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==Biography== |
==Biography== |
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Pond began his fur trading career with his father out of [[Detroit]] [[Michigan]]. He traded throughout [[Minnesota]] and [[Wisconsin]]. Through his business he became acquainted with [[Alexander Henry the younger]], [[Simon McTavish]] and the brothers [[Thomas Frobisher|Thomas]], [[Benjamin Frobisher|Benjamin]] and [[Joseph Frobisher]]. They formed the North West Company which developed a fierce rivalry with the [[Hudson's Bay Company]]. In search of new fur resources he explored west of the [[Great Lakes (North America)|Great Lakes]]. In 1776–1778 he wintered at a fur post he created at the junction of the [[Sturgeon River]] and [[North Saskatchewan River]] near present day [[Prince Albert, Saskatchewan]]. The site is today a National Historic Site. |
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In 1783 Pond's explorations led him to the [[Athabasca]], a region stretching from Lac Île-à-la-Crosse to the [[Peace River (Canada)|Peace River]]. There he explored waterways around [[Lake Athabasca]] and determined the approximate locations of [[Great Slave Lake]] and [[Great Bear Lake]] from [[First Nation]]s peoples of the area. From his notes and diaries Peter Pond drew a map showing rivers and lakes of the Athabasca region, including what was known of the whole area from Hudson Bay to the [[Rocky Mountain]]s and interpolating his information to the [[Arctic Ocean]] or [[Northwest Passage]]. |
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In 1785, one copy of Pond's map, accompanied by a detailed report, was submitted to the [[United States Congress]] and a second to the [[Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec]], [[Henry Hamilton (governor)|Henry Hamilton]]. Pond needed financial support to carry his explorations to the limits of North America's northwest, but the British government was not forthcoming. A partner in the North West Company, founded in 1784, he was in charge of the company business in the Athabasca and Peace River areas. An ambitious man with a reputation for a violent temper, he was implicated in two [[murder]]s (one of a rival trader): Although acquitted on the murder charges, the company replaced him with [[Alexander Mackenzie (explorer)|Alexander Mackenzie]]. In the process of taking over the management of the business Mackenzie learned a great deal from Peter Pond about the Athabasca and Peace River region. Pond left the North West Company in 1788. |
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Mackenzie was intrigued by Pond's belief that the tributaries of that area, which could be seen gathering into a great river flowing northwestward, flowed to the [[Northwest Passage]]. Mackenzie took the initiative to follow up on Pond's belief and followed this great river to its mouth; the watercourse, now called the [[Mackenzie River]], did in fact flow to the Northwest Passage section of the [[Arctic Ocean]]. Peter Pond had contributed to the mapping of Canada by drawing the general outline of the [[river basin]] that Mackenzie recorded in 1789. The maps that Peter Pond subsequently drew, based on his explorations and on the information provided to him by [[First Nations]] peoples, ultimately gained international recognition for Pond at the end of the 18th century. |
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In 1790, Pond sold his shares in the North West Company to [[William McGillivray]]. He returned to Milford, Connecticut, where he died in 1807. |
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Pond left for Canada after wounding a man in a duel. He led the first Europeans who entered the Athabaska country, used the [[Methye Portage]] and saw the [[Athabasca oil sands]]. He founded [[Fort Chipewyan, Alberta]]. |
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== External links == |
== External links == |
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Revision as of 20:52, 4 June 2012
Peter Pond (January 18, 1739 or 1740 – 1807) was born in Milford, Connecticut. He was a soldier with a Connecticut regiment, a fur trader, a founding member of the North West Company and the Beaver Club, an explorer and a cartographer.
