Mapmaker: Philip Turnor in Rupert's Land in the Age of Enlightenment

As the first inland surveyor for the Hudson's Bay Company, Philip Turnor stands tall among the explorers and mapmakers of Canada. Accompanied by Cree guides and his Cree wife, Turnor travelled 15,000 miles by canoe and foot between 1778 and 1792 to produce ten maps, culminating in his magnum opus, a map that was the foundation of all northern geographic knowledge at that time.

Barbara Mitchell's biography brings to life the man who taught David Thompson and Peter Fidler how to survey. In her search for Turnor's story, Mitchell discovers her own Cree-Orkney ancestry and that of thousands of others who are descendents of Turnor and his Cree wife.

Author: Barbara Mitchell
Publisher: University of Regina Press
Published: 10/07/2017
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.60lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.60w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9780889775039

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 09/15/2017 pg. 83
Publishers Weekly 09/11/2017

About the Author

Barbara Mitchell is co-author of a two-volume biography of W.O. Mitchell, Beginnings to Who Has Seen the Wind and The Years of Fame. She lives in Otonabee, Ontario.