Henry Hudson's Daring Exploits

Fourth Voyage
April 17, 1610 - October 20, 1611

On his fourth voyage, Hudson thought he was close to Asia when he found what is now known as Hudson Bay Copyright/Source

In 1610, he decided to try to find the Northwest Passage. He was a bad leader and from the beginning there were fights among the crew. By June, Hudson had discovered a strait and that led to a large body of water. He thought he was close to Asia and went south. In reality, he had passed through what is now called Hudson Strait and gone into Hudson Bay.

Hudson's ship was caught by the ice and he had to spend the winter in Canada. Many of the men were sick from scurvy. In the spring of 1611 the men mutinied and put Hudson, his son and some other men on a small boat and left them behind.

The mutineers went home. Some died in a battle with the Inuit on the way. By the time they reached London, only six of the original twenty-two were left alive.

Thomas Button Copyright/Source

A Killer of a Bay!
Hudson Bay and James Bay have a history of being difficult. Henry Hudson's crew mutinied in James Bay after surviving a very harsh winter in 1611. Thomas Button endured another awful winter in the winter of 1612 and 1613. In 1615, William Gibbons was blocked by ice before entering the bay. Jens Munk was marooned there facing scurvy. Only he and 2 of his men made it home -- there were about 64 on board when they started out. In his voyage of 1631 to 1632, Thomas James nearly died in the forest fire that he started by accident.

The Elusive Northwest Passage
For 200 years after Hudson's attempt to find the Passage in 1610, at least 36 other ships tried -- and failed.