1803
“David Thompson Taking an Observation”
(courtesy Library and Archives Canada/MIKAN 2900259)
Image can be found at: http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/thompson_david_1770_1857_8E.html
David Thompson reported, “At Smoky River, the coal beds, ignited by spontaneous combustion, had been burning from beyond the memory of the oldest Indians on the river, and the dark clouds of smoke which they sent forth gave the river its name.”