Compiled by Stephenie Flora

David Thompson began his career in the fur business at the age of thirteen as an apprentice for the Hudson's Bay Company. Later he joined the Canadian company known as the Northwest Fur Company, and in 1800 he started out on a trip to locate the best overland route to the Pacific Ocean.

During the first seven years he explored every nook and cranny of the region between Rocky Mountain House and the continental divide. With him were his wife Charlotte and their children. In the summer of 1811 Thompson and his party, coming down the Columbia met the party of Astorians working their way up the Columbia. After greetings were over, Thompson and his party continued down the Columbia and set up camp on behalf of the NW Fur Company on the outside of Fort Astoria.

During the summer of 1812, it was learned that the US was at war with Great Britain. Many of the men at Astoria found themselves in the unhappy situation of being British subjects in the employ of an American firm. The Nor'westers warned the Astorians that a British warship would soon arrive and seize the fort and that it would be better to sell before they lost everything. The Astorians finally sold the fort to the Nor' Westers and dissolved their partnership. The Nor'westers changed the name of the fort to Fort George and from 1813 until 1821, they had no competition in the Pacific Northwest.

For additional information on the Northwest Company at Astoria see: Pacific Fur Company

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