Thompson, David National Historic Person
Jasper National Park of Canada, Alberta
HSMBC plaque
© Parks Canada / Parcs Canada, 2002 (Steve Dale)
Address :
Highway 93, Jasper National Park of Canada, Alberta
Recognition Statute:
Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date:
1927-05-19
Life Date:
1770 to 1857
Other Name(s):
-
Thompson, David
(Designation Name)
Importance:
Explorer and fur trader; made first accurate map of western Canada (1812)
Plaque(s)
Existing plaque: Athabasca Pass, Roadside pullout 25 km south of Jasper Highway 93, Jasper National Park of Canada, Alberta
Born in London, Thompson served both the Hudson's Bay Company (1784-1797) and the North West Company (1797-1815) as trader, explorer and surveyor. One of the world's great geographers, he accurately mapped the main travel routes through some 1,700,000 square miles of the Canadian and American West, in the process journeying some 50,000 miles by canoe, by horse and on foot. His great map of the West and his "Narrative", edited by J.B. Tyrrell for the Champlain Society (1916), are lasting monuments to his genius. He died at Longueuil.