Fort Thompson Playground

By editor

Thompson Falls, Sanders County, Montana, 1811

The vast and romantic wilderness of the Northwest, a domain of towering pines and rushing waters, was first threaded by the tracks of commerce through the extraordinary exertions of David Thompson. Born in the crowded streets of London and consigned to a charity school for orphan boys, he was cast upon the icy shores of Hudson Bay at the tender age of fourteen. There, in the harsh crucible of the New World, he learned the languages of the native tribes, the art of navigation, and the rugged survival skills that would make him the greatest land geographer of his age.

Between 1807 and 1812, Thompson pushed his explorations across the formidable barrier of the Rocky Mountains, establishing a network of remote trading posts that would anchor the British fur trade in the region. Near the falls that now bear his name, he and his men erected Saleesh House, one of the first four such establishments in this untamed territory. It was a grand and perilous enterprise, dependent upon the goodwill and cooperation of the native inhabitants, who often provided critical assistance to the intrepid explorers.

In 1811, Thompson achieved his crowning glory, locating and mapping the entire course of the Columbia River from its source to the Pacific Ocean. He navigated this legendary River of the West in a large cedar plank canoe of his own invention, solving the mystery of the Northwest Passage that had eluded adventurers for centuries. By the close of his career, he had charted nearly a fifth of the North American continent, traveling over 65,000 miles by foot, horse, and canoe, leaving an indelible mark upon the history of the West.

See also

• Fort Thompson Playground at Thompson Falls, Sanders County (Erected by Numerous donors, erected Unknown)
• Saleesh House
• David Thompson