Hudson Facts Country England Occupation Ship's captain & navigator Arctic Regions Explored Hudson's Bay, Novaya Zemlya (Siberia) # of Arctic expeditions 4 Most famous Arctic expedition Discovered Hudson's Bay (1610-1611) Other Significant Events Discovered Hudson River Did you know? In 1610 - 1611, Hudson's ship Discovery was frozen in James Bay, and the crew became the first Europeans to spend the winter in the Canadian north. The crew mutinied and cast him, his son, and few others adrift in a small boat, never to be heard from again. The mutineers headed home but only eight were to make it back to England The others either died from scurvy and starvation or were killed in an attack by the Inuit off of Digges Island. No attempt was ever made to search for Hudson, nor were the surviving mutineers ever punished.

Henry Hudson
(1565 - 1611)

Little is known of his life before he was hired by the English Muscovy Company to find the Northeast Passage to China through Arctic Siberia. His first voyage in 1607 reached impenetrable polar pack ice and was halted. Enroute he discovered Jan Mayen Island (a tiny island off eastern Greenland). The following year he sailed to Novaya Zemlya (an island north of Russia in the Arctic Ocean) but his search for the illusive passage was again blocked by ice.

In 1609, hired by the Dutch East India Company, Hudson again sailed northeast only to be stopped by ice yet again. Ignoring explicit orders, he sailed his ship "Half Moon" across the Atlantic to search for a Northwest Passage. It was on this voyage on September 3, 1609 that Hudson sailed into the harbor of present-day New York, noting what an excellent harbor it was and the abundance of rich unclaimed land. Making it as far as present-day Albany 150 miles upriver, he realized that this was not a waterway to India and turned back. However, his "discovery" -- actually, da Verrazzano had previously sailed by the area in 1524 -- opened the way for Dutch settlement of the region.

On his fourth voyage, under the auspices of a group of London merchants, later to be known as "The Adventurers," Hudson set out to look for a Northwest Passage to the Orient. His ship, the Discovery, entered Hudson Strait in June 1610. Upon reaching the western end of the strait, he passed between the islands and the mainland, naming the headlands Cape Digges and Cape Wolstenholme. Hudson then continued along southwards to the head of James Bay, but found no outlet to the Pacific. There the Discovery was frozen in, with the crew becoming the first Europeans to "winter" in the Canadian Arctic. In the spring Hudson's crew mutinied, and he, his son, and a few men were set adrift in a small boat, presumably perishing soon after. Of the crew only eight made it back to England, but their reports of giant tides in Hudson Strait flowing from the west and reaching heights of more than 20 feet, were brought back to England. This led the "Adventurers" to the conclusion that the Northwest Passage lay west or northwest of Digges Islands.