East Village in Calgary in Calgary Metropolitan Region, Alberta — Canada’s Prairie Region (North America)
Early Explorers
David Thompson travelled to this area in 1800.
— 1800 —
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, July 1, 2022
1. Early Explorers Marker
The North West and Hudson's Bay fur trading companies sent traders and explorers into unknown territories to find new Aboriginal trading partners. David Thompson, often accompanied by his Métis wife Charlotte Small and their children, travelled 55,000 miles (90,000 km) surveying and mapping north western North America. During the fall of 1800, they journeyed from Rocky Mountain House to the Bow River in the Calgary area to visit a Piikani camp.
Thompson's journals and the maps he created helped to guide later explorers John Palliser, George Dawson and Joseph Tyrrell who visited the west to gather information for the railway and future settlement.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Colonial Era • Exploration • Industry & Commerce • Native Americans. A significant historical year for this entry is 1800.
Location. 51° 2.684′ N, 114° 2.677′ W. Marker is in Calgary, Alberta, in Calgary Metropolitan Region. It is in East Village. Marker can be reached from 9 Avenue Southeast, 0.3 kilometers east of 6 Street Southeast, on the right when traveling east. Marker is located along the interpretive trail at Fort Calgary National Historic Site. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 750 9 Avenue Southeast, Calgary AB T2G 5E1, Canada. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker
this page online
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. Fort Calgary National Historic Site
Also see . . .
1. David Thompson.
David Thomson was called “the greatest land geographer who ever lived.” He walked or paddled 80,000 km or more in his life, mapping most of western Canada, parts of the east and the northwestern United States. He spent 27 years mapping the west. “The age of guessing is passed away,” he wrote. Thompson predicted the changes that would come to the west, that it would become farmland and Indigenous peoples would be pushed from their land. As the one who mapped it, he was aware that he was contributing to that future.(Submitted on May 1, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, July 1, 2022
2. Early Explorers Marker
2. John Palliser.
Irish sportsman and explorer. He spent nearly 3 years (1857-60) exploring what is now western Canada as instigator and leader of the Palliser Expedition. His interest in the southern prairies and mountains of western British North America had been aroused on an 1847-48 tour of the US, when he had spent almost 11 months hunting buffalo, elk and grizzly bear in the Missouri country.(Submitted on May 1, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
3. George Mercer Dawson.
Geologist, author, teacher, civil servant, geographer, anthropologist, and paleontologist. For two years Dawson travelled with the Geological Survey of Canada, as naturalist and geologist on the international boundary survey from Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains. His Report on the geology and resources of the region in the vicinity of the forty-ninth parallel... was published in 1875.(Submitted on May 1, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
4. Joseph Burr Tyrrell.
Geologist, explorer, and historian. Explored the vast areas of western and northern Canada, consolidating information gathered by earlier explorers and filling in blank spots on the maps, especially in the Northwest Territories, while working for 17 years for the Geological Survey of Canada (1881–98).(Submitted on May 1, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
Credits. This page was last revised on May 4, 2023. It was originally submitted on April 30, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 67 times since then and 15 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on May 1, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
