"History cannot give us a program for the future, but it can give us a fuller understanding of ourselves, and of our common humanity, so that we can better face the future." Robert Penn Warren
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| VIEW | MOUNT DAVID THOMPSON (2006) |
VIEW | THE 2008 DAVID THOMPSON BRIGADE |
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View | How it Began |
View | The Organizing Committe |
View | The Participants |
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View | Route and Schedule |
View | Brigade Logo |
View | Brigade Flags |
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View | Brigade Posters |
View | Brigade Guide Book and Maps |
View | After the Brigade |
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View | Picture Library |
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| VIEW | ATHABASCA PASS (2010) |
| VIEW | A MAP OF NORTH AMERICA 84° WEST TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN (2011) |
The 2008 David Thompson Brigade - How it all Began
(Text taken from the 2008 David Thompson Brigade River Guide)
The visionary behind the 2008 David Thompson Brigade was Andreas (Andy) N Korsos. The idea of a cross country canoe trip
really began to formulate around 1998 and the original concept involved 6 canoes with the entire adventure
designed to be as period specific as possible, from the clothing to the food, and even included ‘pieces’ that
were to be portaged. The idea originated with Andy Korsos and was roughly written down but eventually deemed
impracticable until the Canadian History Channel sponsored ‘reality’ programming in 2000.
By 2002, Andy had been contemplating a manner in which to commemorate Thompson and one night after weeks of talking
about the voyageur brigade concept, he was finally told by his better half Leanne ‘you’ve been talking a lot about
this… just do it’. The merging of a commemoration of David Thompson with a canoe trip seemed to be a logical fit.
After all, wherever Thompson traveled so did the voyageurs engaged by him. Just as the voyageurs have been described
as the backbone of the fur trade in Canada, they were just as much the backbone of Thompson’s explorations. The initial
‘roughly’ written version of the event was rewritten into a preliminary draft entitled ‘The 2007 David Thompson Brigade’.
Following the preliminary draft, a chance discussion with a colleague at work gave Andy the opportunity to present the
idea to a large audience during an evening radio call in show in Edmonton in the winter of 2003.
After the show ended, 16 people called the show expressing interest in discussing the idea further. After some email
correspondence a meeting was schedule for all to meet at the Library in downtown Edmonton. With expectations high, Andy
went to the library on the agreed date and as it turns out only 1 of the 16, local businessman, Don Galloway showed up
at the Library. Despite the poor turn out Don and Andy had a 45 minute discussion and agreed that when Andy gathered
enough other people to plan this enormous undertaking, he would call Don again.
Andy’s attempted to track down individuals that would be interested in such an adventure for the better part of two years.
His involvement with the David Thompson Bicentennials helped as well. In March of 2005, at a meeting of the partnership in
Red Deer, Andy presented his plan to the Bicentennial Committee. He had hoped that someone on the committee would have leads
into interested people. As it turns out, he was invited to Rocky Mountain House for an event that May to display some of his
thematic maps of the fur trade.
On an early May morning, after watching the centennial voyageurs depart for Edmonton, Andy was approached by a member of the
Bicentennial Partnership and asked if she could send someone over to him that was interested in his fur trade maps that were
on display at the event. Soon after agreeing, a tall man in a large fur hat, reminiscent of an American Mountain Man hat,
approached Andy asking if any of the maps were for sale. A discussion ensued and after learning that the gentleman was an
experienced marathon canoeist, requested whether he would be interested in reading an event proposal. Email addresses were
exchanged and Andy would email Ted Bentley the preliminary draft of the 2007 David Thompson Brigade two days later.
Andy Korsos and Ted Bentley along with Mark Lund would meet a few weeks later on Thursday, June 16, 2005 at O'Brynes in south
Edmonton and would have a frank and pointed discussion about the feasibility of organizing such an event. After a number of
beer and an agreement to meet again with other potential individuals they departed. If there was a day that defines the beginning
of the 2008 David Thompson Brigade, it would be that day.
Preliminary discussions led to many ideas with respect to the nature of the event. The event year would be pushed from 2007 to
2008, the event would be less stringent with respect to being period specific, and among other minor changes the event was changed
to be more inclusive in terms of participants and communities. A meeting of interested parties beyond Andy, Ted and Mark occurred
on 7:30 PM on Wednesday, June 29th, 2005 at Grant MacEwan College and soon afterward the real discussions and eventual planning
would begin. As with other committees and ideas, people would come and go through the first year of the planning and discussions,
but a core group would remain dedicated.
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