The Missing Pieces of the Puzzle

While explorers were finding their way across North America by land, others reached the Pacific Ocean by ship. It took more than 300 years for the Europeans to finally cross the country and reach the west coast. The years in between were filled with perilous journeys, navigating challenging terrain little by little, mapping the land as they went and thereby building on what others had found before them. Besides travelling from east to west, there were some explorers who were also hoping to find the Northwest Passage above North America -- but from the Pacific side, travelling west to east.

This part of the Passageways: True Tales of Adventure for Young Explorers website looks at the explorers of the west coast and what they did to complete the map outline of what is now Canada.

Click on the explorer's name to find out more about him.