For most of the past century and earlier, Mackenzie was but a gleam in a prospector's eye, an area where grizzled outdoorsmen homesteaded and staked claims in the rugged wilderness of mountains, forests and majestic rivers.
Then, in the early 1960s, the site where the town's 18th-century namesake, explorer Sir Alexander Mackenzie, once camped on his way to the Pacific, became one of the province's many “instant towns,” built up north to harness previously inaccessible resources. (Read: forests.)
Since incorporation in 1966, Mackenzie has been a mill town, supporting sawmills, pulp and paper operations and a myriad of forestry-related spinoff jobs. Besides service industries and a sprinkling of tourism, there really isn't much else.
Mackenzie is situated at the end of the highway, 185 kilometres north of Prince George, on the south shores of vast Williston Lake, created by the WAC Bennett Dam and known to locals as “the biggest dammed lake in North America.”
A friendlier community is hard to imagine, filled with folks who can't seem to stop saying “Have a nice day,” despite three-quarters of the working population suddenly on the dole.
Residents say they love living in Mackenzie, where they don't have to worry about their kids playing outside, they can earn big bucks and buy boats, and the good, outdoor life is all around them.
And in times of trouble, everyone pulls together. Since the mills shut down, the town's volunteer fire department has been riddled with resignations from members forced elsewhere to work. After a plea from the fire chief, however, new recruits have filled all the vacancies.
“The community has really stepped up to the plate,” Chief Muir Furzer said. “It's the northern way.”
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