There was some disappointed to be had that winter of 1610. The weather was brutal and the men realized they had not reached their goal of finding the Northwest Passage which would enable European trade with China by way of the Atlantic Ocean.
Excitement had been high that previous summer. The intrepid explorers entered what is now Hudson Straight at the northern tip of Labrador in Canada. As they worked their way into the Hudson Bay, they spent the months exploring and mapping the area under the impression they had found the passage.
They had not.
Preparations for surviving the winter months were undertaken and the winter ice grew to envelop the 55 ton Discovery. Winter then set in and the men were obligated to move ashore for safety lest the ship be crushed and sunk by the encompassing ice.
The brutal cold slipped away with the ice receding as the spring of 1611 released the men from their frozen prison.
The crew was ready to return to the safety of their homes. The captain insisted that Discovery press forward.
Alas! Today in History, June 23, 1611, the explorer and navigator Henry Hudson fell to a mutinous crew who set him, his son, and seven faithful crew adrift in a small sailboat known as a shallop.
For a while, Hudson and company attempted to follow the Discovery but the mutinous crew piled on more sail and made their escape.
The hapless crew of the shallop were never to be seen again.
The painting shown here is from the British artist John Collier’s. Collier, 1850-1934, exhibited “The Last Voyage of Henry Hudson” in 1881.
