Ice Fishing
 

" Well one day I was out fishing through the ice, having no luck and getting very cold and out of sorts. About noon an old Chippewan came out on the ice and took up his position about a half mile from me. After about an hour he came back past me with a fair number of nice trout.

'How did you manage that? ' I asked in astonishment, 'Is your ice hole so much better placed than mine?'

Oh no,' said he, ' that won't make a difference. You must grease your bait, and there is no use trying except at sunrise, sunset and noon, for the fish don't bite at other times.'

Now I thought this to be utter foolishness , but he had fish and I did not... I would try the greased bait; that made sense. But the time of day! How could a trout in forty fathoms of water , with a covering of five feet of ice, on a dark cloudy day possibly know when the sun rises and sets? But it is so! And I , being young and pig-headed, had to learn it the hard way . Once I followed the Chippawan's advice - I caught fish and spent less time out in the cold to do it!"

Gambling with the Devil
 

David Thompson abhorred gambling not for the usual evils of gambling but also because of a singular story he would relate to enthralled would be gamblers.

" it was years ago and I was young, but it could have been just yesterday...It was winter and I was at a Hudson's Bay Fort much like this one at Rocky Mountain House. As usual in the winter, there were times when we had much leisure and there were , to my great sadness , very few books. So I filled the time by playing at draughts.It became my almost constant companion and I became quite expert at it. I frequently played at night by myself. One night I was sitting at a small table with the chequer board before me when the devil sat down beside me. ..

....You may look surprised, my dear, but it really was the devil! His features and color were dark, and he had two short horns on his forehead which pointed forward. His hair and body down to his waist were covered with glossy black curly hair. His expression was mild but grave. We began playing, played several games and he lost every one. He showed no sign of temper , but looked more and more grave.

At last he got up , or rather , disappeared. My eyes were open and it was broad daylight. I looked around and all was silence and solitude.Was it a dream or was it real? I could not decide.... I made a resolution that I would never play a game of chance again , and I don't feel inclined to change my mind."
 

Liquor and the Fur Trade

David Thompson also abhorred liquor at least in selling liquor to the Indians. He saw many horrible tragedies of abuse, maimings and killings that he attributed directly to the sale of liquor as a trade item. Thompson refused to use liquor as any kind of enticement to trade. One example Thompson narrates.
 

" I was obliged to take two kegs of alcohol, overruled by my partners, ( one being his brother in law , John MacDonald of Garth) for I had made it a law to myself that no alcohol should pass the mountains in my company, and thus be clear of the sad sight of drunkenness and its many evils. But these gentlemen insisted upon alcohol being the most profitable article that could be taken for the Indian trade..When we came to the defiles of the mountains I placed the two kegs of alcohol on a vicious horse , and by noon the kegs were empty and in pieces...I wrote to my partners what I had done and that I would do the same to every keg of alcohol , and for the next six years I had charge of the fur trade on the west side of the mountains , no further attempt was made to introduce spirituous liquors."

Mountain Goats You say?

David Thompson challenged his wintering partners on more than one occasion. Most of it can be understood in terms of his background of poverty and charity. Certainly he never wanted to feel inferior or ridiculed. One such instance occurred when he sent back to Montreal over 100 white furs of mountain goats, with silky white hair , about a foot long , pure white and the ends tinged with a very light shade of yellow.

Thompson explains:

" the time came in the spring to pack all the furs to be shipped east as soon as the ice cleared enough for the canoes..When these furs reached Montreal the partners of the Company ..sent a curt note back to David, ridiculing such an article as goat skins for the London trade. This hurt David at the time , but apparently , the skins arrived in ..London and sold at first sight for a guinea a skin , a very fine price in those days , and more was offered for another lot. But there were no more. Then the same Montreal partners wrote to David, ( now) urging him to make every effort to acquire as many of these wonderful skins as possible. David wrote back that the hunting of the goat was both dangerous and laborious and, because of their ignorant ridicule, he would send no more. And he never did!"

Charlotte Small "Paddle Song"
 
 

" Grab your paddle Charlotte!"

The shout brought me up with a jerk and I reached for the paddle , although I thought it was a very flimsy weapon in the circumstances.

" No! Don't hit him with it! Shove him away with the paddle or he'll have us upset! He won't change his course willingly."

How right that was! The animal seemed determined to swim right through us! I pushed him with all my might. ... I did manage to keep the canoe away from him... then the other paddle came into reach ...and then we were past.... I was never so happy to arrive back at the fort and get out of the canoe!

"Good health and good hunting!"
 

There is one story told of David Thompson that reveals much of the man.
 

" One day an old Indian Cree hunter was in the trading post getting some of the supplies he needed for the winter hunt on credit to be paid out of his hunt, which was a common practice. He looked worried and finally said to David Thompson.
 

' I am old now as you can see.. I have seen many winters. Anytime now I must be ready to go to the happy hunting ground. I cannot take these things now for my hunt unless I know that , should I die before spring, you will not demand that I pay the debt in the other world.'

" The debt will be forgotten" David replied. " Go and make a good hunt in good health"

Woman of the paddle Song
 

David Thompson had first hand experience of the smallpox epidemic.

" He saw villages where the tents were filled with the .. dead... Thompson had the macabre distinction of being probably the only trader ever to conduct trade with the dead.He had been told by some woodland Indians that there were villages to the north that were filled with the dead covered in beaver robes.Thompson went to those ghost villages and replaced the beaver pelt shrouds with trade blankets. He then dragged heavy logs over the bodies to keep off the scavenging wolves."

Fred Stenson Rocky Mountain House -National Historic Park

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