David Thompson: The Man Who Looks at Stars

Mapping the West: The Hudson's Bay Company Years
1784 - 1797

Thompson's first year with the Hudson's Bay Company was spent at Fort Churchill under the command of Samuel Hearne. After that, he moved twice in two years. Three years later, Thompson broke his right leg very badly. Then, in 1790, he lost the sight in his right eye. This changed his life.

While he was healing, he studied surveying and map making. In 1792, he was sent to survey the waterways between the Nelson and Churchill Rivers. By 1795, he was appointed Hudson's Bay Company surveyor. Until the spring of 1797 he took on different projects in and around Lake Athabasca.

Adventure at Last!
Having completed his first year at the outpost, Thompson was instructed to deliver mail to York Factory, 240 kilometres away. He was given a blanket, a gun, and two Cree guides. He was 16.

Gillmor, Don and Pierre Turgeon. Canada: A People's History. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, ©2000, p. 198.

A sketch of Cumberland House Copyright/Source

Never Read In the Dark
In 1778, Thompson broke his leg. He spent his time healing at Cumberland House. There he met Philip Turnor, chief surveyor for the Hudson's Bay Company. It would change his life…. "Mr. Turnor was well versed in mathematics…. Under him I regained my mathematical education, and during the winter became his only assistant, and thus learned practical astronomy under an excellent master of the science…. By too much attention to calculations in the night, with no other light than a small candle my right eye became so inflamed that I lost its sight."

Gillmor, Don and Pierre Turgeon. Canada: A People's History. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, ©2000, p. 199.

A Great Teacher
At 17, while helping to build a trading post on the western plains, Thompson spent the winter living in a tent belonging to an elder named Saukamapee. By listening to the elder's stories, Thompson was able to learn his language and culture.