nis

PTT TT Et Ee

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West Company of Merchants of
Canada from the mean, selfish
policy of the H.B..Co., styled hon-
ourable.” :

Almost at once he started out

from North-West Company head-
quarters on Lake Superior on
what was to be the longest, fastest
and most brilliant survey of his
whole career, the 4,000-mile trip
via Lake Winnipeg to the head-
waters of the Missouri and back
via the south and east shore of
Lake Superior, a trip that took 10
months and was accomplished only
by enduring the greatest of hard-
ships. (It was on this trip that he
visited the light-skinned Mandan
tribes on the Missouri, a tribe of
prairie Indians who lived in huge
huts and cultivated corn, and who
Jater were completely exterminat-
ed by the advance of American
“civilization.”’)

Thompson’s surveys during the
next eight years carried him over
an ‘immense. area that included
Lac La Biche, Lesser Slave Lake,
Peace River, Bow River, the source
of the’ Saskatchewan and the
country north-east of’ Winnipeg.
In 1803 when a third company
which had entered the fur trading
field — the X Y Company — was
merged with the North-West Com-
pany, Thompson was made a win-
‘tering partner, which meant he
would get a small share of the
profits but have no say’ in com-
“pany policy.

*

Now came Thompson’s biggest
exploratory effort and his great-
est achievement—finding and sur-
veying a path across the Rockies
to the Pacific. The North-West
Company wanted the fur trade on
both sides of the Rockies. But it
was receiving stiff competition
from the south — from the Ameri-
can Fur Company controlled by
John. Jacob Astor. (As it hap-
pened, Astor’s company took the
sea route around Cape Horn and
so arrived at the West. coast be-
fore Thompson did.)

Thompson did a very thorough
job and.the whole undertaking
took him several years (which in-
eluded many trips back to Lake
Superior with furs.) Included in
his surveys were the upper Sas-
katchewan, the Kootenay, Arrow
Takes, the Columbia River (which
he surveyed right from its source
to its mouth) and many more.
The difficulties were tremendous
and more than once he crossed the
Rockies in the heart of winter.

it was in the early stages of.

this undertaking that an event
took place worth recording, for it

contrasts Thompson’s humane op- .

position to liquor trade with the
Indians to that of the rest of the
fur traders. But let Thompson
tell it in his own words:

“T was obliged,” ‘he said in his
account of the expedition in 1808,
“to take two kegs of alcohol,
over-ruled by my Partners (Mes-
sts. Donald McTavish and Joe
McDonald Grant) for I had made
‘it a law to myself, that no alco-
hol should pass the Mountains in
my company, and thus be clear
of the sad sight of drunkeness,
and its many evils: but these
gentlemen insisted upon . alcohol
being the most profitable article
that could be taken for the In-
dian trade. In this I knew they
were miscalculated; accordingly
when we came to the defiles of
the Mountains I placed the two
Kegs of Alcohol on a_ vicious
horse; and by noon the Kegs
were empty, and in pieces, the

TE Tn

Man who mapped West

POLES

Horse rubbing his lead against
the rocks to get rid of it. “I
wrote to my partners what I had
done; and that I would do the
‘same to every Keg of Alcohol,
and for the next six years I had
charge of the fur trade on the
west side of the mountains, no
further attempt was made to in-
troduce spirituous liquors.”

In -July 15, (1811, he finally
reached the ocean and wrote in
his notes:

“Thus I have.fully completed
»the survey of this part of North
America from sea to sea, and by
almost innumerable astronomical
observationg have determined the
positions of the Mountajns, Lakes
and Rivers, and other remarkable
places on the northern part of
this continent; the maps of all of
which have been drawn and laid
down in geographical position,
being now the work of twenty-
seven years.”

‘A few days before, on July 9,
he had planted the British flag on
the Columbia River at its junction
with the Shawpatin, and erected
this inscription: ‘Know hereby
that this country is claimed by
Great Britain as part of its ter-
ritories; = <7 .

*

Shortly after, in 1812, he re-
turned to the East to work on his
map and his narratives and to re-
tire. During all his years of travel
he had made it a daily practice to
record his observations in writing.
His voluminous notes included not

only his many figures on his sur- .

veys, but much information on the
physical features of the country,
its soil, plant life and wild life, as
well as many details on Indian
customs, traditions and history.

It should be added here that in
1799 he had married a pretty Metis
girl, Charlotte Small, who ac-
companied him on many of his
trips sharing his hardships. Unlike
many fur traders who made only
marriages of convenience while in

the West and who left their In- -

dian or Metis wives and children
when they returned to “civiliza-
tion,’ Thompson settled down at
Terrebonne, Quebec, and later
near Montreal with his family —
in all there were 13 children.

About the Author: Ben
Swankey is rapidly earning
a reputation as an historian
by his writing on the history
of the Canadian West. .He
is now completing a study

of the Riel uprising.

His hopes of retiring were soon
dashed to the ground. He had
loaned money to a religious or-
ganization to build a church and
never had it repaid. He set his
sons up in business and they went
broke. His savings used up, he
was forced to go back to work.
Among other things he worked for
10 years on a commission survey-
ing the. international boundary
along the St. Lawrence River and
Lake of the Woods.

In 1813 he prepared his map,
which ‘became the possession of
the North-West Company, for
many years hanging in its Fort
William board room. He had
hoped to have the map printed
and made available to the public,
but he couldn’t get a sponsor,

Years later, when he was nearly
70, he wrote his narratives. And
again he couldn’t get them print-
ed because no one would sponsor
them.

Thompson fought passionately
against U.S. attempts to, expand
its boundaries northward and he
expounded’ his arguments in many
letters to the British government.
No atténtion was paid to.them
and he saw huge territories that
he had personally explored and

' Surveyed turned over to the U.S.

, Finaly, his eyesight failed and
he became completely destitute: He
was forced to sell the precious sci-
entific instruments with which he
had acocmplished so much. And

_in his last days he pawned even

his overcoat in order to buy a lit-
tle food. =
Ninety-six years ago, on T'eb-
ruary 10, 1857, at the age of 87,
he died. And the man who had
given so much to his country was

buried in Mount Royal Cemetery,
Montreal; without even a stone to
mark his last resting place. The
fur traders, the merchants, the
government — all had used him
when it suited their owin ends, dis-
carded and forgotten him.

*

Thus died a great and modest
man, unhonored and unsung.’ All
his life he was driven by a great
passion to extend man’s knowl-
edge. He had endured almost in-
credible hardships — the freezing:
cold and blizzards of winter, the
mosquitoes and the heat of sum-
mer, hunger and starvation — but
he had kept on, Many times he
retraced his footsteps, checking
and rechecking his surveys and
astronomical observations. These,
acomplished as they were with
primitive instruments, were so ac-
curate that they. are still a source
of wonder and admiration to sur-
veyors today.

(His narratives were not made
public until many years later. In
1915, they were published by the
Champlain Society, and edited by
J. B. Tyrell, who did so much to
make Thompson’s great accomp-
lishments known to the world. The
Narrative of David Thompson, a
remarkable’ and fascinating book
available in most public libraries
should be studied

by every Cana-
dian. .

Unlike most. of his contempor-
aries, David Thompson — wasn’t
after riches or power and he had
no desire to exploit the Indians.
He wanted only to make Canada
known from ‘sea to sea. He made
this country his home and he loved
its people. He was a builder of
Canada in the true sense of the
word.

ss

THE

SPORTLIGHT |

~ By BERT WHYTE ~~

“TARNATION"” (or words to that effect) said the old hoss-
player from Hastings Park. “I saw that Eddies Boy was running
at Santa Anita last Saturday, and was going to call my bookie t0
lay a bet, then something interfered and I never got around to it

io fle had reason to feel bad. Speed Kermode’s five-year-old
5rown horse, a prime favorite of Vancouver punters, copped the
sixth race and paid $38.70 to win.

The photo shows Eddies Boy winning the $10,000 added Long’
acres Mile last year — the only B.C. bred thoroughbred ever to wit
that annual classic. one

* * *

SKIPPING LIGHTLY over 1953 we look forward to 1954, the
big year for sports in Vancouver. Yep, there’ll be the British Empire
Games, plus bigtime football—for Vancouver has at last been accepte

into the Western Interprovincial Football Union (providing certait
strict conditions are’ met).

Now that we’ve got the Coast franchise, let’s stop a moment and
consider, if the news is all good. Will it help develop B.C. footh
players, or will it result in an influx of high-priced Yankee stat®
Seems to me that the latter is a certainty, and I don’t like the idea.

In recent years it has become the custom in Canada to lure yankee
football players north of the 49th parallel by offering them more
money than they can earn at home. They come, but haughtily, aye
our cash, stay long enough to finish the schedule, and hurry home ©
bank the boodle. :

And what about our own kids who are growing up with visions
of becoming grid stars? Fewer and fewer of them manage to make ? Me
grade, for every Canadian club is desperately seeking a winning teams
and the easiest and quickest way is to shell out the shekels to United
States players who have had the advantage of better. coaching.

1 au

In the long run, Canadians will become a race of spectators, and
Canadian amateur football will die an unnatural death. I call.
murder.

* Kk”

FOR 12 DAYS British, American and other nationals from prisonet
of-war camps all over North Korea gathered together to compete ¥
their own “Olympic Games.” Details of the big meet, which +0?
place last November, have just reached the London Daily Worker be
letters from British POW’s.

The “Inter-Camp Olympics 1952”. were sponsored by the Chines?
People’s Volunteers. The games were held at a camp in a valley
surrounded by high mountains. The sports ground was decorated with
banners, flags’ and, over the presidium, a huge peace dove.

The 500 competitors marched around the field and the
flame” was lit from a torch carried by a runner; then an
pledge” of sportsmanship was taken.

The international aspect of the game was shown by
of one of the camp football teams. It consisted of four Britons,
Turks, two Americans, a Frenchman and a Dutchman. ni

The prizes, provided by the Chinese volunteers, included hand
made brooches with earrings to match, vases, cigarette holders, puny
silk sunshades, powder compacts: and engraved photo albums.

* * *

A REPORT from Peking reached the office this week, telling
of the growing interest in ice hockey in China. In Peking, four lars®
public skating parks are now open, and speed skating and hockey a
becoming popular sports.

«Qlympie
«Qlympl©

the composition L
three

In Ashan City, where great construction projects of China’ “It
centre are in full swing, two large workers’ skating rinks were © 4)
last December with funds provided by the city’s trade union councl”
Since winter set in, many rinks have also been built-in Northeas”
North and Northwest China, where ice skating was practically noe 4
existent for most people before liberation.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — FEBRUARY 6, 1953

PAGE