After his crew mutinied and set Henry Hudson and a few loyal shipmates adrift in a small boat they callously sailed away leaving the men to their fate. Whether they intended for them to die or assumed a rescue party would find them is unknown. All that is known for certain is that the last recorded sighting of Hudson and his crew was In June 1611.
Captain James
Since that date many theories have been proposed as to the fate of Hudson. Was he able to survive in the harsh backwoods of unexplored Canada? It is likely that Hudson perished in the bay, dying of hunger or thirst in the vastness of seawater. But what if he had made it to shore and a few of his men survived though some were sick already. Captain Thomas James, after whom James Bay was named claimed to have found what he thought was the remnants of a shelter on Danby Island in 1631. Captain Zachariah Gillian supposedly found similar but inconclusive evidence in 1670.
Oral Legends
Legend has it that Hudson or some of his men did survive and traded with the native aboriginals for food and were eventually taken in by the local First Nations peoples. This is thought to be unlikely as Hudson had little regard for the native population and the feeling was mutual. A journal written by one of the mutinous crewmembers suggested the natives went out of their way to avoid contact with Hudson and his crew.
Inuit Legend
A story has come down from the Inuit that a hunting party had come across a boat containing a number of Europeans. All were dead except for a small boy, possibly Hudson’s son, John. They took him back to their camp but his fate is unknown.
Ottawa Legend
A stone found on the banks of the Ottawa River adds a tantalizing twist to the story. Though it has never been proved authentic, a stone was found in 1959 with the inscriptions “HH CAPTIVE 1612”. This led to the theory that Hudson and some of his crew had been enslaved by the natives and during a trip down the Ottawa River took the opportunity to make the notation on a rock much like a note in a bottle. The stone was in Tenna-Brise Park in Chalk River for some time but in 2005 it was smashed by vandals, though the inscription apparently remained intact. Some anthropologists believe that the symbols that look like HH are merely similar markings made by Ottawa Indians.
Cree Legend
It was reported that the Cree have a legend from about that time telling of a white man who came to live among them and was buried at a place whose name means 'little white man' in Cree. This man apparently lived with the Cree for many years. Another theory points to an island whose Cree name is 'ape-man' based on the appearance of the bearded Europeans and the natives who had little facial hair.
Spitzbergen Theory
One of the more unlikely theories is that Hudson not only survived being set adrift in the small ship’s boat but that he sailed it back across the Atlantic and landed in Spitzbergen Island where he died. This theory is based on the finding of graves in 1823 though it is more than likely they were the graves of whalers or fishermen.
It has never been satisfactorily proven what happened to Henry Hudson, his son and the abandoned members of his crew but speculation is often enjoyable and who knows, perhaps one day evidence of their fate will come to light.
Bibliography
The Pathfinders of North America, Edwin and Mary Guillet, Macmillan Company of Canada (1957)
Beaver Magazine – September 1999
Electronic Telegraph – January 1998
North Renfrew Times – 2005
William Silvester - Most of Bill's writing over the past few years has been for the philatelic press and consists primarily of columns and articles about the ...
Join the Conversation