A visit from author and David Thompson expert Jack Nisbet had some Jasperites in a historic frame of mind earlier this month. Nisbet, whose detailed histories of David Thompson’s journeys through western North America have earned him acclaim and a broad readership, spoke to a small gathering at the Jasper Yellowhead Museum and Archives on the evening of May 4. The following morning, about 14 interested locals turned up for a breakfast meeting to begin planning a bicentennial celebration to mark the adventurer’s “discovery” of Athabasca and Howse passes.

Nisbet, who first came to prominence in 1994 with the publication of “Sources of the River” was in Jasper as part of the tour of David Thompson territory promoting his new work, “The Mapmaker’s Eye”. In a detailed discussion of Thompson’s provenance and acheivements, Nisbet said that he was always learning new things about one of the New World’s true renaissance men.

“I have been dealing with David Thompson for more than 30 years,” he said. “There is so much local information out there. It’s just like fishing, you go and get your local knowledge and then you figure it out.”

Nisbet’s presentation on Thompson focused less on the explorer’s well-documented discoveries and reknowned maps, and more on the nature of how we have come to understand Thompson’s world in the present time.

“Let’s remember that Thompson was the boss of his expedition, and so he was the only one who gets to write history,” Nisbet mused. “His crew might not have seen events in the same way.”

With only Thompson’s record to rely on in places, Nisbet and other scholars are forced to do what they can to put the great explorations in a more complete context, and one way to achieve that is to study the influences and background of the man. Nisbet illustrated how Thompson’s quasi-rural upbringing and charity school education provided the background for his skills and curiosities that would determine his course in North America. Rather than being a mysteriously inspired individual, Nisbet argued that the reasons for Thompson’s behaviour were evident from his personal history.  

Thompson’s route to the Columbia and his mapping of the Canadian west profoundly influenced the course of history. Nisbet, who hails from Spokane, credits Thompson with making the Eastern Washington area what it is today, and said that he could have had an even more remarkable legacy if eastern politicians had paid attention to his “elegant” resolution of the Canada-US border dispute.

Having traveled the course of the Columbia River many times, Thompson suggested that the north bank of the river form the border west of the Rockies. If that was in fact the case, a vast portion of Washington State would now be in Canadian hands.

With so much to discuss, Nisbet told the audience that there were many possibilities for bicentennial projects. Thompson was led to Howse Pass in 1808 and “found” Athabasca Pass three years later. According to Parks Canada’s Ken Walker, who is taking the lead on planning Jasper-based events, the later date will be the focal point for local celebrations.

“We talked about things more towards 2011,” Walker said after the planning meeting. “We talked about the artists who followed Thompson, Paul Kane and Henry James Warre and discussed the possibility of an exhibition in Jasper.”

The locals who showed up to start planning a Thompson bicentennial event were very positive about Nisbet’s presentation, Walker added.

“I’ve heard some excellent feedback, people really liked the way he approached the life of David Thompson. I think people also appreciated Jack’s perspective on David Thompson as a human and as a person who did some incredible things.”