Henry Hudson - 1609 Voyage

1609 Voyage

In 1609, Hudson was chosen by the Dutch East India Company, from Holland, to find an easterly passage to Asia. He was told to sail through the Arctic Ocean north of Russia, into the Pacific and so to the Far East. Hudson departed Amsterdam on April 4 in command of the Dutch ship Halve Maen. He could not complete the specified 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. At that point, acting entirely outside his instructions, Hudson pointed the ship west to try to find a passage in that direction.

Having heard rumors of a passage to the Pacific, by way of John Smith of Jamestown and Samuel de Champlain, Hudson and his crew decided to try to seek a westerly passage through North America. The Native Americans who gave the information to Smith and Champlain were likely referring to what are known today as the Great Lakes.

They reached the Grand Banks, south of Newfoundland, on July 2, and in mid-July made landfall near what is now LaHave, Nova Scotia. Here they encountered Native Americans who were accustomed to trading with the French; they were willing to trade beaver pelts, but apparently no trades occurred. The ship stayed in the area about ten days, the crew replacing a broken mast and fishing for food. On the 25th 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).

On August 4 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 September 3 he reached the estuary of the river that initially was called the "North River" or "Mauritius" and now carries his name. He was not the first to discover the estuary, though, as it had been known since the voyage of Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524. On September 6, 1609 John Colman of his crew was killed by Indians with an arrow to his neck. Hudson sailed into the upper bay on September 11, and the following day began a journey up what is now known as the Hudson River Over the next ten days his ship ascended the river, reaching a point about where the present-day capital of Albany is located.

On September 23, Hudson decided to return to Europe. He put in at Dartmouth on November 7, 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.

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 Island became the capital of New Netherland in 1625.