Fur trade

Gun Control
by

Gun Control

Good Day Brave Heart

It’s seldom a bad day with so much to do.

Exit the warm contentment of the cozy, familiar structure to the bright snow-covered future that awaits you in the outdoors.  It’s a fantasy world of snow laden trees, martins leaping along the way and birds chattering to each other.  What do they say?  Only your own spirits will determine their message.  The sundog shines in a glorious ring around the sun, indicating a weather pattern on its way.  The brightness of this glory world is the psychedelic wonder of yesteryear.  It’s no wonder that they thought that LDS was safe.

Minds bend in the staggering difficulty of the task.    The unfathomable human experiment of the day.

Hunting and trapping, the need to survive, the human is a new predator in this place.  Now the competition for the food supply has increased and new hunters are on the land.  Hunters with families and small mouths to feed.  Tiny tots with growing pains, hunger pangs and shill cries.  Feed us! cloth us! save us! The howls stop when the hut vanishes in the snow and the hunt for animal tracks begin.

This new human brings a new kind of weapon to the wild world of big game hunting.  Gone is the bow and arrow, now it’s the rifle.  Guns.  Guns to protect us, guns to hunt with, guns to be dependent upon.  Guns for survival, guns for livelihood, guns for trade and barter.  Guns.   Only the need for ammunition is a drawback in the use of guns.  Stock the larder with as much provision for the winter as you can, and don’t forget the main one, your gun.

Unlicensed weapons have as many as you want to.  No one is watching.

The stealthy aboriginal makes his way to your shelter.  Maybe you don’t have to hunt today.  Maybe all that you have to do is to trade him a good gun and a round of ammunition for a side of moose, a rack of elk and a hind quarter of deer.  Maybe he will give his own much needed furs, from that rabbit, for a gun.  The indigenous people need the fur more than the fur trader do, but wildlife is plentiful, and trade brings wealth to this family.  Wealth to one, survival to another, a deal is struck.  It seems like a win, win situation.  The stealthy aboriginal so experienced in the ways of this land, looking to improve his own lot in life.  A gun for his hunt, a gun for his prosperity and a gun to protect him from the devil.

The homesteader is saved.  No more psychedelic sunshine.  No more mind-bending winter exposure.  No more lethargic, seemingly drug filled indecisive wanderings.   He is saved.  Saved by the aboriginal bell of necessity.  The gun is more powerful than the bow and arrow.

A shot rings out on the still land.  The skilled new hunter has already conquered.  More will come looking for this kind of trade.  More will seek the European for guns.

Guns for survival, guns to protect us.  Guns.  A new way of life.

The Wild Canadian Year: Canada’s toughest season, with only the hardiest prevailing – Winter – YouTube

Written by Dr. Louise Hayes

 

 

Settlers in the West
by

Settlers in the West

Hail Bravehearts

Come out of your houses, come out to play, search for your destiny, fill it this way.  Joy for our lives, filled with our passions, educate yourself in many ways, don’t settle for small rations. Here in the mountains was a new way of life, carved from the environment, full of love  and strife.  Back in the day, when the nation was growing, came a homesteading family with a history, worth knowing.  Migrate to the mountains, fill up this land, settle this area, prosperity is at hand.  Work and strive, build your home, grow where the deer and the caribou roam.  Mighty are we,we own this land, wrought from the skills and tools of our hands.  Building a house and shed for our needs, makes us the Moberly’s and we are Metis.

Look at this beauty, this fabulous land, nature has given us her golden hand.  Flowers and scenery, game galore, all right outside our open front door.  A fabulous view, so much desired, we planned to pass this along to our descendants to admire.  In the heart of Jasper, a national park, lies the trail to our cabin, in a meadow that’s marked.  Come to our land, follow the trail, to a Canadian adventure in homesteading tale.  Brilliant flowers now nod their heads,where a family with children once softly tread.

Ancient are we, in a land we admire, full of perils and hardship and landscape that’s dire.  Mountains and crevices, rock falls and forest, fill our lives with the wild lands of birds chorus.  Settle these lands, farming, hunting and fishing, trading with explores is how we make our living. Earning our right to clear the land, is how we survived and thrived with our band.  A family are we, brothers and wives, making a living with strong family ties.

http://www.mountainmetis.com/pages/henry_john_moberly.html

The west was being opened with adventure and more as the trading posts flourished throughout our world.  Settle the nation, fill your hearts, with the bountiful prosperity that  trading starts.  A nation rich, with people so smart, that they discovered routes to join us together, not keep us apart.  From coast to coast a path was laid, and along the way, some homesteaders stayed.  Explore this world, discover this land, a nation is forming with peace at hand.

Markets and trade, influence our lives, building a homestead where families can thrive.  Open these routes, help find the path, the adventure is growing, it will stay and it lasts.  The west is fought for, it belongs to us, brilliant and daring, the exploration is a must.  Join the coasts, find a way, for this land to become a nation one day.

A place in history, is only a name, but cabins in the wilderness, is this families fame.  Interesting and ancient, when all went well, meeting travelers and explorers, is the story they tell.  Building connections, building ties, enter the landscape where this family once thrived.

Now a national park, intensely protected,whose worth to the world was UNESO`s projection. Visit us here in this world famous place, the mountains and wilderness of Canada`s grace.

Jasper National Park.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

July 13, 2017

The Water Highway
by

The Water Highway

Good day Bravehearts

Feel the rush of the wind as it sweeps across the land, bringing the scents of summer fragrance to fill your mind. The aromatherapy of the earth. Pine, juniper, spring meadows and wild grasses. The smell of the forest with mosses and flowers. The cool shade of trees and the rich, enticing landscape. Venture forth, oh brave ones, the wild calls you.
The dance and play of rushing streams, the life force of rivers, and the clean, superb, land, with it’s sport and leisure. The health of the nation lies in this landscape. So much to do, in sport, in leisure, in adventure and in education. Out into the great land, for health and fitness, for rest and for meditation.
The wild! Every day adventure for the uncommon lives of the people of this country.
The rushing rivers cast their spell. The voyage by raft will take you into the great unknown. A wild river, a rushing torrent, a wet and wild and chilly adventure. The current sweeps you into the middle, to rapids and whirlpools and eddies. The diving and swirling craft dips and heaves as the pounding water floods its sides and plunges it into holes and narrowly past rocks and waterfalls.
Fun!
The whitewater raft ride of todays enjoyment is a link to the waterways of yesteryear. David Thompson, with his raft piled high with furs, transported his earnings through the Canadian waterway highways. A nation of river exploration. A nation of wilderness exploration. A nation of markets and trade.

http://www.cbc.ca/sevenwonders/ canoe

The waterways were the highways of trade. Plied for transportation, for convenience, for travel and for adventure. The past time of canoing and boating serves us well, as we venture deeper and deeper into the heart of the land.
Summer! The pristine blue lakes of summer fun. The cooling, quenching waters of joy! The days of lazy dreaming in beaches of sand and grass, the pearls of seashells washed ashore, the endless waves, lapping the shore. The joys of clean, cool water as is soothes the hot and tired body. Fresh water for swimming. Clean water, for a cool summer swim.
The water. A gateway into the heart of the land and a pathway to endless summer fun. Ply the waters with your sturdy craft, maneuver into the surging current. Your paddle dips to the rhythm of your partners beat and the drums of your heartbeat set the pace. Onward. Onward. The constant motion moving the craft. The skills of your paddling, pushing you on. The lakes, the rivers, the water trade routes. A past time of pleasure, where yesterday meets us. The voyage of discovery to new lands, new people, new trade and new wealth.

http://www.birchbarkcanoe.net/video-canoe.htm

A home of opportunity waiting for discovery.
The ancient art of boats and river travel, of discovery of land and people. We travel with our forefathers in a journey that never ends, to a destination that stretches on. We fill our days with summer fun, in a land of sweeping landscapes and the water. The water highway.
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
June 29, 2014

A Hand of Friendship
by

A Hand of Friendship

Good morning to you Brave hearts.

Hail the moral almighty human, whose words and deeds resound in peace. Oh moral human from ages past, with intellect of humanity, sharing and courage. Rise to the daunting challenge of the new world as it encroaches upon you. Brave hands extended in friendship, in peace, in mutual prosperity. Brave strangers, who dared peace not war, who dared conversation and negotiation. A peaceful assimilation, a marriage, an entrepreneur.
The voices of our ancestors call to us. We saved you, oh brave hearts, we became the almighty human. Legends are made of our feats of daring, of our collaboration and of our courage. Our prosperity and privilege from honest words and honest deeds and honest labour. The exchange of nationalities, the intertwining of spirits, the flesh of the mortal man, cast in iron and honed to steel.
The land has no mercy, conquer the land, the peoples are saved.
The brave accepted a challenge of rigorous duty. The call to nationhood in a land so vast and uncompromising. The stalwart rising each day to fulfill a quest of enterprise and trade. Mutual sharing, mutual trust, a negotiation so appealing to win the sides of the earthly human, to win the war without a battle, to win the fight for nationhood, to win the rights for freedom, to win the adventure of your lives.
The lives saved by skilled exchange, the communication for mutual prosperity, acceptance, dignity and trust. The contracts signed, mutually held. A bargain of trade, the prospect of riches, a business of grand proportions and a nation won and saved.
The hand of friendship extended in trust.
Worthy brave hearts whose daily toil was the hardship of the land. To rise each day to the battle of the elements, the hardship of the weather and the uncompromising, tedious toil and endless, difficult land. The dawn of nationhood carved from the elements of cold and snow, all for the beauty of the fabulous beast.
Adorn yourselves, you earthly spirits. Capture the heart of the European world. The new found gold is a treasure for us. A ready commodity of wealth and prosperity.
The land calls us, beckons and entices and the peoples are friendly. They extend a hand in friendship, no arrows cast or mean disputes. No terror and no war.
Come to the new world, calls the land, come to the adventure, you daring human. Rise to the challenge of the harsh endeavour, rise to the glory of this one day. For this is the day when time stands still, awaiting in anticipation, the outcome of change. The awesome human in conquest and daring, rose to the challenge of this day. For might was right among the negotiators and the powerful decreed the peace of the land.
Peace. Our fashion dictates the merchants greed and our people spy the valued need. Fur and trade, mutual sharing, compassion and kindness.
The land itself will take it’s toil in injury and lives lost. The inclement weather, the frostbite and the cold. Hearty human, gather around, our story of nationhood will unfold.

https://www.nfb.ca/film/voyageurs

written by Dr. Louise Hayes
March 1, 2014

by

The grand dictator

Good morning Brave hearts!

Colour your world to the dictates of fashion. An array of beauty unfolds to greet you. The grand master of influence and adventure. A call to the superior mind, to the inferior will, to the jealous and the courageous, to be spoiled and to secumb, to the master of human destiny, to be fated and ill fated, for necessity, for income, for prosperity and for nation building.
Fashion!
The word echoes in the ears of centuries old man. The fine garments, the decorative interiors, the gilted gold and bejeweled ornaments. The fun of the grandeur, the privilege of the covering, the daring to be individualized and the refreshing outlook of a different approach.
Hail, great human! Come to the wild! Here is where all destiny awaits. In business and trade, in negotiation and marriage, in adventure and lifestyle. Come, live your lives in the great Canadian north, where the dictator surrounds you and compels your compliance. Look to the forest, almighty human, there is the answer to your needs.
The aboriginal peoples of Canada clothed themselves in the finest and most sought after garments in the world at the time. Fur and leather are the trademark of their apparel. Hunting and trapping are the trademarks of their lives.
The bountiful forest and the open tundra yield animal life by the thousands. The daring lives of the bold northern hunter as he skillfully sets his trap line and waits in eager anticipation of the dollars to come. The stealthy hunter who stalks a prey of fleet footed wild for food and for fur. What brings you here, oh brave hearts, to settle in the remote far north? A land of danger and destitution for most. A land of changes and peril.
Cloak yourselves like kings. The seal gives up hides of waterproof warmth, for snugly insulated footwear, warm and impermeable. No dampness there, no winters chill, no ice cube toes or frostbitten feet. A necessity of an age gone by, where warm mukluks, kept us warm and dry. A coat of caribou, deer or bear. For centuries old man clothed himself in the finest cloth that man could find, fur.
Bejeweled in feathers, claws and teeth, bone for knives and ornamentation, the life of the land drew the cunning and daring, the strong and agile, the persistent and healthy. The clever craftsman of ingenuity and necessity, created a culture, a life, a world of their own.
Drawn to the hunt, by need or adventure, the northern man is a rightful settler. The need for the wild, as it gives up it’s treasure, is returned in the dutiful knowledge that waste is intolerable. All parts must be used, in meat, in fur, in bone, in teeth. The wild gives up their lives so sparingly, that precious gift must not be wasted.
Cloak yourselves in fur and feather, leather and hides from hats to boots, to mitts to coats, to pant and shirts.
Oh great dictator, you dress so well, for fashion calls us from our warm abode to venture out into the cold, to the north, to Canada, to settle and trade and to become the nation that we are. The nation of the fur trade.

This clip is about building an igloo, but look at their traditional garments!
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
January 17, 2014

Dog sledding
by

Dog sledding

Good day, you awesome human

Today it has snowed. The chilly wonder of a winter’s delight. Our nations most favourite past times are here.
The dogs whine and climb out of their white, snowy blankets. A new day of mushing and racing is upon them. Friendly, eager playmates in a life of Canadian made fun.
The sun pierces the sky and casts it’s golden warmth upon us. A fabulous, chilly -35C. A perfect day. A day of winter delight, of breakneck speed through the wild land, of wind on your face and warmth in the air. A day of endurance, strength, preparedness, fun! The great planet calls to us from the landscape and we’re off. Off to an adventure, off to another day of grand pursuits.
The eons of time travels quickly with us. Generations of dog sledding flies past our feet. We must. In our minds we know that we must. Carrying on the history of nation building, the travels of voyageurs, the present day sportsman and adventurer, the tourist. In a land of long winters and brilliant dark sky the endless preoccupation with the joys of winter fun is a must.

As Canadians, these traditions fill us with joy and wonder. The long race of dog sledding, a time of daring adventure, a feat of a thrilling pursuit. An age of discovery, when dog sledding helped to open the country and helped to transport goods, food and people across the land. A method of transportation for early explorers. Across the great white, snow covered plains of the Arctic. Dog sledding carrying us, as Canadians, all across the land.
Mile upon mile the dogs will run, day after day. The race. Such a thrilling adventure for dog and man.
The dogs stretch their limbs and howl. Run! they cry and off we go.
The winter!
The transportation corridors change and sometimes are easier with ice and snow. A frozen lake is a short cut, the marshes and bogs are easily crossed. Better to travel in winter with ice and snow and the howl of dogs in your ears. Faster and less dangerous than running rapids with canoes and the winter forest shines with snow.
Culture!
What we do to save ourselves, to explore, to open trade routes, to fulfill our negotiated contracts.
The dog team is an integral part of our culture. It’s a need fulfilled. Across the great land to explore, to reach communities with goods for trade. To fulfill business contracts and to live.
Here, almighty human in the great white north is the destiny of a lifetime of adventure. It called to the early explorer. Come to Canada! Live the adventure! And so they did.
Criss crossing the nation from trading post to trading post with sleighs laden with supplies. A life of business enterprise. Dog and man, racing across the great plains of the provinces, dog and man, racing east to west and back again. Dog and man racing to the north, racing to the south.
Culture and tradition whistling in our ears.
The dogs, our coveted friends.
Praises to you brilliant mankind, for the peace of trade and for the joy adventure. The negotiated peace that saves our lives.
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
November 12,2013

Solstice
by

Solstice

Hail Brave hearts!

It’s officially fall. The autumn colours of the landscape are changing and a new brilliant hue of colour is upon us. This almighty man, is the land of our forefathers. The land of pristine beauty, of awesome wonder, of dreams fulfilled, of courageous challenge. A land for bold and daring adventure, a life of freedom. A new way, a new path to follow a new quest.
Here, almighty man, is the great land! All of your strength, all of your courage, all of your skills, all of your brilliance and all of your compassion.
Fine negotiator who accepted cultural diversity and multiculturalism as a natural human condition. Fine negotiator, whose attempts to assimilate brought peace and prosperity to the land. Clever peacemaker who spied an opportunity and felt a responsibility to save.
Save us! Called the dying as they slipped away. The path to prosperity was too difficult and too isolated.
Compassionate human, who lived so well, with such apparent ease, with prosperity, luxury and time for leisure pursuits. Art, games, athletics, tests of skills and feats of daring.
This is the new world. Lucky are we to be the fortunate ancestors of accepted mankind in a world so daunting and dangerous.
The pristine wilderness unfolds before us and calls it endless call to follow. Come, great human, into the great wild, whispers the forest, sings the rivers and howls the wind. Experience this peace and hear our song, we sing to you mankind, freedom!
Freedom! It echoed in the ears of our forefathers as they arrived by the boatload to inhabit a land of unknown challenges. A promise of lives fulfilled, dreams come true, plenty for all. The negotiated peace brought with it nation building, agriculture, economics, land, contentment and relaxation. Escape to the new world.
Gone was the overburdening landlord and the endless struggle against taxation. The homesteaders came to farm the land and now there is a harvest. It is fall, the colours are changing, the fruit is ripening, the food is abundant.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homesteading
http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/living-the-good-life-zm0z12aszkon.aspx
Still, in our modern homes, we hear the voices of wisdom persistently nudging us. Move forward, brilliant human, but keep the past with you. Don’t forget your daring ancestors, that brave wilderness birth, the fear, the sorrow, the overwhelming pain. Don’t forget us mankind. Don’t leave the past behind. Remember the great peace that saved us and that is our duty to retain. The great peace, in a world of hardship, with a call to duty to overcome the challenges, inhabit all of the land, build a civilization, farm the land, be the almighty human! No so, bravehearts. Without the great peace, all would be lost.
Now, in this time of joy, when the crops are harvested, food is plenty, the winter is cared for, survival is promised. Now we rejoice in the autumn, with it’s changing colours, it’s cooler temperatures, it’s gifts from the earth.
The animals mate and they too will survive. The great earth, full of miracles, provides again.
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
September 22,2013
http://www.bbcanada.com/10895-html
http://www.empowernetwork.com/?id=louisehayes

And they are us
by

And they are us

The heroes of the past haunt us with their defiant perseverance.  Here us,  oh mortal man, we are your blood, your kin, your heart, your soul, your mind.  We are your yesterdays, your todays and your tomorrows.  We are the spirits of the conscience that will not die.  We live forever, oh mortal human.  Live forever and you will never die.

We are the example of your spirit.  The uncontested might, the strength, the courage, the path less followed, but always sought after.  We are the yearnings of your soul.  The leaders of the pack, the fortitude of the confident, skilled, accomplished human from anywhere.  We choose ourselves, to be the champions, we choose our lives to be the heartbreak.  Follow our footsteps, everyday heroes, test your strength against ours and feel the worthy soul of a brilliant life, cast in clay, dust and joy.  All that we live for is joy.

Joy!  Feel your heart sing!  Your call to order.  Claim your place.  Choose your prize.  The hero is you.

To follow in the path of a brilliant ancestor is a call to challenge your own space and time.  Limitless resources, limitless time, limitless company.  The path is the same, the company different, the skills unknown.  Would you dare to pursue the same adventure?  Would you dare to be a voyageur?

http://www.tfo.org/emissions/rendezvousvoyageur/en/world/worklife/daybrigade.html

The rivers are still tumultuous.  As long as they ever were.  The North Saskatchewan River passes through three provinces.  The Columbia River’s headwaters are in Canada and it ends at the Pacific Ocean in the United States.  Hundreds of kilometers of travel in voyageur canoes. Would you be the awesome voyageur.  The weeks of travel in open canoes, paddling hundreds of kilometers of rivers, battling currants, weather and fatigue.  Epic voyages of grand adventure.  To retrace the paths of centuries old man.  To relive the challenge of that call to adventure, that companionship, endurance, nature and freedom.  The love of the open water, the risk and the self worth.  To be the champion!  To rise to the call  of your heart and your mind.  To cast aside the daily toil.  What is a human?  What is it that is humanly possible?  The unreachable star.

The test of strength is good for the body and the test of will is good for the mind.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fort-Langley-Canoe-Club-2013-Fraser-Brigade/195684620567080

Play!  The joy of being, the fun of it all.   Play!  For sport, for relaxation, for companionship, for fun and for your body.  Come you awesome human.  Follow your ancestors on a path to glory.  Come and join the grand adventure of your life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLCBXdTA0Yg

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

June 23, 2013

www.bbcanada.com/10895.html

The Voyageurs
by

The Voyageurs

The dawn is breaking and the currant is forceful.   Onward, onward the paddle pushes through the water.  The morning echoes with the wakening of new life, a new day, a song from the forest, joy!

The rugged life of the everyday entrepreneur.  Constant travel, constant hardship, work all day, work most of the night.  On and on through the vast river system, through the lakes and to the fur trading posts, with canoes laden with goods for trade.  Freedoms sings it’s song in the mind, wealth creeps into view.  The tantalizing call of riches.  The wealth of the nation is in trade.  The doors opened to the adventurer.  To those so hearty that they could travel great distances with focus and determination.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyageurs

To this end the change became the hired employee.  The race to conquer the nation, to fill the shelves with fur product, to make a fortune from the wealth of the land, attracted business entrepreneurs whose goal was to have it all.  From a life of  individual trade for profit to a life of the licenced, employed trader.  The business of trade boomed throughout the country.  Still the life of the voyageur was virtually the same as his predesessor.   Now, the trade was for a merchant, previously, it had been trade for themselves.

The rivers filled with hearty, strong, determined men, venturing on a highway of water.  The canoes travelling thousands of kilometers, the negotiation for trade.  It filled our lives, our dreams, our destinies.  The world of trade.  The world of fur.

For 350 years the Canadians ventured throughout the land in search of trading partners to expand their wealth.  Trading with the native peoples, then setting up traplines of their own.  The fur trade started in the 1500’s and ended in the 1870’s.

Negotiate.  The peaceful venture of business enterprise was the most fashionable and luxurious calling of all.  Profits on both sides, wealth and adventure.   The call of the wild was a call to prosperity.  Heed the call, almighty man.

The birch bark canoe, the voyageur canoe, the life of the land.  The peaceful settling of  a nation built on trade.  A nation built from the strength of human enterprise more valuable that any adversary or foe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8rGaj2Bt7A  heart chakra earth healing meditation

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

June 20, 2013

www.bbcanada.com/10895.html

http://www.empowernetwork.com/?id=louisehayes

David Thompson
by

David Thompson

1814 map of the Pacific Northwest and central ...

1814 map of the Pacific Northwest and central Canada by David Thompson. The Kootenay River is shown near the bottom left as McGillivray’s River. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Always, there are heroes.  Always there are those whose feats are more daring, whose lives are more accomplished, whose endeavors more respected, whose praises more deserving.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Thompson_(explorer)

A name rings out from our history.  A name of the fur trade, a name of accomplishment, unparalleled achievement, a surprise!  A victory for us in the mapping of the land.  The long stretches of river lay before them, the endless land.  On it goes, seemingly forever.  The land, the water, the endless travel, the constant voyage.  How far?  To map the country, how far?

Day after day, the endless journey.  Mile after mile the endless mapping, negotiation, fur trading and establishing fur trading posts.   On and on into the annals of history for this one persistent and indomitable being.  The great negotiation saves us and the great negotiation lasts forever.

This almighty human was David Thompson and the great negotiation was his metis bride, Charlotte Small.  Together they travelled thousands of kilometers throughout the country.  On and on, mile after mile with a mission to accomplish an enormous feat.  The endless mapping, the constant surveying, the passion!  It must be done.  The thousands of kilometers of surveyed land all throughout Canada and Northern United States.

http://www.thefurtrapper.com/david_thompson.htm

To pass the route to another.  No more the unknown land.  No more the fear of failure, the lost souls of the misguided would now have a marked route, a secure map, a written guide.  Someone has gone before and secured the way, spoken to the people, traded, claimed the unknown, claimed the land and its people and saved their lives.

Oh, to be the aptitude of the brave and daring.  To set the pace of adventure, skills, knowledge and courage. To be the champion.

The vast river system of continental Canada and northern United States provided a lifetime of travel and adventure and professional pursuits as well.  From Ontario to the Pacific, down the Columbia River to it’s end at the Pacific Ocean, down to the Mississippi River,  along the boarder of Canada and the United States, north to Lake Athabasca.

The spirit soars in a human who has no disability, only a limp and the loss of site in one eye.  All of the surveying, the astronomical calculations, the travel by canoe, horseback, on foot, limping along an unknown course, his vision impaired by loss of site.  No disability here.  Only the passion, only the drive, only the will to succeed and the call of adventure.

Come, almighty man!  Becons the great unknown and the adventure begins.  It ends with the congratulation for the achievement “the greatest land geographer who ever lived”  For mapping millions of kilometers of land and producing maps so accurate they were used in Canada for approximately 150 years.

Hail bravehearts.  Let your stories be known.

In a nation of fantastic achievers, one name calls to us from the past.  I live forever.  I am David Thompson.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

June 17, 2013

www.bbcanada.com/10895.html

http://www.empowernetwork.com/?id=louisehayes