Skip to main content

'Countries westward of the Rocky Mountains'

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/RCMS 250

Scope and Contents

'Remarks on the countries westward of the Rocky Mountains with reference to the rough chart by David Thompson', 4 pages. The document is signed and dated by Thompson. The chart referred to is not present.

Dates

  • Creation: 1813-04-19

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).

Biographical / Historical

David Thompson (1770-1857) was born at Westminster, London, on 30 April 1770, and educated at Grey Coat School, Westminster. He was apprenticed to the Hudson's Bay Company in 1784, and was employed as a clerk at Hudson Bay and in the interior. He joined the North West Company in 1797, becoming a partner, and worked in the fur trade until 1812. During this period, Thompson undertook exploratory expeditions, during which he mapped the terrain and became the first white man to descend the Columbia River from its source to its mouth. He was engaged on surveying the boundary between Canada and the United States from 1816 to 1826, and subsequently worked on other surveys. He died at Longueuil, near Montreal, on 10 February 1857.

Extent

4 page(s) : paper

Language of Materials

English

Former / Other Reference

MSS 62

Other Finding Aids

Donald H. Simpson, ed., 'The manuscript catalogue of the library of the Royal Commonwealth Society' (London, 1975), p. 136.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The provenance of the collection is not known.

Related Materials

The R.C.S. Manuscripts Collection includes Thompson's 'Narrative' on the sources of the Columbia River.

General

This collection level description was created by RAS. The biographical history was compiled with reference to the entry on David Thompson in W. Stewart Wallace, ed., 'The Macmillan dictionary of Canadian biography', 4th edition (Toronto, 1978), pp. 827-828.

Originator(s)

Thompson, David, 1770-1857, explorer and geographer

Includes index.
Date
2005-09-26 09:33:40+00:00
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Cambridge University Library Repository

Contact:
Cambridge University Library
West Road
Cambridge CB3 9DR United Kingdom