LONGVIEW, Wash. (AP) — A group following the 200-year-old path of pioneering surveyor David Thompson is scheduled to complete an 1,100-mile paddle down the Columbia River on Friday at Astoria, Ore.
The David Thompson Columbia Brigade left June 1 from Invermere, British Columbia. They paddle in nine unsinkable canoes with support vehicles meeting them at nightly stops. The group has about 100 paddlers with about 50 paddling at one time.
Thompson is famous as a Hudson’s Bay Co. surveyor who established trading posts.
The Daily News of Longview reports his trip down the Columbia in 1811 ended on July 15 at the mouth of the Columbia. He had hoped to beat John Jacob Astor’s sailing expedition to start a trading post. Astor beat him by two months.
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Online:
http://2011brigade.org/
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Information from: The Daily News, http://www.tdn.com
