Henry Hudson made his first voyage west from England in 1607,
when he was hired to find a shorter route to Asia from Europe
through the Arctic Ocean. After twice being turned back by ice,
Hudson embarked on a third voyage--this time on behalf of the
Dutch East India Company--in 1609. This time, he chose to
continue east by a more southern route, drawn by reports of a
possible channel across the North American continent to the
Pacific. After navigating the Atlantic coast, Hudson's ships
sailed up a great river (which would later bear his name) but
turned back when they determined it was not the channel they
sought. On a fourth and final voyage, undertaken for England in
1610-11, Hudson spent months drifting through the vast Hudson
Bay and eventually fell victim to a mutiny by his crew. Hudson's
discoveries laid the groundwork for Dutch colonization of the
Hudson River region, as well as English land claims in Canada. -
Henry Hudson's Search for a "Northeast Passage" - Hudson's
Voyage to North America Aboard th