The Writings of David Thompson, Volume 1

David Thompson’s Travels is one of the finest early expressions of the Canadian experience. The work is not only the account of a remarkable life in the fur trade but an extended meditation on the land and Native peoples of western North America. The tale

A vivid account of life in the fur trade and a cornerstone of Canadian literature.

“In a very well-written introduction, editor Moreau points out that Thompson is best understood if the reader views him in the multiple roles of storyteller, interpreter of events, scientist, philosopher, and mediator. Thompson’s own writings give ample evidence of this astute observation.” CHOICE

“The Travels is one of the pillars of Canadian writing, and as such, a primary source for scholars and researchers. Thompson is essential to the concept of the West; in some (European) ways, he created it. He predicted the demise of the bison, the decimat

“Thompson’s descriptions of his experiences transports the reader to the era of Euro American contact with Indigenous people in the pre-colonial West like no other – his observations are amongst the clearest and most perceptive written during the period.

“Moreau integrates new materials and ensures that previously excluded material is now accessible. Scholars have been waiting some time for a complete Thompson edition, and this will be used and admired by historians and anthropologists throughout the Unit

“Moreau has tackled the thorny text of David Thompson’s Travels with a lucid new transcription that sweeps readers across the breadth of North America. Along the way Thompson’s disparate parts assemble themselves into a full-blown character, possessed of

“Re-publication of Thompson’s Travels reminds us of what constitutes an historical records, and reestablishes the need to peruse this kind of early contact accounting when undertaking historical inquiry… both for the student and for the general reader,

William E. Moreau is a teacher with the Toronto District School Board and a sessional lecturer with the University of Toronto at Scarborough.