The mapmaker's eye : David Thompson on the Columbia Plateau Cover Image

Book

The mapmaker's eye : David Thompson on the Columbia Plateau / Jack Nisbet.

Nisbet, Jack, 1949- (Author).

Summary:

"David Thompson is a hero in Canada, yet has remained largely unknown in the United States. Between 1801 and 1812, this fur trader, explorer, and cartographer established two viable trade routes across the Rocky Mountains in Canada and systematically surveyed the entire 1,250-mile course of the Columbia River. In succeeding years he distilled his mathematical notations from dozens of journal notebooks into the first accurate maps of the northwest quadrant of North America. Information from some of his earlier mapwork was even used by the Lewis and Clark Expedition."

"Author Jack Nisbet utilizes fresh research to convey how Thompson experienced the full sweep of the human and natural history etched across the Columbia drainage. He places Thompson's movements within the larger contexts of the European Enlightenment, the British fur trade economy, and American expansion as represented by Lewis and Clark. Packed with illustrations, photographs, and maps, The Mapmaker's Eye is a chronicle of Thompson's life and adventures, especially in the Columbia country."--Jacket.

Record details

ISBN: 0874222850
ISBN: 9780874222852
Physical Description: xii, 180 pages : illustrations (some color), facsimiles, maps (some color), portraits ; 27 cm
Publisher: Pullman : Washington State University Press, ©2005.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 171-173) and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

A mathematical boy -- Lure of the Columbia -- Rising star -- The Stoney Mountains -- An attempt to cross the Rocky Mountains-1801 -- Across the Divide -- Rocky Mountain House -- Height of land -- Kootanae House -- Waiting for Ugly Head -- Winter 1807-08 -- Among the Kootenai and Salish -- Trading & discovery-spring 1808 -- Flooded out -- Second winter, 1808-1809 -- Kullyspel House -- The country before us -- Saleesh House -- A more eligible road -- A critical situation -- On rotation -- Athabasca Pass -- Boat encampment -- Journey to Spokane House -- Kettle Falls -- A voyage down the Columbia -- Passage to the sea -- Mr. Astor's company -- Completing the circle -- Last winter -- Legacy -- The mapmaker -- Boundaries -- Travels.