Peter Pond

Peter Pond was born in Connecticut and served in the French and Indian War before entering the fur trade on the Mississippi and Great Lakes. In 1778, venturing deep into the uncharted northwestern interior, he crossed the historic nineteen-kilometer Methye Portage (Portage La Loche), descending into the Clearwater and Athabasca River basins.

Pond was the first European to enter the rich Athabasca fur district, establishing Fort Chipewyan and producing pioneering hand-drawn maps of the Canadian northwest that correctly predicted an overland route to the Pacific. A co-founder of the North West Company, he mentored young Alexander Mackenzie before retiring from the wilderness.