The Writings Of David Thompson Volume 2

A compelling tale of exploration, encounter, and commerce, from the Rocky Mountains to the mouth of the Columbia River.

A compelling tale of exploration, encounter, and commerce, from the Rocky Mountains to the mouth of the Columbia River.

A vivid account of life in the fur trade and a cornerstone of Canadian literature.

David Thompson's Travels is one of the finest early expressions of the Canadian experience. The work is not only the account of a remarkable life in the fur trade but an extended meditation on the land and Native peoples of western North America. The tale spans the years 1784 to 1807 and extends from the Great Lakes to the Rockies, from Athabasca to Missouri. A distinguished literary work, the Travels alternates between the expository prose of the scientist and the vivid language of the storyteller, animated throughout by a restless spirit of inquiry and sense of wonder. In the first volume of an ambitious three-volume project that will finally bring all of Thompson's writings together, editor William Moreau presents the Travels narrative as it existed in 1850, when the author was forced to abandon his work. Accompanying Moreau's transcription is an introductory essay and a textual introduction, extensive critical annotations, historical and modern maps, and a biographical appendix. The definitive collection of Thompson's works, The Writings of David Thompson will bring one of North American's most important early travellers and surveyors and his world to a whole new generation of readers.

"In the first of three volumes that will finally bring all of David Thompson's writings together, editor William Moreau presents the Travels narrative as it existed in 1850, when the author was forced to abandon the work, and supplements it with a textual introduction, extensive annotations, and historical and modern maps." "The definitive collection of Thompson's works, The Writings of David Thompson will present one of North America's most important early travellers and surveyors and his world to a whole new generation of readers." --Book Jacket.

In this true story of adventure, author Jack Nisbet re-creates the life and times of David Thompson-fur trader, explorer, surveyor, and mapmaker. From 1784 to 1812, Thompson explored western North America and was the first to chart the entire length of the Columbia River. His field journals provide the earliest written accounts of the natural history and indigenous cultures of the region, and Nisbet uses them to guide his own discovery of the Northwest Territory some two centuries later. Book jacket.

David Thompson’s Travels is one of the finest early expressions of the Canadian experience. The work is not only the account of a remarkable life in the fur trade but an extended meditation on the land and Native peoples of western North America. The second in a planned three volumes of Thompson’s writings, this edition completes the great surveyor and fur trader’s spirited autobiographical narrative. In the 1848 Travels, Thompson describes his most enduring historical legacy - the extension of the fur trade across the Continental Divide between 1807 and 1812. During these years he established several Nor’wester trading posts, made contact with the tribal peoples of the Columbia Plateau, and tirelessly mapped the lands he traversed, all the time striving westward toward the Pacific. The tale culminates with Thompson’s historic arrival at the mouth of the Columbia in July 1811. Like its companion Volume 1, this work presents an entirely new transcription by William Moreau of Thompson’s manuscript, and is accompanied by an introductory essay placing the author in his historical and intellectual context. Extensive critical annotations, a biographical appendix, and historical and modern maps, make this the definitive collection of Thompson’s works, and bring one of North America’s most important travelers and surveyors to a new generation of readers.