David Thompson - Canadian Explorer - Hinton, Alberta
Posted by: 
wildwoodke
N 53° 23.111 W 117° 37.301
11U E 458651 N 5915300
This mural, easily seen as you enter town from the west, is eye catching and will draw visitors down off the highway to visit any one of the retail shops or restaurants that line the Yellowhead Highway in Hinton, Alberta.
Waymark Code: WMDVTP
Location: Alberta, Canada
Date Posted: 02/27/2012
Views: 2
Text from the plaque:
"David Thompson Mural
This mural is in commemoration of David Thompson, Canada’s foremost mapmaker; whose party camped for 25 days at the northern end of Brule Lake just west of Hinton. The scene is a depiction of what his ecampment may have looked like during this time. His stay in the area was primarily to store goods and prepare for his trek across the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies. Thompson’s discovery of a northern trade route via the Athabasca Pass would be the catalyst in establishing the Yellowhead corridor as a major trade and transportation route.
The Artists
Project Manager and Designer Alicia Nielson (Me-a-no-D); Arlyn Roycraft; Norene Cooper: Wilmut Metzger; Patty Viney and Penny Annau
This mural was commissioned by the Town of Hinton in celebration of the Bicentennial Anniversary of Canadian explorer and mapmaker David Thompson."
More on this great explorer from the archives of the Government of Ontario
The provincial archives of the Government of Ontario contain most of the records of one of North America's most important and during his life poorly recognized exploreers. The provincial website states:
"David Thompson (1770-1857) fur trader, astronomer and surveyor, mapped more of North America than anyone else. By horseback, canoe, dog sled and on foot, he travelled some 90,000 kilometres (55,000 miles), equivalent to circling the globe twice.
His great map of the West depicted one sixth of North America. Later as a merchant, farmer and writer, Thompson contributed to Canada’s development as an independent nation.
Thompson’s journals, letters, maps and autobiography provide detailed insights into the fur trade, the Native People he encountered, the lands he explored, and milestones in his life - marriage to Charlotte Small, the birth of 13 children and the many careers he pursued.
The year 2007 marks the 150th anniversary of Thompson’s death and the 200th anniversary of his first crossing of the Rocky Mountains – a fitting occasion to commemorate North America’s “Greatest Geographer.”"
See: http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/on-line-exhibits/thompson/index.aspx
"In declining health and disappointed his life’s work remained unrecognized, David and Charlotte spent their later years living with their daughter and son-in-law in Longueuil near Montreal.
Thompson died 10 February 1857 shortly before his 87th birthday, followed by his wife three months later. They were buried in the family plot of his son-in-law Dalhousie Landell, located at Mount Royal Cemetery, Montreal. The graves were finally marked in 1927 on the initiative of the Canadian Historical Society."
See: http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/on-line-exhibits/thompson/map-maker.aspx
"I am the morrow 73 years old but so destitute that I have not where with to buy a loaf of Bread. May the Pity of the Almighty be on us."
Entry dated 29 April 1843, Journal #82
David Thompson’s notebooks and journals
Reference Code: F 443-1
Archives of Ontario