David Thompson, the explorer

by Charles Norris Cochrane

The winter over, Thompson returned to the post, from which he was sent to Cumberland House in the summer of 1789. Here he began to keep a careful meteorological journal, noting two or three times daily the temperature, the strength and direction of the wind, and the general character of the climate. He also began a series of astronomical observations, as the result of which he was able to determine the exact latitude and longitude of Cumberland House. This post was thus the first of a series of widely scattered points fixed by him on the map of British North America. It was then, too, that he acquired the large brass sextant which was to be his constant companion for years to come.

Having made this start, Thompson attempted in the following summer to make a survey of the canoe route from Cumberland House to York factory, by way of the Saskatchewan and the Hayes rivers. In the autumn, he returned to Cumberland House. While there, he had the good fortune to meet Philip Turnor, the man without whose guidance and help Thompson could hardly have realized his future career.

For several years, the Colonial Office had been urging the Hudson's Bay Company to proceed with the survey of the vast territory over which it exercised sway; and to satisfy the pressing demand of the government, the Company had engaged Philip Turnor as astronomer and surveyor. Possessed of a sound theoretical training, Turnor had been employed in England as one of the compilers of the Nautical Almanac; and since 1776 he had added to his qualifications a wide practical experience drawn from numerous surveys throughout the region of the Bay. Here was a man who could solve Thompson's doubts and difficulties, and correct the deficiencies of his education for the work which he had in view. An eager pupil, Thompson sat at the feet of Turnor during the winter of 1790; and when, in the following spring, he returned to York factory, it was as a man with his mind made up. If a man knows clearly what he wants and has the intelligence and perseverance to pursue his aims, no obstacle, not even such as these which confronted Thompson, can keep him from attaining his goal.

Thereafter Thompson and his beloved instruments were inseparable companions in journeys that carried him for thousands of miles through the wildest parts of the unknown west. By day and night, he was an object of wonder to his French-Canadian and Indian followers, as, armed with his sextant, telescope, compass, and other instruments, he took observations on the sun, moon, and stars. While he sought to determine the position of rivers, lakes, and mountains, to be recorded on the map which was to be his life's work, his activities suggested to their superstitious minds the idea that he was in communication with powers not of this world, and earned him the title which he bore among them, Koo-Koo-Sint, "The man who looks at the stars."

CHAPTER III
TRADER, SURVEYOR, EXPLORER

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 brought him into frequent conflict with Tomison at Cumberland House. He had never caught the spirit of the aggressive policy initiated by Samuel Hearne, and preferred to develop the fur trade with the Indians who came down to the coast for trade, rather than to follow them to their hunting grounds. In his reports to the directors in London, he endeavoured to excuse his lack of enterprise by hurling vague accusations at his colleagues; while his subordinates, men like Thompson and Malcolm Ross, were irritated and provoked by the lack of support from headquarters which constantly frustrated their efforts to push forward the work of exploring the more remote interior.

The seven years of David's apprenticeship were now at an end, and he was engaged at a good salary as trader and surveyor to the Company. He was not yet, however, given an opportunity of practising his profession. The previous spring, an ice-jam at the mouth of the Hayes river had caused the water to rise, flooding the low land on which the factory was situated; and for a year or more, Thompson had to assist Colen in moving the fort to its present site on a high clay bank about a quarter mile further up stream.

Meanwhile Philip Turnor had returned from a journey to Lake Athabaska, and the report of his explorations had reached the directors in London. Proceeding from Cumberland House, he had worked his way north through Amisk and Pelican lakes to Frog Portage, a distance of one hundred miles. After crossing the portage, he found himself in the basin of the upper Churchill river. This stream he ascended as far as Isle à la Crosse, and thence he made his way through Buffalo lake and Lake la Roche to the Methy Portage. This portage marks the divide between the waters that flow eastward to Hudson Bay and those that discharge through the Mackenzie into the Arctic ocean. Crossing the portage, he descended the Clearwater river to its junction with the Athabaska, whose broad stream soon carried him to the lake of that name. This was the regular route followed by the Indians of the far north in their journeys to Hudson Bay.