Henry Hudson was a very good navigator and
sailor who named and explored Hudson Bay in Canada and
the Hudson River in America. His quest was to find a
shortcut from Europe to the Far East. Hudson was from
England, but nothing is known about his life before
1607.
On May 1, 1607, Hudson, his son, and 11 other crew
members sailed from England on the Hopewell. He and his
crew went past Greenland toward the North Pole. They were
working for an English trading company and were hoping to
find a quicker way to get from England to the Far East,
by way of the Arctic Ocean. In the next two years, he
tried twice more to find a "northeast passage" but failed
and returned to England. The trading company would not
send him on any more explorations.
In 1609 he moved to Holland and sailed for a Dutch
trading company on the ship named Half Moon. In 1609 he
set sail from Amsterdam and headed north, again trying to
find a way through the Arctic to the Far East. This time,
conditions were so bad that his crew of about 20 men
threatened to mutiny. Hudson turned the ship around and
headed south down the east coast of Canada.
Hudson was hoping that the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
were separated by just a thin strip of land, and that he
would be the one to find the shortest way between the two
oceans. He sailed into New York Bay in September of 1609
and explored a river which became known as the Hudson
River for about 150 miles. He was looking for the
shortcut to the Pacific, but of course, he did not find
it, so he returned to Holland. He was told by Holland to
go back to England.
On his final journey from England in 1610, he again
headed northwest towards Canada, this time on the ship
Discovery. In August Hudson found a body of water which
at first he thought was the Pacific Ocean. The body of
water was a large bay, which eventually was named the
Hudson Bay.
In November 1610, the Discovery became locked in ice in
Hudson Bay. The crew wanted to get back to England, but
Hudson would not let them leave. It was a very cold
winter, and the crew suffered greatly in the icy
conditions. The crew was thinking of mutiny. In June
1611, they decided to put Hudson, his son, and the seven
others into a small boat, and they were never heard from
again.
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