154 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 



in Lat. 53'* 16' 36", and on November 21st in Lat. 53S 24' 42", Long. 

 116° 50'. On November 26th he left McLeod River, in Lat. 53« 30' 

 39". and on November 2Sth was at a Brook in Lat. 53*^ 37' 54". On 

 December 1st he reached Athabasca lliver, and on the 5th and 6th 

 was at the depot in Lat. 53^. 33' 33", Long. 117° 30\ From here he 

 ascended the Athabasca lliver, and crossing the mountains by the 

 Athabasca Pass reached the Columbia at the mouth of the Canoe 

 River, whei'e he spent the remainder of tlie winter, and where the 

 N. W. Co. had a Post, perhaps built by himself after his arrival. From 

 here, in the spring 1811, he ascended the Columbia River to its source, 

 crossed McGillivray Portage, and, descending the Kootanie River, 

 was at the " Great Kootanie Road " on May lOth, which road strikes 

 up a stream from the south-east bend of the Kootanie River. He 

 crossed on this road, or on the " Lake Indian Road," north of the 

 Pend d'Oreille Lake to the Saleesh (Clark's Fort) River, and then on 

 the " Sheetshoa Road," which runs north-west from Saleesh River, 

 about ten miles below Pend d'Oreille Lake, to the "Sheetshoa" 

 (Spokane) River, and on June 15th he was at Spokane House on 

 this river, which house he places in Lat. 47° 47' 4". He then des- 

 cended the Spokane River to the Columbia and ascended the Colum- 

 bia to " Ilthkoyape " or Kettle Falls, near the present site of Colville, 

 which he places in Lat. 48° 37' 30"., Long. 117° 55'. Here he remain- 

 ed for a few days, and then descended the Columbia to its mouth, 

 whei'e he ari*ived on July 15th or IGth. Alexander Ross and Gabriel 

 Franchere state that it was on the 15th, but Thompson's record of his 

 observations seems rather to point to the 16th as the date of his 

 ai-rival. The " Pacific Fur Company," under which the two gentlemen 

 above named were clerks, had in the spring of this same year founded 

 a fort at the mouth of the Columbia which they named Astoria, a 

 name that was afterwards changed to Fort George, when it was sold 

 to the North- West Company in the autumn of 1813. 



After spending a few days with Mr. McDougall, the hospitable 

 commander of Astoria, Thompson started back up the Columbia and 

 on July 24th was camped in the mouth of the Willamette River, near 

 the site of the present town of Portland. From here he continued 

 his ascent of the Columbia (several observations being given) to the 

 mouth of " Shaupatin " (Lewis or Snake) River, which he ascended to 



