56:13the most important nation-building enterprise in Canadian history.
0:56:13 > 0:56:17This trans-continental link was a ribbon of steel
0:56:17 > 0:56:21that bound our fledgling country together.
0:56:21 > 0:56:23# There was a time in this fair land
0:56:23 > 0:56:26# When the railroad did not run
0:56:26 > 0:56:33# And the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun
0:56:33 > 0:56:38# Long before the white man and long before the wheel
0:56:38 > 0:56:42- # When the dark green forest was too silent to be real.- #
0:56:46 > 0:56:50This is one of the most famous images in Canada.
0:56:52 > 0:56:56Sandford Fleming stands tall in this picture, very proud.
0:56:56 > 0:56:58He has spent a great part of his life
0:56:58 > 0:57:01dreaming of the Trans-continental Railway.
0:57:01 > 0:57:04It's been written that, as the ceremony ended,
0:57:04 > 0:57:09and the conductor for the train said, "All aboard for the Pacific",
0:57:09 > 0:57:13he said it was like it had always been happening.
0:57:13 > 0:57:15So he was very proud of this moment.
0:57:15 > 0:57:20The hammering in of the last spike made Canada complete.
0:57:20 > 0:57:24It also marked the culmination of Scottish exploration
0:57:24 > 0:57:27of this vast land.
0:57:27 > 0:57:31Few spots on the world's surface have been as profoundly
0:57:31 > 0:57:34influenced by Scottish explorers and pioneers.
0:57:34 > 0:57:38They built towns and settled entire communities.
0:57:38 > 0:57:41They unlocked longstanding geographical mysteries
0:57:41 > 0:57:46and bound a nation together by skill, bravery
0:57:46 > 0:57:47and sheer force of will.
0:57:48 > 0:57:51People with some Scottish blood line -
0:57:51 > 0:57:54we're talking about people who may be third, fourth, fifth,
0:57:54 > 0:57:59sixth, seventh generation Canadians - may have a small proportion
0:57:59 > 0:58:03of Scottish blood coursing through their veins, to feel proud
0:58:03 > 0:58:07about being Scots and to publicise the achievements of the Scots.
0:58:07 > 0:58:11This has led in Canada to a particular emphasis on the Scots
0:58:11 > 0:58:14as the archetypal Canadian pioneers,
0:58:14 > 0:58:19the sturdy figures of Canadian society who helped to found
0:58:19 > 0:58:22and shape the colonies, and later to forge the nation.
0:58:36 > 0:58:40Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:40 > 0:58:43E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk