<Tr> <Th> Parent (s) </Th> <Td> David and Ann Thompson </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Signature </Th> </Tr> <P> David Thompson (30 April 1770--10 February 1857) was a British - Canadian fur trader, surveyor, and map - maker, known to some native peoples as Koo - Koo - Sint or "the Stargazer ." Over Thompson's career, he travelled some 90,000 kilometres (56,000 mi) across North America, mapping 4.9 million square kilometres (1.9 million square miles) of North America along the way . For this historic feat, Thompson has been described as the "greatest land geographer who ever lived ." </P> <P> David Thompson was born in Westminster, Middlesex, to recent Welsh migrants David and Ann Thompson . When Thompson was two, his father died . Due to the financial hardship with his mother without resources, Thompson and his older brother were placed in the Grey Coat Hospital, a school for the disadvantaged of Westminster . Thompson graduated to the Grey Coat mathematical school, where he was introduced to basic navigation skills . He later built on these to make his career . In 1784, at the age of 14, he entered a seven - year apprenticeship with the Hudson's Bay Company . He set sail on 28 May of that year, and left England for North America . </P>

Who was the explorer who opened up the fur trade route to the great lakes