Charlotte Small (September 1, 1785May 4, 1857) was a

Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...

woman who notably joined her

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

, map maker, and

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

husband David Thompson on his expeditions.

Life

Charlotte Small was born on September 1, 1785, to

North West Company The North West Company was a Fur trade in Canada, Canadian fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in the regions that later became Western Canada a ...

investor-partner Patrick Small and a

Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...

woman whose name is not known. Her siblings were also involved in the

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

; Patrick Small Jr. was a

clerk and Nancy Small was the first wife of North West Company partner,

John MacDonald of Garth John MacDonald of Garth (1771 – 25 January 1866) was a colourful character involved in the Canadian fur trade. He was an enthusiastic duellist and a shrewd businessman who became a partner in the North West Company and a member of the Beaver Cl ...

. Small married

, map maker, and

David Thompson on 10 June 1799 at Île-à-la-Crosse, Saskatchewan. The two had 13 children, with whom Small often travelled to accompany Thompson on his expeditions ranging from the

Rockies The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. Small travelled times farther on these expeditions with Thompson than did the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

explorers

Lewis and Clark Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * " Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohe ...

.Aritha Van Herk, ''Travels with Charlotte'', Canadian Geographic Magazine, July/August 2007, p. 57 When Thompson wrote in his journal "Today wed Charlotte Small", few could have imagined just how long he would honour that commitment. At a time when European explorers and traders were abandoning their wives and children for lives and families in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, Thompson remained faithful to the promise he had made, staying by the side of "his lovely wife" and providing for her and their 13 children. The couple were married for 58 years until Thompson's death in 1857. Small died a few months later on May 4, 1857. They are buried together at

Mount Royal Cemetery Mount Royal Cemetery ( French: Cimetière Mont-Royal) is a terraced cemetery on the north slope of Mount Royal in the borough of Outremont in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It opened in 1852. Temple Emanu-El Cemetery, a Reform Judaism burial ground, ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Quebec,

References

Works

"Moccasin Miles - The Travels of Charlotte Small Thompson 1799–1812"
Contemporary and Historical Maps: Charlotte Small (S. Leanne Playter & Andreas N. Korsos, Publisher: Arcturus Consulting)

Contemporary and Historical Maps: David Thompson (Andreas N. Korsos, Publisher: Arcturus Consulting)

External links

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20090227122700/http://www.arcturusconsulting.net/products.htm Contemporary and Historical MapsMaps depicting Charlotte Small's travels, David Thompson's travels, Posts and Forts of the Canadian Fur Trade 1600–1870, and other explorations (Published Arcturus Consulting) *
Parks Canada - Charlotte Small, Person of National Historic Significance
{{DEFAULTSORT:Small, Charlotte 1785 births 1857 deaths Canadian fur traders Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Métis fur traders Canadian Métis women Pre-Confederation Saskatchewan people