For over 28 years, David Thompson explored and mapped the uncharted wilds of North America. By 1812, he had surveyed over three million kilometers-one-fifth of the continent-and become the first European to navigate the entire length of the Columbia River. Yet Thompson died in poverty and relative obscurity, after receiving little credit for his achievements, and his travel narrative would remain unpublished until 1916. Elle Andra-Warner follows Thompson from his early years with the Hudson's Bay Company through his amazing accomplishments with the North West Company to his later struggle to claim his legacy. Surveyor, map-maker, fur trader and entrepreneur, Thompson left a wealth of detail about the country in his journals and spent two years creating a map so accurate and detailed that it was the basis of many Canadian government maps for the next century. This is the exciting life story of one of the greatest geographers of all time.