On the Road with David Thompson

Nora D.S. Robins is liaison librarian in the University of Calgary
Library.

Long-time residents of Alberta, Joyce and Peter McCart were aware of the
name David Thompson, but it wasn’t until they came across his name in
Montana that their curiosity was aroused. What was the man who mapped
Canada doing in the United States?

They read everything they could find on Thompson’s explorations and
found out why and when he was in Montana as well as something about the
routes he used to get there. However, they failed to find a book
connecting Thompson’s trail to the roads we travel today. This book is
the authors’ attempt to make that connection.

David Thompson (1770–1857) was employed by the Hudson’s Bay
Company, and then by the North West Company, as a surveyor. He was
unquestionably one of Canada’s greatest explorers. He surveyed large
areas of Alberta, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and
Montana. He kept such detailed journals of his 23 years in the
wilderness that it is possible to retrace many of his routes today. The
McCarts have used these journals to describe the routes Thompson
pioneered, both as they are today and as they were 200 years ago.

A combination of history, guidebook, and travelogue, On the Road is
intended for travelers who tour the northwest by car, motorhome,
bicycle, or armchair “in the hope that they might enjoy the company of
a man who walked, rode, and canoed the same routes two centuries ago.”
The authors have done an excellent job.