David Thompson's Travels is not only the account of a remarkable life in the fur trade but an extended meditation on the land and Native peoples of western North America. A distinguished literary work, the tale spans the years from 1784 to 1897 and extends from the Great Lakes to the Rockies, from Athabasca to the Missouri. This is the first volume of an ambitious project to bring together all of Thompson's writings for a new generation of readers.