Near Jasper in Jasper National Park, Alberta — Canada’s Prairie Region (North America)

David Thompson

1770 — 1857

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 6, 2022

1. David Thompson Marker

Inscription. Click to hear the inscription.

[English] Born in London, Thompson served both the Hudson's Bay Company (1784-1797) and the North West Company (1797-1815) as trader, explorer and surveyor. One of the world’s great geographers, he accurately mapped the main travel routes through some 1,700,000 square miles of the Canadian and American West, in the process journeying some 50,000 miles by canoe, by horse and on foot. His great map of the West and his Narrative, edited by J.B. Tyrrell for the Champlain Society (1916), are lasting monuments to his genius. He died at Longueuil.

[Français] Né à Londres, Thompson fut au service des Compagnies de la Baie d'Hudson (1784-1797) et du Nord-Ouest (1797-1815) comme trafiquant, explorateur et arpenteur. Géographe hors pair, il releva le tracé exact des grandes voies sillonnant l'Ouest canadien et américain sur environ 1,700,000 milles carrés, en parcourant quelque 50,000 milles à cheval, à pied, et en canot. Sa grande carte de l'Ouest et son Narrative, publié par J.B. Tyrrell pour la Société Champlain (1916), témoignent de son génie. Il mourut à Longueuil.

Erected by Historic Sites and Monuments Board of

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Canada / Commission des lieux et monuments historiques du Canada.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Exploration • Industry & Commerce. In addition, it is included in the Canada, Historic Sites and Monuments Board series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1770.

Location. 52° 43.033′ N, 117° 52.501′ W. Marker is near Jasper, Alberta, in Jasper National Park. It is on Icefields Parkway (Provincial Highway 93) 24 kilometers south of Yellowhead Highway (Provincial Highway 16), on the right when traveling south. The marker is at the Athabasca Pass Lookout wayside. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Jasper AB T0E 1E0, Canada. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Canadian Rockies.

It is also in the Prairies.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Rocky Mountains,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once a British colony

and also Rupert’s Land.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 23 kilometers of this marker, measured as the crow flies: A

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 6, 2022

2. David Thompson Marker

Looking southwest from the Athabasca Pass Lookout wayside.

different marker also named David Thompson (here, next to this marker); Athabasca Pass National Historic Site / Lieu historique national du Col-Athabasca (a few steps from this marker); New Trade Route Over the Rockies / Une nouvelle route de commerce à travers les Rocheuses (a few steps from this marker); Henry House (approx. 22.2 kilometers away); A Lasting Legacy / Un legs durable / Aniskoonamakewin (approx. 22.6 kilometers away); The First Homesteaders / Les premiers homesteaders / Nistum Oota Ka Ki Weekichik (approx. 22.6 kilometers away); Memories of Home / Souvenirs d'un lieu de résidence / Weekiwawoo isitapatamook (approx. 22.6 kilometers away); First People / Les premiers habitants (approx. 22.7 kilometers away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Jasper.

Also see . . . David Thompson (1770-1857) (Wikipedia).

Excerpt: British fur trader, surveyor, and cartographer, known to some native people as “Koo-Koo-Sint” or “the Stargazer”. Over Thompson's career, he travelled 56,000 mi across North America, mapping 1.9 million square miles of the continent along the way. For this historic feat, Thompson has
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been described as the “greatest practical land geographer that the world has produced”.

In his published journals, Thompson recorded seeing large footprints (“which measured fourteen inches in length by eight inches in breadth”) near what is now Jasper, Alberta, in 1811. It has been suggested that these prints were similar to what has since been called the sasquatch. However, Thompson noted that these tracks showed “a small Nail at the end of each [toe]”, which led him to surmise it was a bear, but he had doubts, saying, “I held it to be the track of a large old grizzled bear; yet the shortness of the nails, the ball of the foot, and its great size was not that of a Bear”.

(Submitted on August 12, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

Credits. This page was last revised on October 4, 2026. It was originally submitted on August 12, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 403 times since then and 41 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 12, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.