David Thompson (1770-1857), an explorer, fur trade employee, and cartographer, crosses the Rocky Mountains in 1807 to Kutenai. Thompson establishes Fort Kootenai/Kootenay House below the Upper Columbia Lake after cautiously crossing Piikani (Blackfoot) territory; Piikani people were targeting traders in retaliation to Captain Lewis’ murders of two Piikani individuals. By arrival in Kutenai territory, Thompson’s crew exhaust their food supply and rely on provisions of Roe Deer given by local Kutenai men.  

Babcock, Douglas. "Rocky Mountain House." The Canadian Encyclopedia, (March 31, 2008). Accessed February 27, 2021. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/rocky-mountain-house.

Gilmore, Don. "David Thompson." The Canadian Encyclopedia, (January 7, 2008). Accessed February 27, 2021. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/david-thompson.

Morton, Arthur S. “The North West Company’s Columbian Enterprise and David Thompson.” The Canadian Historical Review 17, no. 3 (September 1936): 279-280.

Tyrell, J.B. "David Thompson and the Rocky Mountains." The Canadian Historical Review 15, no. 1 (March 1934): 41.

Elliot, T.C. “Thompson, David, Narrative of the Expedition to the Kootanae and Flat Bow Indian Countries on the Sources of the Columbia River.” The Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society XXVI, no. 1 (March 1925): 36-37.