From that time on, the river would be known as the Hudson River. They traveled up the river about 150 miles, to what is now Albany, before deciding that it would not lead all the way to the Pacific and turning back. Hudson departed from Holland on the ship Halve Maen ( Half Moon) in April 1609, but when adverse conditions again blocked his route northeast, he ignored his agreement with his employers to return directly and decided to sail to the New World in search of the so-called “northwest passage.”Īfter landing in Newfoundland, Canada, Hudson’s expedition traveled south along the Atlantic coast and put into the great river discovered by Florentine navigator Giovanni da Verrazano in 1524. One was located around latitude 62° N (based on English explorer Captain George Weymouth’s 1602 voyage) the second, around latitude 40° N, had been recently reported by Captain John Smith. While in Amsterdam gathering supplies, Hudson heard reports of two possible channels running across North America to the Pacific. Though English companies were reluctant to back him after two failed voyages, Hudson was able to gain a commission from the Dutch East India Company to lead a third expedition in 1609. The following year, Hudson made a second Muscovy-funded voyage between Svalbard and the islands of Novaya Zemlya, to the east of the Barents Sea, but again found his way blocked by ice fields. They traveled east along the edge of the polar ice pack until they reached the Svalbard archipelago, well north of the Arctic Circle, before hitting ice and being forced to turn back.ĭid you know? Knowledge gained during Henry Hudson's four voyages significantly expanded on that from previous explorations made in the 16th century by Giovanni da Verrazano of Italy, John Davis of England and Willem Barents of Holland. Hudson sailed that spring with his son John and 10 companions. In 1607, the Muscovy Company of London provided Hudson financial backing based on his claims that he could find an ice-free passage past the North Pole that would provide a shorter route to the rich markets and resources of Asia.
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