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| Genre/Form: | Biographie (Descripteur de forme) Biography Biographies |
|---|---|
| Additional Physical Format: | Online version: Jenish, D'Arcy, 1952- Epic wanderer. Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, c2004 (OCoLC)607162743 |
| Named Person: | David Thompson; David Thompson; David Thompson |
| Material Type: | Biography, Government publication, State or province government publication, Internet resource |
| Document Type: | Book, Internet Resource |
| All Authors / Contributors: |
D'Arcy Jenish |
| ISBN: | 0803226004 9780803226005 |
| OCLC Number: | 53796931 |
| Description: | 309 p. : ill. ; 24 cm. |
| Contents: | To the New World (1784) -- Into the Country (1786) -- By star and compass (1790) -- With the Nor'Westers (1797) -- Over the mountains (1807) -- To the Pacific (1810) -- The great map (1812) -- Williamstown Days (1815-1836) -- Hard times (1837-1857) |
| Responsibility: | D'Arcy Jenish. |
| More information: |
Abstract:
"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 laid out with 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, 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."--BOOK JACKET.
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Related Subjects:(13)
- Thompson, David, -- 1770-1857.
- Cartographers -- Canada -- Biography.
- Cartography -- Canada -- History -- 18th century.
- Cartography -- Canada -- History -- 19th century.
- Canada, Western -- Geography.
- Hudson's Bay Company.
- North West Company.
- Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson.
- Cartographes -- Canada -- Biographies.
- Cartographie -- Canada -- Histoire -- 18e siècle.
- Cartographie -- Canada -- Histoire -- 19e siècle.
- Cartographie.
- Canada (Ouest)
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- Biography: David Thompson(70 items)
by ahbetts updated 2008-05-14
