David Thompson

Christine Linge MacDonald, a past director of the Toronto & District
Parent Co-operative Preschool Corporation and a freelance writer, is an
elementary-school teacher in Whitby.

The Canadians series now boasts 35 titles. Each biography is presented
in a dense textual narrative, with occasional black-and-white
illustrations drawn from period engravings, drawings, and photographs.
The cover attracts the reader with a large, bright painting of the
subject Canadian. Wide margins, a one-page timeline, and an index make
these small volumes accessible and useful.

Called by biographer Joseph Tyrrell “the greatest land geographer who
ever lived,” David Thompson (1770–1857) surveyed and mapped almost
five million square kilometres of Canada’s rugged terrain. James
Smith’s story of how a penniless boy who was sent from England to work
for the Hudson’s Bay Co. came to be the driven explorer who once
surveyed 6500 kilometres of river in 10 months (astounding even renowned
explorer Alexander Mackenzie) is a jaw-dropping tale told with a flair
for mystery. Thompson kept extensive journals and Smith frequently draws
on those journals, for enlightening quotes that describe the uncertainty
and danger into which the young adventurer was thrust.

The tale of rugged Gabriel Dumont (1837–1906), the skilled buffalo
hunter who led his Saskatchewan Métis people through their most
challenging changes, resounds with hard-hitting adventure and heart.
Author George Woodcock uses vivid imagery to set the scene: “Twelve
hundred carts formed the core of the [buffalo hunt] cavalcade, screaming
on their ungreased wooden axles during the day and forming the defensive
rings of the encampment at night.” We follow Gabriel from his days as
a three-year-old perched on one of these carts, through his attempts to
organize self-government on the prairies and his meetings with Louis
Riel, to his final days with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Though
fluent in seven languages, Dumont was illiterate: we are fortunate to
have photographic portraits of his strong face in which to “read”
his personal story.

While Dumont’s story would inspire intermediate students to dramatic
presentation, Thompson’s descriptions of virgin landscapes provide
material for visual-arts classes. Both books are highly recommended.