Editing Henry Hudson (section)

== Exploration ==

=== Expeditions of 1607 and 1608 ===
In 1607, the [[Muscovy Company]] of England hired Hudson to find a northerly route to the Pacific coast of Asia. At the time, the English were engaged in an economic battle with the Dutch for control of northwest routes. It was thought that, because the [[Midnight sun|sun shone for three months]] in the northern latitudes in the summer, the ice would melt, and a ship could make it across the "top of the world".{{sfn |Howgego |2003}}

On 1 May 1607, Hudson sailed with a crew of ten men and a boy on the 80-ton ''Hopewell''.{{sfn|Asher|1860|pp=1–22}}{{sfn|Conway|1906|pp=23–30}} They reached the east coast of [[Greenland]] on 13 May, coasting northward until 22 May. Here the party named a headland "Young's Cape", a "very high mount, like a round castle" near it "Mount of God's Mercy" and land at 73°&nbsp;north latitude "[[Hold with Hope]]". After turning east, they sighted "Newland" ([[Spitsbergen]]) on 27 May near the mouth of the great bay Hudson later simply named the "Great Indraught" ([[Isfjorden (Svalbard)|Isfjorden]]).{{sfn |Howgego |2003}}

On 13 July, Hudson and his crew estimated that they had sailed as far north as 80°&nbsp;23′&nbsp;N,{{efn|Observations made during this voyage were often wrong, sometimes greatly so. See Conway 1906.}} but had more likely only reached 79°&nbsp;23′&nbsp;N. The following day they entered what Hudson later in the voyage named "Whales Bay" ([[Krossfjorden]] and [[Kongsfjorden]]), naming its northwestern point "Collins Cape" (Kapp Mitra) after his [[boatswain]], William Collins. They sailed north the following two days. On 16 July, they reached as far north as Hakluyt's Headland (which [[Thomas Edge]] says Hudson named on this voyage) at 79°&nbsp;49′&nbsp;N, thinking they saw the land continue to 82°&nbsp;N ([[Svalbard]]'s northernmost point is 80°&nbsp;49′&nbsp;N) when really it trended to the east. Encountering ice packed along the north coast, they were forced to turn back south. Hudson wanted to make his return "by the north of Greenland to Davis his Streights ([[Davis Strait]]), and so for Kingdom of England", but ice conditions would have made this impossible. The expedition returned to [[Tilbury|Tilbury Hope]] on the [[River Thames]] on 15&nbsp;September.

Hudson reported large numbers of whales in Spitsbergen waters during this voyage. Many authors{{efn|Sandler 2008, p.&nbsp;407; Umbreit 2005, p.&nbsp;1; {{harvnb|Shorto|2004|p=21}}; Mulvaney 2001, p.&nbsp;38; Davis et al. 1997, p.&nbsp;31; Francis 1990, p.&nbsp;30; Rudmose-Brown 1920, p.&nbsp;312; Chisholm 1911, p.&nbsp;942.}} credit his reports as the catalyst for several nations sending [[whaling]] expeditions to the islands. This claim is contentious; others have pointed to strong evidence that it was [[Jonas Poole]]'s reports in 1610, that led to the establishment of English whaling, and voyages of [[Nicholas Woodcock]] and [[Willem Cornelisz van Muyden]] in 1612, which led to the establishment of Dutch, French and Spanish whaling.{{sfnm|Purchas|1625|1p=24|Conway|1906|2p=53}} The [[History of whaling|whaling industry]] was built by neither Hudson nor Poole—both were dead by 1612.

In 1608, English merchants of the [[East India Company|East India]] and Muscovy Companies again sent Hudson in the ''Hopewell'' to attempt to locate a passage to the Indies, this time to the east around northern Russia. Leaving London on 22&nbsp;April, the ship travelled almost {{convert|2500|mi|abbr=on}}, making it to [[Novaya Zemlya]] well above the [[Arctic Circle]] in July, but even in the summer they found the ice impenetrable and turned back, arriving at [[Gravesend, Kent|Gravesend]] on 26&nbsp;August.{{sfn|Hunter|2009|pp=19–20}}

==== Alleged discovery of Jan Mayen ====
According to [[Thomas Edge]], "William {{sic}} Hudson" in 1608 discovered an island he named "Hudson's Tutches" (Touches) at 71°&nbsp;N,{{sfn|Purchas|1625|p=11}} the latitude of [[Jan Mayen]]. However, records of Hudson's voyages suggest that he could only have come across Jan Mayen in 1607 by making an illogical detour, and historians have pointed out that Hudson himself made no mention of it in his journal.{{efn|"The above relation by Thomas Edge is obviously incorrect. Hudson's Christian name is wrongly given, and the year in which he visited the north coast of Spitsbergen was 1607, not 1608. Moreover, Hudson himself has given an account of the voyage and makes absolutely no mention of Hudson's Tutches. It would have been hardly possible indeed for him to visit Jan Mayen on his way home from Bear Island to the Thames." Wordie 1922, p.&nbsp;182.}} There is also no cartographical proof of this supposed discovery.{{sfn|Hacquebord|2004|p=229}}

[[Jonas Poole]] in 1611 and [[Robert Fotherby]] in 1615 both had possession of Hudson's journal while searching for his elusive Hold-with-Hope—which is now believed to have been on the east coast of Greenland—but neither had any knowledge of any discovery of Jan Mayen, an achievement which was only later attributed to Hudson. Fotherby eventually stumbled across Jan Mayen, thinking it a new discovery and naming it "Sir Thomas Smith's Island",{{sfnm|Purchas|1625|1pp=82–89|Hacquebord|2004|2pp=230–231}} though the first verifiable records of the discovery of the island had been made a year earlier, in 1614.

=== Expedition of 1609 ===
[[File:Henry Hudson Map 26.png|thumb|Hudson's voyages to North America]]
In 1609, Hudson was chosen by merchants of the [[Dutch East India Company]] in the Netherlands to find an easterly passage to Asia. While awaiting orders and supplies in Amsterdam, he heard rumours of a northwest route to the Pacific through North America.<ref name=empire>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/empireofthebay/profiles/hudson.html|title=Empire of the Bay: Henry Hudson|website=www.pbs.org|access-date=14 April 2018}}</ref> Hudson had been told to sail through the [[Arctic Ocean]] north of Russia, into the Pacific and so to the [[Far East]]. Hudson departed [[Amsterdam]] on 4&nbsp;April, in command of the Dutch ship {{ship||Halve Maen||2}}{{sfn|Hunter|2009|p=11}} (English: Half Moon). He could not complete the specified (eastward) route because ice blocked the passage, as with all previous such voyages, and he turned the ship around in mid-May while somewhere east of Norway's [[North Cape (Norway)|North Cape]]. At that point, acting outside his instructions, Hudson pointed the ship west and decided to try to seek a westerly passage through North America.{{sfn|Hunter|2009|pp=56–57}}

They reached the [[Grand Banks of Newfoundland]] on 2&nbsp;July, and in mid-July made landfall near the [[LaHave, Nova Scotia|LaHave area]] of [[Nova Scotia]].{{sfn|Hunter|2009|pp=92–94}} Here they encountered [[Indigenous peoples in Canada|Indigenous people]] who were accustomed to trading with the French; they were willing to trade [[Beaver#Trapping|beaver pelts]], but apparently no trades occurred.{{sfnm|Hunter|2009|1p=98|Juet|1609|2loc=entry of 19&nbsp;July}} The ship stayed in the area about ten days, the crew replacing a broken mast and fishing for food. On the 25 July, a dozen men from the ''Halve Maen'', using muskets and small cannon, went ashore and assaulted the village near their anchorage. They drove the people from the settlement and took their boat and other property—probably pelts and trade goods.{{sfnm|Hunter|2009|1pp=102–105|Juet|1609|2loc=entry of 25&nbsp;July}}

[[File:Halve Maen front.jpg|thumb|Replica of the {{ship||Halve Maen||2}}]]
On 4 August, the ship was at [[Cape Cod]], from which Hudson sailed south to the entrance of the [[Chesapeake Bay]]. Rather than entering the Chesapeake he explored the coast to the north, finding [[Delaware Bay]] but continuing on north. On 3&nbsp;September, he reached the [[New York–New Jersey Harbor Estuary|estuary]] of the river that initially was called the "North River" or "Mauritius" and now carries his name. He was not the first European to discover the estuary, though, as it had been known since the voyage of [[Giovanni da Verrazzano]] in 1524.

On 6 September 1609, [[John Colman]] of his crew was killed by [[Native Americans in the United States|natives]] with an arrow to his neck.<ref>{{cite news |first=Sam |last=Roberts |title=New York's Coldest Case: A Murder 400 Years Old |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=4 September 2009 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/05/nyregion/05murder.html}}</ref> Hudson sailed into the [[Upper New York Bay]] on 11&nbsp;September,<ref>[http://blog.insidetheapple.net/2008/09/new-yorks-many-911-anniversaries-staten.html Nevius, Michelle and James, "New York's many 9/11 anniversaries: the Staten Island Peace Conference"], ''Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City'', 8 September 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-31.</ref> and the following day encountered a group of 28 [[Lenape canoes]], buying oysters and beans from the Native Americans, and then began a journey up what is now known as the Hudson River.{{sfn|Juet|1609}} Over the next ten days his ship ascended the river, reaching a point near Stuyvesant Landing (Old Kinderhook), and the ship's boat with five crew members ventured to the vicinity of present-day [[Albany, New York|Albany]].<ref name="Old Kinderhook">{{cite book |last1=Collier |first1=Edward Augustus |title=A History of Old Kinderhook from Aboriginal Days to the Present Time |date=1914 |publisher=G. P. Putnam's sons |location=New York |pages=2–7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GIY-AAAAYAAJ |access-date=29 October 2022}}</ref>

On 23 September, Hudson decided to return to Europe.{{sfn|Hunter|2009|p=235}} He put in at [[Dartmouth, Devon|Dartmouth]], England on 7&nbsp;November, and was detained by authorities who wanted access to his log. He managed to pass the log to the Dutch ambassador to England, who sent it, along with his report, to Amsterdam.{{sfn|Shorto|2004|p=31}}

While exploring the river, Hudson had traded with several native groups, mainly obtaining furs. His voyage was used to establish Dutch claims to the region and to the [[fur trade]] that prospered there when a trading post was established at Albany in 1614. [[New Amsterdam]] on [[Manhattan#Manhattan Island|Manhattan Island]] became the capital of [[New Netherland]] in 1625.

=== Expedition of 1610–1611 ===
In 1610, Hudson obtained backing for another voyage, this time under the English flag. The funding came from the [[Virginia Company]] and the British [[East India Company]]. At the helm of his new ship, the {{ship||Discovery|1602 ship|2}}, he stayed to the north (some claim he had deliberately stayed too far south on his Dutch-funded voyage),{{citation needed|date=November 2024}} reached [[Iceland]] on 11&nbsp;May, the south of Greenland on 4&nbsp;June, and rounded the southern tip of Greenland.

On 25 June, the explorers reached what is now the [[Hudson Strait]] at the northern tip of [[Labrador]]. Following the southern coast of the strait on 2&nbsp;August, the ship entered [[Hudson Bay]]. Excitement was very high due to the expectation that the ship had finally found the [[Northwest Passage]] through the continent. Hudson spent the following months mapping and exploring its eastern shores, but he and his crew did not find a passage to Asia. In November, the ship became trapped in the ice in [[James Bay]], and the crew moved ashore for the winter.

==== Mutiny ====
When the ice cleared in the spring of 1611, Hudson planned to use his ''Discovery'' to further explore Hudson Bay with the continuing goal of discovering the Passage; however, most of the members of his crew ardently desired to return home. Matters came to a head and much of the crew mutinied in June. Descriptions of the successful mutiny are one-sided, because the only survivors who could tell their story were the mutineers and those who went along with the mutiny.

In the latter class was ship's navigator, [[Abacuk Pricket]], a survivor who kept a journal that was to become one of the sources for the narrative of the mutiny. According to Pricket, the leaders of the mutiny were Henry Greene and Robert Juet.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-06-06 |title=Henry Hudson: Definition & Discoveries |url=https://www.history.com/topics/exploration/henry-hudson |access-date=2024-04-23 |website=HISTORY |language=en}}</ref> The latter, a navigator, had accompanied Hudson on the 1609 expedition, and his account is said to be "the best contemporary record of the voyage".<ref name=norton>{{cite book |title=Norton Anthology of American Literature |edition=9th |volume=1 |pages=98–102 |isbn=978-0393935714 |publisher=Norton |location=London |year=2017 |editor1-first=Robert S.|editor1-last=Levine}}</ref> Pricket's narrative tells how the mutineers set Hudson, his teenage son John, and seven crewmen—men who were either sick and infirm or loyal to Hudson—adrift from the ''Discovery'' in a small [[shallop]], an open boat, effectively marooning them in Hudson Bay. The Pricket journal reports that the mutineers provided the castaways with clothing, powder and shot, some pikes, an iron pot, some food, and other miscellaneous items.  

==== Disappearance ====
[[File:Last Voyage Of Henry Hudson.jpg|thumb|upright=0.95|''[[The Last Voyage of Henry Hudson]]'', [[John Collier (painter)|John Collier]]'s 1881 painting of Hudson, his son, and loyal crew set adrift]]
After the mutiny, Hudson's shallop broke out oars and tried to keep pace with the ''Discovery'' for some time. Pricket recalled that the mutineers finally tired of the pursuit and unfurled additional sails aboard the ''Discovery'', enabling the larger vessel to leave the tiny open boat behind. Hudson and the other seven aboard the shallop were never seen by Europeans again. Despite subsequent searches, including those conducted by [[Thomas Button]] in 1612 and by [[Zachariah Gillam]] in 1668–1670, their fate is unknown.<ref>{{cite web|title=Thomas Button Searches for Remains of Henry Hudson|url=http://canadiancoinnews.com/thomas-button-searches-for-remains-of-henry-hudson/|publisher=Trajan Publishing Corporation|date=14 April 2015|access-date=28 March 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329051646/http://canadiancoinnews.com/thomas-button-searches-for-remains-of-henry-hudson/|archive-date=29 March 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Aftermath of Hudson's Voyages and Related Notes|url=http://www.ianchadwick.com/hudson/hudson_05.htm|publisher=Ian Chadwick|date=19 January 2007|access-date=28 March 2017}}</ref>

====Pricket's reliability====
While Pricket's account is one of the few surviving records of the voyage, its reliability has been questioned by some historians. Pricket's journal and testimony have been severely criticized for bias, on two grounds. Firstly, prior to the mutiny the alleged leaders of the uprising, Greene and Juet, had been friends and loyal seamen of Hudson. Secondly, Greene and Juet did not survive the return voyage to England (Juet, who had been the navigator on the return journey, died of starvation a few days before the company reached Ireland<ref name=norton/>). Pricket knew he and the other survivors of the mutiny would be tried in England for [[piracy]], and it would have been in his interest, and the interest of the other survivors, to put together a narrative that would place the blame for the mutiny upon men who were no longer alive to defend themselves.

The Pricket narrative became the controlling story of the expedition's disastrous end. Only eight of the thirteen mutinous crewmen survived the return voyage to Europe. They were arrested in England, and some were put on trial, but no punishment was imposed for the mutiny. One theory holds that the survivors were considered too valuable as sources of information to execute, as they had travelled to the New World and could describe sailing routes and conditions.<ref>{{cite DCB|url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/hudson_henry_1E.html |title=Hudson, Henry |volume=1 |first=L. H. |last=Neatby}}</ref>

====Later developments====
In 1612, [[Nicolas de Vignau]] claimed he saw wreckage of an English ship on the shores of [[James Bay]], located on the southern end of Hudson Bay—while this was discounted at the time by [[Samuel de Champlain]], historians believe it may have credence.<ref name=heinrich/>

British-born Canadian author [[Dorothy Harley Eber]] (1925–2022) collected [[Inuit]] testimonies that she thought made reference to Hudson and his son after the mutiny.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}} According to these, an old man with a long white beard and a young boy arrived in a small wooden boat. The Inuit had never seen a white person before, but they took them to an encampment and fed them. After the old man died, the Inuit tethered the boy to one of their houses so he would not run away. Despite the long time passed, the story might be given some credence after long-ignored Inuit testimonies proved reliable enough to lead to the discovery of the wrecks of the two ships of [[Franklin's lost expedition]] of 1845, {{HMS|Erebus|1826|6}} and {{HMS|Terror|1813|6}}, in the 2010s. [[Charles Francis Hall]], who searched for Franklin in the mid-19th century, also collected Inuit stories that he interpreted as references to the even earlier expedition of [[Martin Frobisher]], who explored the area and mined [[fool's gold]] in 1578.<ref name = "Roobol">Roobol, M.J. (2019) ''Franklin's Fate: An investigation into what happened to the lost 1845 expedition of Sir John Frankin.'' Conrad Press, 368 pp.</ref>

In the late 1950s, a {{convert|150|lb|kg|adj=on}} stone near [[Deep River, Ontario]], which is approximately {{convert|600|km|mi}} south of James Bay, was found to have carving on it with Hudson's initials (H. H.), the year 1612, and the word "captive".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-toronto-star-carving-on-rock-henry-h/134251134/ |title=Carving on Rock Henry Hudson, 1612? |newspaper=[[Toronto Star]] |page=21 |date=September 21, 1962 |accessdate=October 28, 2023 |via=newspaper.com}}</ref> While lettering on the stone was consistent with English maps of the 17th century, the [[Geological Survey of Canada]] was unable to determine when the carving was made.<ref name=heinrich>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ottawa-citizen-a-secret-etched-in-st/134251252/ |title=A secret etched in stony silence |first=Jeff |last=Heinrich |newspaper=[[Ottawa Citizen]] |page=C3 |date=August 13, 1989 |accessdate=October 28, 2023 |via=newspaper.com}}</ref>