Epic Wanderer - David Thompson and the Mapping of the Canadian West

by D'Arcy Jenish

Epic Wanderer , the first full-length biography of mapmaker David Thompson (1770–1857), is set in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries against the broad canvas of dramatic rivalries between the United States and British North America, between the Hudson’s Bay Company and its Montreal-based rival, the North West Company, and among the various First Nations thrown into disarray by the advent of guns, horses, and alcohol.Less celebrated than his contemporaries Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, Thompson spent nearly three decades, beginning in 1784, surveying and mapping more than 1.2 million square miles of largely uncharted Indian territory. Traveling across the prairies, over the Rockies, and on to the Pacific, Thompson transformed the raw data of his explorations into a map of the Canadian West. Measuring ten feet by seven feet and exhibiting astonishing accuracy, the map became essential to the politicians and diplomats who would decide the future of the rich and promising lands of the West. Yet its creator worked without personal glory and died in penniless obscurity.Drawing extensively on Thompson’s personal journals and illustrated with his detailed sketches, intricate notebook pages, and the map itself, Epic Wanderer charts the life of a man who risked everything in the name of scientific advancement and exploration.

Genres: History, Biography, Canada, Nonfiction, Travel, Natural History, The Americas

320 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2003

Reviews

[Ian Beardsell · Rating 4 out of 5]

D'Arcy Jenish brings to life fur-trader turned mapmaker, David Thompson, with this book. Slightly different to my recent readings that focused in on the details of the explorations of the Pacific Northwest, this narrative is a well-rounded chronology of the life of this Canadian explorer of the late 18th and early 19th century.

David Thompson was born to poor parents, and when his father died at an early age, his mother gave the little boy up to the Grey Coat Hospital School in New Westminster, London in the hopes of providing a better future for him. At the age of 14, the school sent Thompson to the Hudson's Bay Company where he became an apprentice for the fur trade, and he left England for Canada in 1784, never to see his homeland or family of origin again.

Obviously life was quite difficult in those early years, but Thompson did his best, learning the rudiments of book-keeping and clerical tasks in the forts just to the west of Hudson's Bay in the great plains of what is now Manitoba and Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territory. In one of those twists of fate, the 16-year-old Thompson badly broke his leg, which forced him to stay in camp for more than a season. He was befriended by Philip Turnor, a lead surveyor in the company, who taught Thompson the use of a sextant, chronometer, and the mathematical computations required to determine one's location. Thompson found it enthralling to be able to read the stars and calculate accurately his location in latitude and longitude.

This became a significant turning point for Thompson, and as he recovered, he became more interested in the aspect of exploring the great territory held by the Hudson's Bay Company. In a few more years he left HBC for the upstart Northwest Trade Company, who were much more eager to explore the extremes of the frontier, since they had the philosophy of going out to find the indigenous traders to get the best furs, unlike the more timid HBC who were more apt in setting up forts in the prairies nearer their factories along the bay.

Jenish provides a fair amount of detail, based on Thompson's fairly meticulous records and diaries. Probably my biggest peeve with the book is the lack of readable maps and relating Thompson's described whereabouts with modern locations. Jack Nisbet's books on Thompson do this service, which I and many other Pacific Northwest history fans greatly appreciate, to a much better degree.

The highlight of Thompson's career is his navigation of the headwaters of the Columbia River to it's mouth at Astoria on the Oregon coast. Interestingly, he arrived there the same year that Astor's Pacific Fur Trade Co. set up shop there in 1811. The story of that venture is well told in Peter Stark's Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire: A Story of Wealth, Ambition, and Survival. I was slightly disappointed that Jenish did not spend more time on this adventure, but I understand he was providing an overview of Thompson's life story, and perhaps did not want to over-focus on the highlight.

Jenish also takes us through the sad story of Thompson's later life, where he retires as a gentleman farmer in Eastern Ontario (Williamstown), but through some bad business deals and debts, ends up impoverished. He went back to work here and there doing survey work for the British-American Border Survey's Commission; however, by the time he was in his 60s, Thompson was definitely in dire straits.

I found it sad how the British government and fur trade big-wigs treated him in his later years, and I wonder if he had been born and bred of "better lineage" that he might have been granted the pension one would have expected a man of his unique service should have earned.

All in all, this is a well written book for a Canadian icon who truly led a remarkable life.

[Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have ever canoed for a few days or ever trekked in the wilderness with a pack on your back, you will be astounded by the extraordinary physical and intellectual energy of this English-born Canadian explorer, David Thompson. From 1784 to 1812, he traveled many tens of thousands of miles between Montreal and the mouth of the Columbia River, and mapped much of the region -- well over one million square miles. Perhaps the single most impressive physical feat of his decades-long career as a fur trader and surveyor was his crossing of the Canadian Rockies, in the depths of winter, to discover the upper reaches of the Columbia River. It's a daunting enough landscape even in summer. How he ever crossed in winter, dragging heavy supplies and trade goods over high passes in deep snow, I can hardly imagine.

For nearly 30 years he worked for the Hudson's Bay Company and the North-west Company, the two great fur-trading companies of the era in the northern part of North America. At the age of 14, he was transplanted from London to the bleak, treeless, windswept shores of Hudson's Bay, there to serve out his seven years apprenticeship at a fur-trading post. He somehow survived the wrenching transition, avoided hungry polar bears, learned French and at least a couple of Indian languages, and mastered the business of fur-trading as well as the art of surveying.

The maps he created in the early 19th century were so accurate that they were still in use at the end of the century, despite the immensely greater resources available to the government surveyors who followed him. He also, after he retired as a fur-trader, worked as the chief surveyor for the British as part of the US-British boundary commission that defined much of the border of Canada and the US after the War of 1812. He was one of the greatest map-makers of his time.

He was also a man of interesting character, working in a very rough wilderness well beyond the bounds of urban civilization or any kind of government. He was very religious. He married an Indian woman when he was 29 and she was 13, had 10 children with her, and stayed with her until he died at the age of 80, despite the prejudices of pioneer society. He opposed the alcohol trade that was destroying so many Indian tribes and refused to deal in it. He worked extraordinarily hard, away from his family for a year or more at a time. Even in his old age he continued working, writing his several hundred pages-long Narrative of his travels and explorations, which was only published decades after his death.

The author of this biography, D'Arcy Jenish, does an excellent job of weaving all this material together in a way that is always interesting and often compelling. Ironically, if I have one complaint, it is this: a book about a map-maker should have a lot more maps in it! The only way to follow Thompson's progress is to sit with the book in hand and an atlas open in your lap. This is a pretty major failing for the book, but if you have an atlas with a decently detailed map of the Canadian west and of the US north-west, you will do fine.

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the definitive biography of David Thompson, the famous astronomer and surveyor for the Hudson's Bay and North West Companies during the late 1700s and early 1800s. His legacy, artfully relived within Epic Wanderer, is filled with incredible feats of exploration, adventure and endurance.

At age 14, as an orphan, he was sent to Canada to work for the Hudson's Bay Company. For the next 35 years, he did the following:

Explored tens of thousands of kilometers of unforgiving Canadian wilderness for months at a time to transport furs, open trading posts and discover new routes of passage;

Surveyed unknown lakes, rivers, mountains and plains, living almost entirely off the land;

Traveled and traded with many different Aboriginal Canadians, learning their languages, politics and customs;

Mastered astronomy and geolocation essentially by teaching himself, using the sun and the stars for geographic coordination and guidance;

Recording nearly all of his travels and coordinates in journals, eventually using them to create the most detailed maps of the Canadian Northwest the world had ever seen.

David Thompson is widely considered the greatest land geographer that ever lived. Yet, for all his accomplishments, he died as an old man living in poverty, having been repeatedly denied publication of his maps and memoirs, and having fallen victim to accumulating debts. His story was finally published in 1916, 69 years following his death. Only then did the world finally come to know the incredible story of his life and accomplishments.

[Genevieve · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating read of Canada's best surveyor. Unfortunate that the book had unreadable copies of original maps and no modern maps to give a context of his amazing explorations.
The final chapters of the sad end of Thompson's life in poverty, before the days of social welfare, is very poignant and distressing.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is odd that rather than grappling throughout the book with what is apparently a modern historical consensus that is critical of Thompson, the author largely relegates his counterargument to a brief afterword, giving over the narrative to a day-by-day, week-by-week structure that seems to reflect the primary source material being Thompson’s own journals. What is gained by that? Also, in a book largely about the preparation of an improbably precise map of a vast territory, and a set of journals of “Voyages”, the Kindle edition should include actually legible archival images.

[Graham Gibbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I agree with D'Arcy Jenish that David Thompson is one of Canada's greatest unsung heroes (or as Jenish writes "one of the most remarkable figures in Canadian history"). This was why I was anxious to read Jenish's account of David Thompson -- I was not disappointed. As I point out in my book "Five Ages of Canada" if British Diplomats had paid attention to Thompson's Map of the North-West Territory of the Province of Canada, when they were negotiating our border west of the Rockies they had all the information they needed to claim all territory north of the Columbia River meaning most of Washington and Oregon would today be part of Canada.

[Niv · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captivating, thrilling, detailed and chronological report of David Thompson's personal journal.

I liked the level of detail, the descriptions of the encounters with the natives, the journeys and exploration of the waterways. At times, it felt a little slow, but overall the book is a great account of incomprehensible adventures accomplished by David Thompson during his journeys mapping the Canadian North West.

[Howard Cincotta · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Thompson (1770-1857) spent much of his career as a company man and clerk. He avoided battles with native Indian tribes and rival fur traders. But Thompson was still a true mountain man who, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries undertook extraordinary explorations of the rivers, lakes, and wilderness of the Canadian and Oregon territories, overcoming the hardships of bitter winters, lack of food, and unforgiving terrain. His masterwork, the great map of the Canadian West remains a treasured artifact of Canada’s history and heritage.

Author D’Arcy Jenish tells Thompson’s tale in a bright, straightforward narrative that quotes liberally from Thompson’s Narrative of his explorations, written in his old age, and from the detailed journals that he maintained for many years. It is a rich resource. After a while, however, someone like me, unfamiliar with Canadian topography, can become dizzy with even Thompson’s routine canoe trips on icy rivers and narrow lakes, portages around waterfalls, and treks through forests and snowfields.

Ironically, a book about a celebrated cartographer lacks any contemporary maps that would allow us to trace Thompson’s travels, such as this typical excursion: “Grand Portage to Pigeon River to Rainy River to Lake of the Woods and down the Winnipeg River to the big lake of the same name … up the Dauphin River to Lake Manitoba…” and finally to a post on Swan River. And we haven’t even gotten to Thompson’s later journeys around Lake Athabasca, much less his trek over the Rockies to the Columbia River in Oregon. He never lost a man on any of these expeditions.

Thompson was first employed as a clerk tallying trade good and fur pelts with the Hudson’s Bay Company, then later joined their rival, the Montreal-based North West Company. His true love, however, was exploration and surveying to make maps of the vast Canadian interior from Hudson’s Bay and Lake Superior to — in an epic march — the Oregon coast and the mouth of the Columbia River. (He was bitterly disappointed when the later U.S.-Canadian Boundary Commission drew the border at the 49th parallel, ceding the Oregon Territories to America.)

Thompson the man — stoic, low-key yet driven — remains opaque in Jenish’s account. We learn of Thompson’s frustration when weather or distance frustrated his travels, but little of the interior man. He loved astronomy, even apart from using the sextant for mapping. One First Nation tribe gave him the name “He Who Looks at Stars.” He had a successful marriage, although several of his children did not survive to adulthood. Of his wife, Charlotte, we learn little, except that she supported Thompson’s career and travels without serious complaint. Apparently, Thompson’s journals are all business, with few if any private asides.

The descriptions of encounters with First Nation peoples, however, are fascinating. Native tribes were numerous, greatly outnumbering the European traders from the Hudson’s Bay and North West companies. The tribes essentially functioned as independent contractors who supplied the prized beaver pelts and other furs in exchange for manufactured trade goods like clothing, and more crucially, guns and liquor.

For native tribes like the Peigon — part of the Blackfoot Confederacy — access to weapons and horses could tip the scales in their constant warfare against their rivals. Thompson, fluent in French and several Indian languages, negotiated with these tribes very carefully, even with the constant provocation of horse theft. The traders’ most common ploy was alcohol, although Thompson, a teetotaling Christian, was vehemently opposed to providing liquor to his own men, much less Indians.

After twenty eight years of wilderness trekking and surveying, Thompson retired to prepare his great map. The “Map of the North-West Territory of the Province of Canada” measures six feet-nine inches by ten feet-four inches, and provides a detailed and highly accurate depiction of the Canadian West. Nothing like it existed at the time. Thompson received gratitude but little remuneration for his efforts, and after a succession of business failures, he and his family fell into bankruptcy.

Only in recent years, with publication of Thompson’s narrative of his travels, has he achieved widespread recognition for his achievements, both as an explorer and mapmaker.

[L.A. Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned about David Thompson (1770 - 1857) a long time ago, early in my marriage, from my husband, who taught Social Studies, who admired him greatly. I quickly learned to share his admiration of this largely forgotten Canadian explorer and cartographer, who is probably one of the greatest map-makers of Canadian history, if not of North America. Yet he is an obscure figure to most, so I was really excited to pick up this book and learn more about him.

I live in David Thompson country. About ten minute's drive from my home historians speculate a long-lost outpost named Boggy Hall was situated along the North Saskatchewan river. One of David Thompson's children was born there, and he spent time there on his many trips up and down this river. The main fur trading post, Rocky Mountain House, is about an hour and a half drive south of my town, and west of there is the David Thompson Resort, a grand name for a slightly worn campsite and motel.

All this to say is that I am familiar with the country in which he spent so many years, and I am filled with admiration for the sheer hard work and skill it took him and his band of voyageurs and fur traders to do what he did. Thompson's main job was that of a surveyor, and he did his work with precision and dedication, eventually producing an enormous map of the north-western part of North America, long before others even dreamed of doing such a thing. He mapped the Columbia River and all its tributaries, from its beginning in the Rocky Mountains to the outlet in the Pacific Ocean. He had a respectful relationship with the First Nations people who lived in this unspoiled wilderness and in all of his exploratory expeditions, never lost a man. After his nearly 28 years in the West he returned to Montreal where he became part of the group of surveyors who determined the boundary line between the USA and Canada.

Yet he died in obscurity as a pauper and despite his many attempts to sell his maps could not find any takers. It wasn't until about 30 years after his death that his contributions to the mapping of the West was noticed.

This was a fascinating book, taking us along with 14 year old David Thompson as he stepped foot in Canada for the first time (he came from England) to his eventual death in Montreal. Along the way we travel with him down the rivers to the West, learning about the various tribes and people-groups he meets along the way and the sometimes maddening and obtuse decisions that his superiors made in both the fur trade and politically as he maps the border.

David Thompson left behind a lot of material for a writer to draw upon. He kept a journal which he added to pretty much every day, and in his attempts to make some money when times were hard at the end of his life, compiled it all into a manuscript of his travels and adventures.

The only quibble I have with this book is that I would have liked a clearer sense of the man himself. We see a few details about who he was as opposed to what he did, but I would have liked more.

But, all in all, this is a great addition to our knowledge of David Thompson and the amazing work he did so long ago.

[Bill Leach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maurer's biography of David Thompson, the greatest of the early explorers of North America, does an excellent job of bringing an overview of his life out of his extensive journals and the writings of his contemporaries.

Thompson grew up in a poor family, but was able to gain some knowledge of navigation through schooling and the Navy. At 14, he became a servant of the Hudson's Bay Company where he learned much about surveying from the company surveyor Philip Turnor. He was given a variety of assignments which resulted in mapping that was valuable to the company. When his apprenticeship ended, he asked for a set of survey instruments instead of the usual gift of a set of clothes. The partners were so pleased with his work that they gifted the instruments to him in addition to the clothes.

By the 1790's, the North West Company has competing effectively against the HBC. In particular, while the HBC was concentrating on the ands they had historically worked, the NWC was moving further west and north. Thompson desired to explore more widely and so left the HBC. With the NWC, he completed surveys down to the Mississippi, west to the Rockies and north into the Athabasca drainage. In 1804, at age 34, he was make a partner of the NWC. Subsequent surveys extended to the Columbia River and it's tributaries, he being the first European to navigate the full length of the Columbia.

Thompson retired in 1812. He used his surveys to create his 1814 map which William McGillivary mounted in the hall at Fort William. While many inspected it in amazement, the company had no interest in making the knowledge available to possible competitors. He made further maps which he offered to the public, but got no takers.

In 1813, Thompson started a business to build cedar strip canoes which he felt were an improvement on the birch canoes still being used at that time - but was apparently unable to sell any copies.

Thompson became involved in more local surveys. Of interest, are the surveys at the head of Lake Erie where work in the swampland resulted in many protracting malaria.

U.S. claims to Oregon Territory alarmed Thompson. While Lewis and Clarke had explored a 300 mile stretch of the Lower Columbia, he felt his more extensive and thorough explorations should make the territory Canadian.

Thompson's later life was sad as he fell into financial distress, largely as he was very generous in extending loans many of which he was never able to collect. He died in relative obscurity.

[Woody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following two trips to Canada this summer, including one where we stood near the confluence of the North and Main forks of the Thompson River, I decided to learn about this intrepid explorer. I was glad that I did.

In many ways, Thompson, along with Fraser and Mackenzie were like the Lewis & Clarks of Canada. He mapped, explored, met with First Nations and settlers, and drew maps with incredible accuracy based upon observations of stars, the use of a sextant, and personal observation. As the book subtitle says, Thompson was responsible for the mapping of the Canadian West. I learned that he also had a lot to do with surveying, mapping and helping establish a border between Canada and the U.S.

As the author summarized in the Afterward: "There is much to admire about the man...:
"He took a country wife of aboriginal descent, a common practice among fur traders, but defied convention and settled with her and their children in a pioneer society where bigotry and prejudice were prevalent."

"He was an enormously resourceful individual who could build a house, make a canoe of birch or cedar, and repair a gun, yet mastered the complex science and sophisticated technology required to gaze at the heavens and determine from the motion of the stars coordinates of latitude and longitude."

"He became fluent in French, Cree and likely Blackfoot..."

"He led many wilderness voyages yet never lost a man."

Despite all of this, his last chapter in life was spent in poverty, and his passing was largely unheralded.

[Dave McCracken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review: The Epic Wanderer: David Thompson and the Mapping of the Canadian West
by D’Arcy Jenish

Inspiring tale of a young lad deposited on Hudson Bay’s shore to apprentice as a clerk for the Hudson’s Bay Company counting furs and keeping the books. He became an accomplished hunter, survivalist, and most importantly a self-taught astronomer & surveyor. In every way David Thompson was self-made, rising in the company with exploration missions and setting up trading posts all over the North-west.

When David Thompson finished his apprenticeship, he was offered a bonus along with continued work as a clerk. He responded with a counteroffer, asking for a loan for compass, chain, sextant, map paper & ink, and a theodolite to continue mapping the expanse of western Canada. Admiring David Thompson’s grit, they gave him the tools and a promotion.

D'Arcy Jenish draws mainly from David Thompson’s extensive Daily Journals and surveyor notes. Bringing out the details and hardships of daily life hauling equipment, trading goods, and food thru the wilderness in uncharted lands is page-turning. This is a five-star story. Sadly, a book about North America’s greatest mapper has illegible maps showing this extraordinary work, for this reason only, I rated the book as four (4) stars.

This story is about triumph over incredible challenges, impenetrable forests, rapids, mountain ranges, fierce Indian warriors, and starvation in winter. David Thompson became one with these daily struggles for survival whilst never failing to take daily survey notes with dead reckoning & nightly star readings establishing his position for the accurate maps, he eventual produced of the Canadian West.

Sadly, the story ends in the tragedy of poverty.

Highly recommended for the reader who thrives on adventure and understands the adverse nature of traveling thru vast uncharted, unknown lands.

[Amy Dale · Rating 2 out of 5]

I seem to have hit a streak of books I just can't finish. I finally skimmed for quite awhile before I just gave up.

David Thompson passed through my area and I've always wanted to know more about him, unfortunately this book wasn't the bio for me. The writing is certainly easy, it's not scholarly or dry. But it's so easy that it's Entirely lacking any details whatsoever!! I feel like it was written for 10 yr olds,not adults. When I read,I see a movie in my head,I didn't see anything at all when reading this,there simply was nothing given to see.
It's like "He and his men travelled 49 miles to the next post and from there did a portage to the next river" Really? Bald facts. Was it pretty,wooded? Was there mosquitoes or bogs or deadfall to climb over? Were they cold or sweating? Hungry? Rapids? What emotions and thoughts did David have as he saw these things? I certainly don't know from reading this. The main men and his wife are not described,they are simply names,we don't know hair color or if they had one eye.

I think I'll read Thompson's diaries,they might be more vivid than this.

[John Geary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A most excellent book detailing the entirety of the life of the man responsible for creating the first accurate map of what would become Canada. It’s comprehensive and doesn’t shy away from some of the unfortunate aspects of David Thompson‘s life. I knew some of the basic facts about Thompson from grade 6 history and little bits and pieces I picked up here and there, but I had no idea of some of the hardships and dangers he had to deal with during his travels around late 18th-early 19th century western Canada. I also had no idea that he died in penury - which made me very sad. He was really one of the fathers of this country... he had a vision of Canada extending from sea to sea long before the Fathers of Confederation did. I am glad that through a series of circumstances, he did finally receive the notoriety and respect he deserves, as he ranks right up there with Alexander Mackenzie and Simon Fraser as one of the important early explorer/adventurers of this country we call Canada.

[Mark Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another account of a truly impressive explorer. Not quite as good as "the Company" or "a history of Canada in 10 maps", but among those included explorers Thompson was a gem. He respected, partnered with and documented fellow indigenous traders, while tirelessly pursuing his true craft - surveying. Also a very decent man among many frontier scoundrels. His late poverty bewilders, given the significance of his accomplishments and resulting intricate maps (Oregon territory, the Columbia R. and the US border in particular).

[Deb Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maps please. If you are going to write about an epic adventurer like David Thompson, I highly recommend some maps. The illustrations that are included are authentic, but microscopic enough to be of little use. Overall, the book was good and everyone should know about David Thompson. I found myself consulting Sources of the River: Tracking David Thompson Across Western North America by Jack Nisbet for the maps, but found it to be a better book about David Thompson because of Jack Nisbet's understanding and experience with the Pacific Northwest.

[April Sanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent, readable book on a fascinating piece of Canadian history. David Thompson died in poverty and both his cartography achievements and arduous, trailblazing journeys were only fully appreciated after his death. The books portrays a time in Canadian history when Aboriginal people were an integral part of frontier Canadian life, respected for their knowledge and skills. I intend to read more by this author.

[Jim Peplinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

i wonder how many “contributing” people are lost to history?

after all Thompson accomplished and contributed it was only happenstance that brought his life to light.

How few people lived in the moment aka kept a journal like thompson?
Amazing life. A story of exploration, adventure, science, love, heartache, aging and some very unfortunate (and predicable) folly. Great and valuable read for Canadians, historians, travellers and those making their way in life.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic story about a remarkable man. I found the book excellent. The main downside was that the maps in the book are entirely illegible. Odd given the subject. I enjoyed following Thompson's journey with my atlas, but really should have some high quality maps in a book like this. I'd like to go to see some of his maps.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book on David Thompson, a fur trader with the Hudson Bay Co. and the Northwest Company, who during his time with them learned to survey and map. His map of western Canada was quite remarkable for its time and was the most accurate for many years after.

[Rodney97 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched, written in flowing prose. As others have complained, though, Jenish offers little help in placing Thompson's travels. A book about a map-maker without maps? Come on. The few faint replicas of his original maps are more decoration than guide.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book about the exploration of the rivers of Canada around the time of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Amazing what people were able to tolerate in terms of geographic and climatic challenges.

[J]

This is a fascinating book that charts the life of David Thompson, a mapmaker who discovered many important rivers in the Northwest of Canada over a 30-year period. With the exception of one immoral part, the book is worth reading.

[Riley Dirckx · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was quite interesting and brings to light what it was like to be a fur trader, as well as describing the challenges the elderly faced before the social safety nets of today. My one critique of this book is that many of the drawings and maps appear several pages after they are described.

[Binky Bowberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pro: Great biography of the amazing Canadian mapmaker who should have a more prominent place in history.
Con: No readable maps in this book. Unbelievable.

[Rory Eisele · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good book about an extremely interesting man.

[david bignell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outstanding historical read that really explained the opening of western Canada through the maps and journals of one man. Such a sad ending to a man who lived such a big life.

[Ian Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a well written history book. The author keeps you engaged from start to finish.

[christopher foley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book.

[Ryan King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, gripping story about an unknown hero of the frontier.