David Thompson (1770-1857)

Boundary County · dedicated 2025 · US-95, milepost 503.69

The renowned mapmaker and fur trader for Canada’s North West Company explored this area in 1808. On May 8, 1808, Thompson’s famished party met ten lodges of Kootenai people near here. Short of food themselves, the Kootenai nonetheless offered fish and “moss bread,” made from tree lichens. Thompson termed the bread “slightly bitter…but acceptable to the hungry.” He called the place Camp Providence. Thompson left on an established Indian trail, the same route US Highway 95 now follows. In 1809, he returned to Camp Providence. Kootenai people guided him to Lake Pend Oreille, where he established Idaho’s first fur-trading post.

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David Thompson (1770-1857)

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