David Thompson
THOMPSON, David, fur trader, mapmaker (b 30 Apr 1770, London, England; d 10 Feb 1857, Longueuil,
QC). He joined the HBC as an apprentice in 1784 and came out to York Factory on Hudson Bay. While
serving inland he studied surveying and mapmaking, and he defected from the HBC to join the NORTH
WEST CO in 1797 because his new employer gave him freer rein to indulge his interest in exploring. By
1806 he had completed his surveys of the fur country east of the ROCKY MTS, and with the help of
aboriginal guides he began to probe the mountain passes, looking for a way across them. In 1807 he made
his way over the Rockies via HOWSE PASS and reached the banks of the COLUMBIA R near presentday GOLDEN. He then travelled south and built KOOTENAE HOUSE near the present site of
INVERMERE; for 2 years he used this site as a base from which to explore and trade in southeast BC,
Idaho and Montana. Thompson was on his way back east to Fort Williamin 1810 when he received orders
to re-cross the Rockies immediately and to follow the Columbia to its mouth, where a set of rival
American traders was heading. After hiding from a party of hostile Piegans he managed to struggle across
the mountains, and in the spring of 1811 he embarked in a CEDAR board canoe for the Pacific Ocean. On
14 July he arrived to find the Americans already installed in Fort Astoria. He then returned east and
followed the Columbia to its headwaters, becoming the first person to travel the length of the river and
therefore the pioneer of the main FUR TRADE transport route connecting the Interior with the Pacific.
Thompson retired from the fur trade in 1812 and lived in Upper Canada, where he completed his maps
and worked for many years as a surveyor. Late in his life he wrote his great Narrative, one of the classic
accounts of fur trade exploration.
Reading: Richard Glover, ed, David Thompson's Narrative 1784–1812, 1962.
(Encyclopedia of BC: http://knowbc.com/ebc/Books/Encyclopedia-of-BC/T/Thompson-David)
David Thompson
The legacies of Thompson's work and travels include the creation of first reliable map of the
west; the positioning of the USA/Canada border in many areas; pivotal relationships between
Europeans and First Nation peoples; a profound influence on the understanding of Canada's past
and that of the northwestern United States.
David Thompson's Many Careers
Scientific Explorer - More than just a fur trader, Thompson was a great surveyor as well as an
explorer. While best known for his trans-mountain explorations, Thompson spent 28 years
exploring more than 90,000 kilometres (55,000 miles) of northwestern North America. Perhaps
his greatest achievement was establishing an overland northwest passage, sought for over 200
years, via the Columbia River to the Pacific. The Columbia River would become an important
travel route for 75 years for traders, settlers, and gold seekers until the coming of the railway.
Fur Trader - Throughout most of his career with the Hudson's Bay Company, and later the Northwest
Company, where he became a partner, Thompson was an active trader with the Aboriginal peoples. He
established the Columbia fur trade and created new trading posts in British Columbia, Montana, Idaho,
and Washington. He also played an important role in trans-mountain trade, which Simon Fraser
established in 1806. In his trade ethics, he was regarded as a man of integrity who resisted the traffic in
liquor.
Thompson and Aboriginal Peoples - Thompson and other European explorers followed the routes
established over thousands of years by Aboriginal peoples. These explorations would not have been
possible without the cooperation of these peoples. Thompson appears to have gained the respect of
most First Nations. He was given the name "Koo Koo Sint" (Star Gazer) by the Salish-Flathead peoples,
since he habitually performed his astronomical observations at the end of the day. However, not all of
Thompson's dealings with Aboriginal peoples proved ultimately positive. Thompson's explorations
pushed both cultural and national boundaries. His mountain crossings were pivotal events for western
Aboriginal peoples - the start of fundamental changes with many negative connotations.
(David Thompson Bicentennials)
http://www.davidthompson200.ca/eng/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32&Itemid=40
Thompson, David
David Thompson, fur trader, explorer, surveyor, mapmaker (b at London, Eng 30 Apr 1770; d at
Longueuil, Canada E 10 Feb 1857). Apprenticed to the HUDSON'S BAY CO in 1784, Thompson devoted
most of his life to the study of geography and the practice of mapmaking. The maps, based primarily on
his own explorations and observations, were the first to provide a comprehensive view of the vast
western territories that became part of Canada in 1870 (see CARTOGRAPHY).
As an apprentice to the HBC, Thompson rapidly acquired the knowledge needed to be a
successful trader. While recovering from a broken leg in 1790, he studied surveying and
mapmaking with Philip Turnor, the HBC's official surveyor. His new skills were recognized in
1792 when he was assigned to seek a more direct route from Hudson Bay to Lk Athabasca.
Frustrated by faltering support for his surveys, he left to join the NORTH WEST CO in 1797 to
locate and map their posts and the waterways connecting them. Within 2 years he had completed
most of this assignment, including the first accurate delineation of those parts of the West most
affected by the expansion of American authority under the terms of JAY'S TREATY - the upper
Red River valley, the Mandan villages on the Missouri R, the sources of the Mississippi R, and
the Fond du Lac and Rainy R regions W of Lk Superior. In 1799 Thompson was given additional
duty as a trader and for the next 7 years he pursued his surveys whenever his other
responsibilities permitted, as he rose from clerk to partner. During these years he completed
mapping the fur-trading territories E of the Rocky Mts.
In 1806 Thompson set out to open a trade with the Indians W of the Rockies. Over the next 5
years he explored the passes W from the Saskatchewan and Athabasca rivers, building posts and
mapping the hitherto uncharted COLUMBIA R basin from its source to the Pacific, which he
reached on 15 July 1811, a few weeks after the American PACIFIC FUR CO arrived there. His
failure to reach the mouth of the river before the Americans could establish a claim to it has
resulted in some debate among historians about his instructions. Most now agree that Thompson
was not aware that an agreement between the NWC and Jacob Astor to support jointly the
proposed voyage to the mouth of the Columbia had fallen through, and that he had not been
ordered to reach the mouth first in order to forestall them.
In 1812 Thompson retired to Canada with his wife and family. After settling at Williamstown,
UC, Thompson pursued his career as a surveyor and mapmaker, his most notable achievement
being the completion of maps of his western explorations and the charting of the official
boundary between the US and Canada from the St Lawrence R to Lake of the Woods. Business
failures left him penniless, and in later life he turned to writing the narrative of his explorations
in western Canada, regarded by many as his greatest legacy.
(The Canadian Encyclopedia: http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/david-thompson)
Thompson, David (1770-1857), was a Canadian explorer, cartographer, and fur trader. He was
the first white person to travel the Columbia River from its source to its mouth. He explored
extensive areas of Canada, including the Saskatchewan River system and the Western plains, and
surveyed the northernmost source of the Mississippi River. From 1816 to 1826, he was a
surveyor on the boundary between the United States and Canada. He made an important early
map of northwestern North America. His description of his explorations was published in 1916
as David Thompson's Narrative of His Explorations in Western America, 1784-1812.
Thompson was born on April 30, 1770, in Westminster, England. He was apprenticed to the
Hudson's Bay Company when he was 14 years old. He worked for the North West Company
from 1797 to 1812. Thompson died on Feb. 10, 1857.
(Gough, Barry M. "Thompson, David." World Book Student. World Book, 2012. Web. 10 Jan.
2012. )