The Search for the Northwest Passage
The early explorers
The Cabots
In 1496, less than four years after Columbus's 'discovery' of the Americas (which he thought were part of Asia), John Cabot (c. 1455-c. 1498) – originally Giovanni Caboto, an Italian, then in the service of Henry VII of England – set sail to explore the 'eastern, western and northern sea'. However, disagreements with the crew, bad weather and food shortages curtailed the expedition.
Cabot made two more voyages over the next two years. Many researchers believe that, in his May-August 1497 expedition, sailing in the Matthew, he made it to Canada – to Labrador and/or Newfoundland or even further south to Cape Breton Island. In May 1498, he again set off, this time with a fleet of five ships. But after this, nothing more is heard of him.
By now, it had been recognised that Columbus had found a new continent. In 1508-09, Cabot's son, Sebastian (c. 1484-c. 1557), sailed to areas north of those that his father had explored, possibly travelling through the Hudson Strait and into Hudson Bay, but his crew refused to go any further. This was probably the first real attempt to find the Northwest Passage.
Sir Martin Frobisher
A Yorkshireman, Frobisher (c. 1535-94) was an adventurer, perhaps a pirate. Financed by the earl of Warwick, and with the support of Elizabeth I, he set out in 1576 to discover the Northwest Passage. He sailed along an inlet that he took to be a route to Asia, and named it 'Frobisher's Streight' (it is now known as Frobisher Bay). When winter pack-ice made further progress impossible, he returned to England, carrying what he thought was gold ore (it was actually marcasite).
Frobisher's subsequent trips to the Arctic were more concerned with the search for minerals than with the passage – and he was unsuccessful on both counts. Whole cargoes of stones proved worthless, though Frobisher was knighted for his bravery against the Spanish Armada.
Henry Hudson
Hudson (1565-1611) made four major voyages to find the Northwest Passage. The first in 1607 and the second a year later (during which some of his crew swore they had spotted a mermaid) were undertaken in the Hopewell for the Muscovy Company – a group of English merchants who traded with Russia. Like others before and after him, Hudson was forced by the ice to return to England. However, in 1609, he sailed north again, this time for the Dutch East India Company, in the Halve Maen ('half moon').
Hudson explored the coast of North America southwards as far as the Chesapeake and Delaware bays, then north and into waters he thought might be the entrance to the Northwest Passage. But they turned out to be a river, which now runs past New York City and is named after him.
His final journey, in 1610, financed by another group of London merchants, took him into what is now called Hudson Strait, and thence into Hudson Bay – a dead end. That winter, Hudson’s ship – the Discovery – became trapped in ice in the southern part of the bay (now known as James Bay).
When the ice melted in the spring, Hudson wanted to continue exploring. However, his crew mutinied and set Hudson, his son and seven loyal crew members adrift in an open boat. They were never seen again.
Further attempts
Hudson's attempt was followed by many more. All were unsuccessful, but they did add to the knowledge of the treacherous waters of the Arctic.
For example, there were the voyages of Thomas Button (died 1634) in 1612-13, which also ended in Hudson Bay. In 1615, Robert Bylot (dates unknown) and his navigator William Baffin (c. 1584-1622) charted the south coast of what is now Baffin Island.
Interest waned in the Northwest Passage after this. However, enthusiasm was rekindled in 1744 when the British Parliament offered a prize of £20,000 to anyone who discovered the Northwest Passage.
In 1818, John Ross (1777-1856) and his second-in-command William Edward Parry (1790-1855) set out with two ships. Like others before them, they turned back at Lancaster Sound, thinking it an enclosed bay. A year later, Parry – who would travel further west in the Arctic than anyone else during the 19th century – discovered it was actually a strait.
