Idaho’s fur trade began in the fall of 1809 when David Thompson built a trading post 2½ miles southwest of here. Kullyspell House, which Thompson spelled that way for Kalispell, was the earliest fur trade post in the American Pacific Northwest. A geographer and surveyor of rare skill, Thompson explored and mapped vast fur regions for the North West Company of Montreal. Reaching south from present day British Columbia, he added what now is North Idaho to the Canadian fur empire. David Thompson also discovered the route this highway now follows.