Clan Thompson has been active in Colorado since about 2007 when Dan “Booner” Thompson was appointed our first State Commissioner for Colorado. Dan hosted Tom and Mary Thompson from Tennessee, along with other Thompsons from all over, at the 2008 Longs Peak Scottish-Irish Highland Festival, in the first big event for the Clan in the Rocky Mountain Region.
Many Thompsons had been told for years that we were a sept of Clan Campbell. However, it was the Campbells who graciously sent many of those interested over to the Thompson tent to discover our true heritage. Campbell is a highland clan, and those few Thomsons from the highlands of Scotland may indeed be related to them, but the vast majority of Thomsons and Thompsons in Scotland came from the Lowland Border areas between England and Scotland. With the reestablishment of Clan Thompson, all those of the name may once again reclaim our history as a proud Scottish family.
By the way, did you know that Clan Thompson International is the ONLY clan officially recognized by the Lord Lyon in Scotland as representing those of the name Thomson or Thompson? So if anybody else tells you that you’re a part of their clan because your name is Thompson or Thomson, remind them that the official Scottish authority in charge of such things says different.
Since that first festival, we have also participated in the Rocky Mountain Highland Games and Colorado Scottish Festival in Highlands Ranch Colorado (since moved to Snowmass), the Elizabeth Celtic Festival in Elizabeth Colorado, Colorado Tartan Day Festival in Arvada and Longmont Colorado, and the Edgewater Celtic Harvest Festival in Edgewater Colorado. And we are proud to have hosted the 2011 and 2015 Annual General Meetings of Clan Thompson International in Estes Park Colorado as well as participating in the Longs Peak Scottish-Irish Highland Festival, now celebrating over 40 years in the Rocky Mountain region.
We look forward to even bigger and better things for Clan Thompson in Colorado. Won’t you join us?
Click here for information on the long and colorful history of Clan Thompson in the border areas of Scotland.