David Thompson (April 30, 1770 – February 10, 1857) was a fur trader, surveyor, and map-maker, known to some native peoples as "Koo-Koo-Sint" or "the Stargazer". Over his career he mapped over 3.9 million square kilometers of North America and for this has been described as the "greatest land geographer who ever lived." In 1811 he journeyed down the Kootenai River, on to Kullyspell House near Hope and down the Columbia to Astoria, Oregon. In celebration and remembrance of this historic event, a group of mostly Canadians are canoeing from Invermere to Astoria. They put ashore to camp overnight in Thompson Falls and Noxon and today they came ashore in Clarkfork and will spend the night camped there. Tomorrow they canoe across Lake Pend Oreille and camp at Dover.
There are nine canoes with about eight people paddling in each canoe. There are also a lot of support people following them. The Clarkfork River is running really high and fast right now. When they came down the river to turn into the cove where the old bridge used to be, they were paddling really hard to make the turn!
This is a zoom shot which is not very clear but you can see how fast the river is moving in this photo.
In 1784, at the age of 14, David Thompson entered a seven-year apprenticeship with the Hudson's Bay Company
. He set sail on May 28 of that year, and left England forever. He defected to the Northwest Fur Trading Company and in 1806 went to Rocky Mountain House in western Canada to prepare for an expedition down the Columbia.
Thompson mapped and established trading posts in Northwestern Montana, Idaho and Washington, and Western Canada; including Kootenai House and Saleesh House; the first trading post west of the Rockies in Montana extending North West Company fur trading territories.
Making the turn into the cove. In 1811 when Thompson made the trip there was also very high water.
They paddle 55 strokes per minute for one hour. Then they get to rest for one hour. Yes, they are in good physical condition.
