THE EXPLORER BY CHARLES NORRIS COCHRANE Associate Professor of Ancient History, University College, Toronto TORONTO THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA LIMITED 1924 Copyright, Canada, 1924 BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA LIMITED Printed in Canada PREFATORY NOTE I wish to acknowledge the great debt which I owe to Mr. J. B. Tyrrell for the use of material contained in his edition of Thompson's Narrative . It was Mr. Tyrrell who first rescued the name of Thompson from the undeserved oblivion into wh

On the 30th of December, 1783, the Governors of the Grey Coat School at Westminster, England, received from the secretary of the Hudson's Bay Company a request for four boys, trained in navigation, to be apprenticed to the Company for service at their posts in America. At that time, there were in the school but two boys so qualified—Samuel John McPherson and David Thompson. The one was so terrified by the prospect of perils and hardships unknown, that within a week he ran away from the school an

His first two years of service brought nothing but disappointment and disillusion to David Thompson. Vaguely sensible of his capacities, he was conscious of nothing except that as yet he had been given no scope to realize them. But in the summer of 1786 a new and important chapter opened in his life. Fitted out with a trunk, a handkerchief, shoes, shirts, a gun, powder, and a tin cup, he was included in a party of forty-six "Englishmen" who left for the interior under the leadership of Robert Lo

When Thompson returned to York factory in the spring of 1791, it was to find that great changes had taken place at the fort. Five years before, the tyrannous sway of old Humphrey Marten had come to an end, and he had been succeeded as governor by Joseph Colen. This man was to direct Thompson's movements during the next six years. The new governor was a man of unquestioned ability; but his jealous and suspicious temperament made him work at cross purposes with the governor of Churchill, and broug

The chilly reception which Thompson met after his return from Lake Athabaska was enough to quench the enthusiasm of any man. He might have lain down under the blow. In that case he would no doubt have ended his days as an obscure and broken-spirited trader, embittered by his fate, but powerless so late in life to change it. Another course, however, was open to him, if he had the courage and self-reliance to take it. This was to throw up his post with the Hudson's Bay Company, and seek employment

The report which Thompson made to his employers after his return to Grand Portage was of immense value to them. They now had a clear idea of the whole stretch of country from Sault Ste. Marie to the upper waters of the Missouri river, and were in a position to rearrange their trading houses to meet the needs of the time. Similar work remained to be done in the other regions to which the interests of the Company extended. But the same haste was not required, and the surveys could be pushed forwar

There are long stretches in human life when the contest with fate seems endless and the result uncertain, but it is such periods that test the mettle of a man. In the life of David Thompson, the eight years just past had been marked by no striking achievement. Yet with unflagging patience and zeal he had discharged his routine duties, constantly adding to his equipment the knowledge and judgment that come from maturer years and wider experience. When therefore his hour at last struck, he was not

By the middle of October, 1810, Thompson was once more at the foot of the Rockies en route for the Columbia with four canoe loads of supplies. At Rainy River House, he had learned that a vessel chartered by J. J. Astor and loaded with goods in charge of two former North West traders was on her way around Cape Horn, bound for the Columbia; and his orders were to anticipate this ship in reaching the mouth of the river. He was therefore anxious to get through the passes without delay, and at all co

In 1812, hostilities had broken out between the British Empire and the United States, and the flame of war was raging along the international border. In the St. Mary's river, the voyageurs of the North West convoy with which Thompson was travelling feared that American troops might intercept their rich cargo of furs, but they passed through the narrows without being molested and were soon safe among the islands of the north shore of Lake Huron. From thence they made a speedy passage up the Frenc

The most important source of information regarding the life and work of David Thompson is to be found in the Publications of the Champlain Society , Vol. XII. (Toronto, 1915). This volume contains the Narrative of Thompson's explorations, edited by Mr. J. B. Tyrrell with a full general introduction, an itinerary or catalogue of Thompson's journeys year by year, and notes on the text. The manuscript journals of Alexander Henry and David Thompson have been published, under the title of New Light o