Surveyor, cartographer, fur trader, adventurer, naturalist and entrepreneur, David Thompson is now recognized as one of the greatest explorers and geographers of all time. By 1812, he had surveyed almost four million square kilometres of the North American wilderness and become the first European to navigate the entire length of the Columbia River. This compelling biography draws from Thompson's detailed accounts of his gruelling voyages and follows him from his apprenticeship with the Hudson's Bay Company through his extraordinary accomplishments in the service of the North West Company to his later years struggling to claim his legacy.