Henry Hudson
A 16th and 17th century British explorer, Henry Hudson is best known for his "discovery" of two bodies of water later named after him: the Hudson River in present-day New York, and Hudson's Bay along the Arctic coast of present-day Canada.
At the time of his discovery of what he called the Great North River, he was working for the Dutch East India Company. He had been commissioned to look for a Northeast Passage to Asia over Russia, but arctic exploration (this was his third expedition north) was beginning to pall. So he turned and sailed west and then down the North Atlantic coast.
When he came to present-day New York Harbor, with its deep but treacherous bay, and saw the wide expanse of the Hudson, he headed north, determined to follow it to its end, be that the Pacific Ocean or something else entirely.
He sailed north, encountering Lenape, Wappinger, Esopus, and Mahican peoples along the way. Finally, north of present-day Albany, he encountered the natural waterfall that is today the Troy-Menands dam. Defeated but undeterred, he returned to Holland to report his findings, claimed the land for the Dutch crown, and went north again, this time to the west.
Ostracized by his British countrymen for claiming territory for another nation he was unable to return home to his wife and children. And then, on his fourth voyage, Hudson was subjected to a mutiny in the cold waters of the Canadian arctic.
Put into a whaleboat with his teenaged son, and several ill but loyal crew members, he watched as the mutineers, including his long-time first mate Robert Juet, sailed back toward England. Hudson, his son, and his loyal crew were never found, but history named the bay after him. Although mutiny was a capital crime in Britain and some of the mutineers were tried, none were ever convicted.
The Dutch began settling in present-day New York just 15 years after Hudson's journey. Founding first Fort Orange at present-day Albany (later Bevierwyck), then New Amsterdam at present-day Manhattan, and Wyltwyck at present-day Kingston, the Dutch held New Amsterdam as a colony until 1655 when the might of the British army led to a bloodless takeover.
Although Henry Hudson did keep a record of his voyages, it has been lost to history. It was known after his final voyage and partially quoted in books and papers published in later years, but the original no longer exists. First Mate and later mutineer Robert Juet also kept a journal of the voyages. The New Netherland Museum offers a translated version available as PDF.
The public domain books below are arranged by date, which is noted so that the texts may be put in historical context.
At the time of his discovery of what he called the Great North River, he was working for the Dutch East India Company. He had been commissioned to look for a Northeast Passage to Asia over Russia, but arctic exploration (this was his third expedition north) was beginning to pall. So he turned and sailed west and then down the North Atlantic coast.
When he came to present-day New York Harbor, with its deep but treacherous bay, and saw the wide expanse of the Hudson, he headed north, determined to follow it to its end, be that the Pacific Ocean or something else entirely.
He sailed north, encountering Lenape, Wappinger, Esopus, and Mahican peoples along the way. Finally, north of present-day Albany, he encountered the natural waterfall that is today the Troy-Menands dam. Defeated but undeterred, he returned to Holland to report his findings, claimed the land for the Dutch crown, and went north again, this time to the west.
Ostracized by his British countrymen for claiming territory for another nation he was unable to return home to his wife and children. And then, on his fourth voyage, Hudson was subjected to a mutiny in the cold waters of the Canadian arctic.
Put into a whaleboat with his teenaged son, and several ill but loyal crew members, he watched as the mutineers, including his long-time first mate Robert Juet, sailed back toward England. Hudson, his son, and his loyal crew were never found, but history named the bay after him. Although mutiny was a capital crime in Britain and some of the mutineers were tried, none were ever convicted.
The Dutch began settling in present-day New York just 15 years after Hudson's journey. Founding first Fort Orange at present-day Albany (later Bevierwyck), then New Amsterdam at present-day Manhattan, and Wyltwyck at present-day Kingston, the Dutch held New Amsterdam as a colony until 1655 when the might of the British army led to a bloodless takeover.
Although Henry Hudson did keep a record of his voyages, it has been lost to history. It was known after his final voyage and partially quoted in books and papers published in later years, but the original no longer exists. First Mate and later mutineer Robert Juet also kept a journal of the voyages. The New Netherland Museum offers a translated version available as PDF.
The public domain books below are arranged by date, which is noted so that the texts may be put in historical context.
Henry Hudson the Navigator by G. M. Asher (1809)
The Adventures of Henry Hudson by Lambert Lilly (1842)
This book was written for young people (the author's "young countrymen") as part of a series of biographies.