David Thompson (1770-1857)

David Thompson (1770-1857) is an Idaho historical marker in Boundary County, dedicated 2025.

US-95, milepost 503.69

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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.

TodayHistorical map

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USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection

Historical maps covering this location

1856 · Washington And Oregon. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1859 · Department of Oregon. Map of the state of Oregon and Washington Territory (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1911 · Priest Lake, Idaho (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)
1913 · Priest Lake, Idaho (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)
1958 · Sandpoint, Idaho (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

Department of Oregon. Map of the state of Oregon and Washington Territory, 1859, covering the location of David Thompson (1770-1857), with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Department of Oregon. Map of the state of Oregon and Washington Territory, 1859, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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David Thompson (1770-1857)

Historical maps covering this location

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