William McBean, Hudson’s Bay Company trader will tell the story of David Thompson, a famed British-Canadian fur trader, surveyor, and map-maker.

McBean was born in Canada about 1806 and came to the Walla Walla region in 1846. He became chief factor in charge of the Hudson’s Bay Company fort at the time of the Whitman Massacre in 1847. He left Fort Walla Walla in 1855 during the Indian wars and later returned to the region with his Indian wife and children. McBean continued to reside in Walla Walla and was active in assisting various Catholic institutions until his death in 1892.