For the Bookshelf
Sometimes Only Horses to Eat, David Thompson: The Saleesh House Period 1807-1812
By Carl W. Haywood
392 pages, 6" X 9", softcover: $24.95
Reviewed by Bill Scurlock
David Thompson was one of the greatest early explorers/mapmakers of the Canadian West, but one of the mysteries he left behind was the location of Saleesh House along what is now called the Clark Fork River in northwestern Montana. That mystery intrigued the author, Carl W. Haywood, so after moving back to Montana after 35 years away, he set about trying to answer the question using Thompson’s journals. The result is a step-by-step, day-to-day account of Thompson’s travels in what would become northwestern Montana, northern Idaho and northeastern Washington in the years of 1807–1812.
Haywood’s life experiences as a professional forester, a packer/hunting guide for a ranch in Montana,and a buckskinner of many years all produced just the right individual to research and retrace Thompson’s travels. In Sometimes Only Horses to Eat, you can feel the hardships and struggles of the Thompson party as they made their way up and down waterways, over carries and over land as they searched out new places to build trading houses.
As I read this book, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was not just a day-to-day account of Thompson’s travels in what was to become the United States. The author provides much background information as to how the Canadian fur trade operated, the people who made it work and the lifestyles of the voyageurs, traders and factors. All of this information helps illuminate the accomplishments of Thompson as he struggled against the elements to establish Saleesh House.
Finally, the author does give his best estimate of where an on-the-ground search for Saleesh House could proceed. Unfortunately, this area has been heavily disturbed over the intervening years, but Haywood has hope that someday an artifact that can be undeniably linked to Saleesh House and its activities will be discovered in that area. Until then, he will continue to sift through the available information for more clues to the location of this trading post.
Sometimes Only Horses to Eat is available from Rockman’s Trading Post, PO Box 2444, Thompson Falls MT 59873; phone 406-827-7625; or online at <www.davidthompsonbook.com>. You can also order from Scurlock Publishing by calling 800-228-6389 or online at store.scurlockpublishing.com.
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