Henday enters the Blackfoot Camp, 1754

Franklin Arbuckle
Reproduced with the permission of
the Hudson’s Bay Company
From the HBC Corporate Collection

Henday was born in England and joined HBC in 1750. In 1754, he left York Fort to try to contact First Nations peoples far from Hudson Bay. He hope to convince them to bring their furs to the bay instead of trading them with the French.

He traveled as far west as what is now Alberta and realized that the French knew how to speak and trade with the First Nations peoples better than HBC did. He also noticed that the Cree would not let other First Nations bring their furs to HBC forts at Hudson Bay. This helped change the way HBC did business: Soon after, they began to send traders into the wilderness instead of waiting for the furs to come to the forts.