The discovery in 1602 of a hitherto uncharted strait leading from the Labrador Sea prompted Henry Hudson, the man who had mapped the Hudson River, to explore this new channel thoroughly. The great adventurer sailed boldly through what is now the Hudson Strait into the vast Hudson Bay, with high hopes of finding a way through to the Pacific Ocean.

The year-round blanket of ice frustrated any further search for a northwest passage, and Hudson was forced to winter on the greater bay’s southern shore. To eke out their dwindling rations, the starving crew cast Hudson, his son and eight others adrift. Their fate remains unknown, though four of the mutineers survived to tell the world of Hudson’s discoveries.

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