Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay, Canada
Location	North Atlantic Ocean
Coordinates	60°N 85°W / 60°N 085°W / 60; -085 (Hudson Bay)Coordinates: 60°N 85°W / 60°N 085°W / 60; -085 (Hudson Bay)
Countries	Canada
Max. length	1,370 km (851.28 mi)
Max. width	1,050 km (652.44 mi)
Surface area	1,230,000 km2 (470,000 sq mi)
Average depth	100 metres (330 ft)
Frozen	mid-December to mid-June
Islands	Belcher Islands, Ottawa Islands

Hudson Bay (Inuktitut: Kangiqsualuk ilua,^[1] French: baie d'Hudson), sometimes (usually historically) called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about 4,041,400 square kilometres (1,560,400 sq mi),^[2] that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Montana. The southern arm of Hudson Bay is called James Bay.

The Eastern Cree name for Hudson and James Bay is Wînipekw (Southern dialect) or Wînipâkw (Northern dialect), meaning muddy or brackish water. Lake Winnipeg is similarly named by the local Cree, as is the location for the City of Winnipeg.

Description[link]

Hudson Bay encompasses 1,230,000 square kilometres (470,000 sq mi), making it the second-largest bay in the world (after the Bay of Bengal). The bay is relatively shallow and is considered an epicontinental sea, with an average depth of about 100 metres (330 ft) (compared to 2,600 metres in the Bay of Bengal). It is about 1,370 km (850 mi) long and 1,050 km (650 mi) wide.^[3] On the east it is connected with the Atlantic Ocean by Hudson Strait; on the north, with the Arctic Ocean by Foxe Basin (which is not considered part of the bay), and Fury and Hecla Strait. Geographic coordinates: 78° to 95° W, 51° to 70° N.

Hudson Bay is part of the North Atlantic Ocean.^[4][5][6][7] Sometimes the Hudson Bay and Hudson Strait basins are considered part of Arctic Ocean despite that their waters flow predominantly to the Atlantic.^[8] Some sources describe Hudson Bay as a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean,^[9] or the Arctic Ocean.^[10]

History[link]

Canada, Routes of Explorers, 1497 to 1905

English explorers and colonists named Hudson Bay after Henry Hudson, who explored the bay beginning August 2, 1610, on his ship the Discovery.^[11]:170 On his fourth voyage to North America, Hudson worked his way around the west coast of Greenland and into the bay, mapping much of its eastern coast. The Discovery became trapped in the ice over the winter, and the crew survived onshore at the southern tip of James Bay. When the ice cleared in the spring Hudson wanted to explore the rest of the area, but the crew mutinied on June 22, 1611. They left Hudson and others adrift in a small boat. No one knows the fate of Hudson and the crewmembers stranded with him, but historians see no evidence that they survived for long afterwards.^[11]:185

In 1668 the Nonsuch reached the bay and successfully traded for beaver pelts, leading to the creation of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), which still bears the historic name.^[12] The HBC negotiated a trading monopoly from the British crown for the Hudson Bay watershed, called Rupert's Land.^[13]:4 France contested this grant by sending several military expeditions to the region, but abandoned its claim in the Treaty of Utrecht (April 1713). See Anglo-French conflicts on Hudson Bay.

During this period, the Hudson's Bay Company built several forts and trading posts along the coast at the mouth of the major rivers (such as Fort Severn, Ontario, York Factory, Manitoba, and Churchill, Manitoba). The strategic locations were bases for inland exploration. More importantly, they were used as trading posts with the indigenous peoples who came to the posts with furs from their trapping season. The HBC shipped the furs on to Europe and continued to use these posts until the beginning of the 20th century. The port of Churchill is still today an important shipping link for trade with Europe and Russia.

In 1870, when HBC's trade monopoly was abolished, it ceded Rupert's Land—an area of approximately 3.9 million km²—to Canada as part of the Northwest Territories.^[13]:427 Starting in 1913, the Bay was extensively charted by the Canadian Government's CSS Acadia to develop it for navigation.^[14] This mapping progress resulted in the establishment of Churchill, Manitoba, as a deep-sea port for wheat exports in 1929, after unsuccessful attempts at Port Nelson.

Due to a change in naming conventions, Hudson's Bay is now called Hudson Bay. As a result, the names of the body of water and the company are often mistaken for one another.

Geography[link]

Extent[link]

The International Hydrographic Organization defines the northern limit of Hudson Bay as follows:^[15]

A line from Nuvuk Point (62°21′N 78°06′W / 62.35°N 78.1°W / 62.35; -78.1) to Leyson Point, the Southeastern extreme of Southampton Island, through the Southern and Western shores of Southampton Island to its Northern extremity, thence a line to Beach Point (66°03′N 86°06′W / 66.05°N 86.1°W / 66.05; -86.1) on the Mainland.

Climate[link]

Ice begins to form in early November at Hudson Bay.

Hudson Bay was the growth centre for the main ice sheet that covered northern North America during the last Ice Age. The whole region has very low year round average temperatures. (The average annual temperature for Churchill at 59°N is -5°C; by comparison Arkhangelsk at 64°N in a similar cold continental position in northern Russia has an average of 2°C.^[16]) Water temperature peaks at 8°-9°C (46°-48°F) on the western side of the bay in late summer. It is largely frozen over from mid-December to mid-June when it usually clears from its eastern end westwards and southwards. A steady increase in regional temperatures over the last 100 years has been reflected in a lengthening of the ice-free period which was as short as four months in the late 17th century.^[17]

Waters[link]

In late spring (May), large chunks of ice float near the eastern shore of the bay, while to the west, the center of the bay remains frozen. Between 1971 and 2007, the length of the ice-free season in the southwestern part of the Hudson Bay—historically the last area to thaw—increased by about seven days.

Hudson Bay has a lower average salinity level than ocean water. The main causes are the low rate of evaporation (the bay is ice-covered for much of the year), the large volume of terrestrial runoff entering the bay (about 700 km³ annually; the Hudson Bay watershed covers much of Canada, and many rivers and streams discharge into the bay), and the limited connection with the Atlantic Ocean and its higher salinity. The annual freezing and thawing of sea ice, which is about three times the annual river flow into the bay, significantly alters the salinity of the surface layer.

One consequence of the lower salinity of the bay is that the freezing point of the water is higher than in the rest of the world ocean, thus decreasing the time the bay remains ice-free.

Shores[link]

The western shores of the bay are a lowland known as the "Hudson Bay Lowlands" which covers 324,000 km². The area is drained by a large number of rivers and has formed a characteristic vegetation known as muskeg. Much of the landform has been shaped by the actions of glaciers and the shrinkage of the bay over long periods of time. Signs of numerous former beachfronts can be seen far inland from the current shore. A large portion of the lowlands in the province of Ontario is part of the Polar Bear Provincial Park, and a similar portion of the lowlands in Manitoba is contained in Wapusk National Park, the latter location being a significant Polar Bear maternity denning area.^[18]

In contrast, most of the eastern shores (the Quebec portion) form the western edge of the Canadian Shield in Quebec. The area is rocky and hilly. Its vegetation is typically boreal forest, and to the north, tundra.

Measured by shoreline, Hudson Bay is the largest bay in the world (the largest in area being the Bay of Bengal).

Islands[link]

There are many islands in Hudson Bay, mostly near the eastern coast. All are part of the territory Nunavut. One group of islands is the Belcher Islands. Another group includes the Ottawa Islands.

Geology[link]

The Bay is near the center of a major gravity anomaly which has been mapped in some detail by the GRACE satellites. Current theory suggests that about two-thirds of this effect is due to downwards mantle convection under the Bay area, while one-third is due to post-glacial rebound since the Laurentide ice sheet melted. Lands to the west of the Bay are rising as much as 17 millimetres (0.67 in) per year.^[19]

Map of post-glacial rebound. Hudson Bay is in the region of the most rapid uplift.

Some geologists disagree about what created the semicircular feature, known as the Nastapoka Arc, of the bay. The overwhelming consensus is that it is an arcuate boundary of tectonic origin between the Belcher Fold Belt and undeformed basement of the Superior Craton created during the Trans-Hudson orogen. Although a few geologists have argued that it is possibly related to a Precambrian extraterrestrial impact and have compared it to Mare Crisium on the Moon, no credible evidence for such an impact crater has been found by regional magnetic, Bouguer gravity, and geologic studies.^[20]

Coastal communities[link]

The coast of Hudson Bay is extremely sparsely populated; there are only about a dozen villages. Some of these were founded in the 17th and 18th centuries by the Hudson's Bay Company as trading posts, making them part of the oldest settlements in Canada. With the closure of the HBC posts and stores in the second half of the 20th century, many coastal villages are now almost exclusively populated by Cree and Inuit people.

Some of the more prominent communities along the Hudson Bay coast are:

• Puvirnituq, Quebec
• Arviat, Nunavut
• Churchill, Manitoba
• Rankin Inlet, Nunavut

Military development[link]

Before the Cold War no military significance was attributed to the region. In the 1950s, a few sites along the coast became part of the Mid-Canada Line, watching for a potential Soviet bomber attack over the North Pole. The only Arctic, deep water port in Canada is located at Churchill, Manitoba.

Economy[link]

Arctic Bridge[link]

The Arctic Bridge shipping route is hoped to link North America to markets in Europe and Asia using ice-free routes across the Arctic Ocean

The longer periods of ice-free navigation and the reduction of Arctic Ocean ice coverage have led to Russian and Canadian interest in the potential for commercial trade routes across the Arctic and into Hudson Bay. The so-called "Arctic Bridge" would link Churchill, Manitoba and the Russian port of Murmansk.^[21]

See also[link]

• Lake Agassiz
• List of Hudson Bay rivers
• Great Recycling and Northern Development Canal
• Hudson's Bay Company Archives
• Tyrrell Sea

References[link]

• Atlas of Canada, online version.
• Some references of geological/impact structure interest include:
  • Rondot, Jehan (1994). Recognition of eroded astroblemes. Earth-Science Reviews 35, 4, p. 331-365.
  • Wilson, J. Tuzo (1968) Comparison of the Hudson Bay arc with some other features. In: Science, History and Hudson Bay, v. 2. Beals, C. S. (editor), p. 1015–1033.

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Hudson Bay Etamomi
—  Town  —
Nickname(s): The Bay
Motto: The Moose Capital of the World!
Location of Hudson Bay in Saskatchewan
Coordinates: 52°51′04″N 102°23′31″W / 52.851°N 102.392°W / 52.851; -102.392
Country	Canada
Province	Saskatchewan
Region	Saskatchewan
Census division	No. 14
Rural Municipality	Hudson Bay
Etamomi	1907
Hudson Bay Junction	1909
Hudson Bay	1947
Government
• Mayor	Elvena Rumak
• Town Manager	Rick Dolezar
• Governing body	Hudson Bay Town Council
Area
• Total	17.35 km2 (6.70 sq mi)
Population (2006)
• Total	1,646
• Density	94.9/km2 (246/sq mi)
Time zone	CST
Postal code	S0E 0Y0
Area code(s)	306
Highways	Highway 3, Highway 9
Waterways
Website	http://www.townofhudsonbay.com

Hudson Bay is a town located in north-east Saskatchewan, Canada.

History[link]

In 1757, a fur trading post was established in the Hudson Bay District, beside the Red Deer River. Ruins from the post have been found near the village of Erwood. In 1790, the North West Trading Co. set up a trading post at the mouth of the Etomami River. Speculators think that a South Company's post was set up on the opposite mouth of the River, where there are remains of a 2nd post unaccounted for.

Over the years a settlement grew and in July 1907, an application was made to erect Etomami as a village. (Etomami was a native word that meant a place where 3 rivers join.) But in order to establish a hamlet, it was necessary to have fifteen occupied dwelling houses. By August, the list was completed and the village was formed. Mr. B.F. Noble was the first "overseer" of the village. The post office was also established at that time. It was located on the 100 block of Churchill Street. Then in 1909 the Canadian Northern Railway Company chose the name, Hudson Bay Junction, so the name was changed.

During the early years many difficulties were encountered in trying to maintain the Village. It was even suggested at one time that it be disorganized, but as time moved on, things improved and the town continued to grow. The Town was incorporated in 1946 and at the first council meeting, which was held in 1947, the town's name was shortened by dropping "Junction". In 1958 - parking meters were introduced on Churchill Street - although they have long since vanished. The year 1958 also saw the Town switch to Mountain Standard Time. But less than two months later, they decided to revert back to Central Standard Time.

The Hudson Bay School Building' is a registered municipal heritage property, originally built in 1910 to house the composite school, it was built as a four room school house out of cement block in a Georgian Classicism/American Colonial style. Today the building houses the Hudson Bay Museum.^[1]

Economy[link]

Railway[link]

Today Hudson Bay is still a major junction with the railway running in three directions, and the highway running in all four directions. VIA Rail provides scheduled passenger service at the Hudson Bay railway station.

Wood products[link]

Wizewood Products Ltd. established Canada’s first waferboard plant in September 1961, this was taken over by MacMillan Bloedel and Powell River (Saskatchewan) Ltd. in 1965, followed by a $4 Million dollar expansion in 1968–69 making it the largest particle board complex in Canada.^[2] A $14.8 million expansion followed in 1983, and by 1995 the plant was operating as a joint venture between Macmillan Bloedel and Saskatchewan Forest Products Corporation (SFPC) under the name SaskFor.^[2] When SaskFor opened the new oriented strand board mill, the old waferboard plant was shut down.^[2] In 1999 Macmillan Bloedel bought-out its part taking over full control of SaskFor, that same year Macmillan Bloedel was taken over by Weyerhaeuser.^[2] Wood products continue to play an important role in the local economy with both Weyerhaeuser and C&C Wood Products operating within the area.^[3]

Agriculture[link]

Alfalfa is grown within the valley. Then dehydrated, it yields over 10,000 tonnes of alfalfa pellets annually for local sales and export.^[4]

Coal[link]

On May 8, 2008 a major coal discovery by Goldsource Mines Inc. (www.goldsourcemines.com)^[5] sparked a land rush for coal prospecting permits. There have been many successful drill programs by such companies as Saturn Minerals, Wescan Goldfields Inc., North American Gem, and Westcore Drilling^[6]

Tourism[link]

An increasingly important industry is large game hunting in the area.^[4]

The location of Hudson Bay is a vibrant and friendly community of 1700 people located in east-central Saskatchewan.

Hudson Bay is accessible by rail, bus, road and air. The town is located at the junction of Highways #3 (east and west) and #9 (north and south). The Canadian National Railway has three lines including the Bay Route to the Port of Churchill. Hudson Bay Transport provides truck service and the Saskatchewan Transportation Company provides daily bus service via Saskatoon, Regina and Prince Albert.

Major Highways

Major highways in all four directions along with daily bus and courier services are all important assets.

1. 9 South to Regina & North to The Pas, MB
2. 3 and # 41 West to Saskatoon & # 3 East to Manitoba

Saskota Flyway

The Saskota Flyway (Highway 9) is known as the International Road to Adventure, because it takes you from Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan, all the way south to Bismarck, North Dakota and beyond, along the way passing through northern forest, prairie parkland, vast stretches of wheat-production, not to mention parks and coal mining country. Read more about the Saskota Flyway.

Via Rail

For more information on travel phone VIA Rail: 1-888-842-7245 Web site: www.trainpackages.ca

STC Bus Lines

Bus depot 865-2914 Hours: Mon. - Fri. 6:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.; 12:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.; Sat. 7:00 a.m. - Noon

Airport

Hudson Bay’s Airport is unusual for a town of Hudson Bay’s size and having it available makes industrial expansion locally all that much more attractive.

The airport provides excellent service for charter and local aircraft and serves a water bomber base for forest protection. The airport, with a 5,000 foot runway and a 2,000 foot cross wind runway is able to accommodate almost any size of aircraft. A beacon and lights allow night landing.

For more information regarding the airport click here.

Distances from Hudson Bay to:

Saskatoon 331 km Regina 383 km Yorkton 210 km Prince Albert 255 km We have a diverse economy based on forestry, agriculture, processing and eco-tourism. Forestry has continued to be the major source of employment and economic generator over the years, and our community has shown itself to be capable of supporting existing world class industries in the production of plywood and oriented strand board. In 1979 Hudson Bay earned the title of Forestry Capital of Canada. In addition, with the abundance of wildlife in the area, it has also become known as the Moose Capital of the World. The vast tracks of untouched wilderness enable visitors to enjoy year round recreational pursuits. The nutrient rich soils which surround Hudson Bay have enabled farmers to produce a wide range of crops on over 175,000 cultivated acres (710 km²).

Education[link]

There are two public schools in the Town of Hudson Bay. Stewart Hawke is a kindergarten to grade six school. The school offers a full range of elementary courses including core French. There is a modern gymnasium, an open area Resource Center at the heart of the school, and a computer laboratory. The school has an active intramural program including a wide range of sports, drama and musical activities. The school also has a well-developed outdoor education program. It can house a maximum of 450 students. Parent volunteers are welcomed.

Hudson Bay Composite High School is a grade 7 to grade 12 school. The school offers all the normal academic program requirements for grade 12 graduation and many optional courses. A full range of modified academic credits are offered at the grade 10, 11 and 12 levels. The school has consistently achieved high academic standards, which have been reflected in the success of former students in their post-secondary education in the number and range of scholarships that have been obtained.

An extensive extra-curricular program is offered including volleyball, basketball, track, badminton, curling, cheerleading, softball, and dance. The school is very proud of its football program, which has resulted in several appearances at the Provincial Championship level. The school has a wide range of non-sporting activities including a year book, photo-club, and an active peer counseling group.

The Cumberland Community College operates a branch in Hudson Bay. There is a local coordinator and qualified instructors. Program offerings include an adult up-grading course and university and technical institute classes. An S.C.N. unit assists in the provision of the more specialized type classes. Classes are also offered using public school space, when specialized equipment is required.

Clubs/Organizations[link]

Hudson Bay has a number of established groups whose mandates are to provide cultural and artistic opportunities for the residents of Hudson Bay and District.

The Hudson Bay Allied Arts Council is very active in bringing professional performing artists to the Community.

The forest, rivers and lakes surrounding Hudson Bay provide inspirations for the members of the Hudson Bay Art Club. The active club organizes classes by professional artists for adults wishing to hone their skills and acquire new techniques.

Children receive qualified dance instruction in tap, ballet and jazz. The Community has several piano teachers currently giving lessons. Instruction on violin, guitar and organ is also available. Choral groups and instrumental ensembles from Stewart Hawke Elementary School consistently bring home trophies from the district musical festival. Both the elementary and high school have active drama clubs which attend Provincial adjudications. The High School has a well-equipped fine arts wing which houses its drama area and stage and its arts department.

Hudson Bay's active volunteer network provides a wide variety of cultural and artistic activities with the support of the Town of Hudson Bay and the School Division.

The Hudson Bay Economic Development and Tourism Committee is appointed by the Councils of the Town of Hudson Bay, the Rural Municipality of Hudson Bay #394 and the Hudson Bay Chamber of Commerce. The purpose of the Committee is to provide aid to local economic opportunities, striving to renew and revitalize the economic interest of the community and to examine and investigate all alternatives that are available. The Committee keeps an up to date list of local business opportunities as well as a current list of business / office space and industrial sites available.

Service Clubs include: Rotary Club, Lions Club, Knights of Columbus, Masons, Elks and Royal Purple, Royal Canadian Legion, Legion Ladies Auxiliary and Health Care Auxiliary. Other organizations focused on the youth in this area are: 4-H, Beavers, Cubs, AWANA, Scouts and Army Cadets.

Hudson Bay functions with volunteer boards such as the Wildlife Federation, Horticulture Board, etc.

Demographics[link]

See also[link]

• Hudson Bay railway station
• List of communities in Saskatchewan
• List of towns in Saskatchewan

References[link]

External links[link]

• [1] Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan

			The Pas
		Hudson Bay    East

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Coordinates: 52°51′04″N 102°23′31″W / 52.851°N 102.392°W / 52.851; -102.392

The Hudson Bay Lowlands is a large, poorly drained piece of wetlands wedged between the Canadian Shield and southern shores of Hudson Bay and James Bay.^[1] Many wide and slow-moving rivers flow through this area toward the salt water of Hudson Bay. Mosquitoes and black flies thrive here. This is a sparsely populated region. There are a few small First Nations settlements on the southern shore of Hudson Bay at places like Moose Factory, Moosonee, and Fort Severn. The Lowlands also make up a portion of Canada's oil and natural gas production.^{[citation needed]}

Early discovery and exploration[link]

The local Ojibwa and Cree most likely came into contact with the region but did not populate the region due to the harsh, undesirable conditions and poor drainage patterns of the area. When Europeans arrived in the area, The Hudson's Bay Company set up trading posts such as Rankin Inlet, some of which remain populated until today. However, these never grew into sizable towns, again because of the poor living conditions and climate. To this day, not all of the lowlands have been properly explored.

Naming and geography[link]

The region is named after the nearby bay, Hudson Bay, the second largest in the world. The entire area drains into the bay through rivers such as the Kazan, Dubawnt and Churchill. The region is located in the extreme north of Ontario, on the border with Nunavut and covers around 25 percent of Ontario's total land area (approximately 227,400 km²). The climate of the region depends largely on the water surface of the bay, which heats rapidly in the summer, breaking ice and bringing rains to the lowlands which let the sparse forested areas flourish and cause floods in the swampy wetlands, which form the majority of the region. In the winter the bay freezes over again, bringing freezing temperatures and winds which make the lowlands such an undesirable place to live.

References[link]

This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Discussion about the problems with the sole source used may be found on the talk page. (December 2007)

v t e Subfields of physical geography Biogeography Climatology / Paleoclimatology Coastal geography Edaphology Geomorphology Glaciology Hydrology / Hydrography Landscape ecology Limnology Oceanography Palaeogeography Pedology/Soil science Quaternary science

Coordinates: 54°45′N 83°00′W / 54.75°N 83°W / 54.75; -83

The Hudson Bay expedition of 1686 was one of the Anglo-French conflicts on Hudson Bay. It was the first several expeditions sent from New France against the trading outposts of the Hudson's Bay Company in the southern reaches of Hudson Bay. Led by the Chevalier de Troyes, the expedition succeeded in capturing the outposts at Moose Factory, Rupert House, Fort Albany, and the company ship Craven.

Although France and England were then at peace, war broke out between them in 1689, and the conflict over the Hudson Bay outposts continued. One of Troyes' lieutenants, Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, made further expeditions against HBC holdings; these culminated in the French victory at the 1697 naval Battle of Hudson's Bay. At the end of the war, the French controlled all but one of the company's outposts.

Background[link]

In 1679, French explorer Pierre-Esprit Radisson and financier Charles Aubert de La Chesnaye met in Paris, and laid the foundations for the establishment of a fur trading company they called the Compagnie du Nord. Its objective was to engage in fur trade in northern North America, where the English Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) had realized significant profits in that business.^[1] The Compagnie's first major expedition in 1682 successfully seized York Factory. After the Compagnie's profits were virtually wiped out by taxes imposed by authorities in New France, Radisson entered service with the HBC, and led several profitable shipping expeditions to Hudson Bay, including recovering for the company York Factory and the furs taken there.

The Compagnie then convinced New France's governor, the Marquis de Denonville, to organize a military expedition against HBC outposts on Hudson Bay. He recruited Pierre de Troyes, Chevalier de Troyes, a French soldier, and assembled a small force for an overland expedition. It consisted of 30 French regulars, 70 Canadian volunteers, and a few Indian guides.^[2] Among the Canadians were three brothers, Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, Jacques le Moyne de Sainte-Hélène, and Paul Le Moyne de Maricourt, who later became well known for their exploits.

By 1686, the Hudson's Bay Company had established several outposts in Hudson Bay and James Bay, the southernmost finger of the larger bay. Moose Factory and Rupert House were established on rivers near where they emptied into James Bay. In addition to York Factory, located near the mouth of the Nelson River, there were outposts on the Albany and Severn Rivers where they emptied into Hudson Bay on its western side. All of these outposts were wooden fortresses with some cannons; Fort Albany was the most heavily defended.^[3]

Expedition[link]

The expedition left Montreal in March 1686, and traveled more than 800 miles (1,300 km) over a period of 82 days. North of Fort Témiscamingue the route had not been explored by white men.^[4] The route was up the Ottawa River to Lake Temiskaming, then over portages and down the Abitibi River and Moose River. When they arrived at Moose Factory, it was occupied by 16 men; its governor, John Bridgar, had sailed for Rupert House the day before. In the predawn, brothers Pierre and Jacques Le Moyne led teams quietly into the fort, where they tied down its three cannons before launching an attack on the sleeping garrison. Pierre Le Moyne managed to gain entry to the redoubt housing the defenders, but the gate was shut behind him, and he had to single-handedly defend himself with sword and musket until the gate could again be forced open.^[4] After a two-hour battle, the garrison surrendered.

De Troyes left 40 of his men to guard the fort, and headed with the rest for Rupert House, 75 miles (121 km) northeast across James Bay. Once again they attacked a sleeping garrison, gaining access to the fort via a ladder that had been left propped against one of the fort's walls.^[3] They also acquired the HBC ship Craven, which had transported Governor Bridgar from Moose Factory. De Troyes brought the captives taken to Moose Factory, and sent d'Iberville and the Craven, carrying heavy guns loaded from Rupert House, to attack Fort Albany on the west side of the Bay.

Fort Albany was not visible from the water, and De Troyes spent some time searching for it. Its location was finally revealed to him when one of the fort's cannons was helpfully fired at sunset.^[3] The French unloaded the heavy guns and dragged them to the fort. According to one source, after firing into the fort without any return fire, they heard faint cries of "Vive le Roi!" from deep inside the fort; the men in the fort were cowering in the fort's cellar.^[3]. Morton^[5] describes a more determined resistance.

De Troyes shipped all of the HBC captives off to Charlton Island, where a company supply ship could eventually pick them up. He then left d'Iberville and 40 men to hold the outposts, and returned overland to Montreal.^[6]

Aftermath[link]

D'Iberville, after wintering over in the north, made his way first to Quebec, and then France. There he was given command of the Soleil d'Afrique, with which he returned to Hudson Bay in 1687 to recover the furs that had been seized during the expedition. While he was at Fort Albany, two English warships arrived. Since England and France were at peace, the English settled on an island nearby, and took no offensive measures. D'Iberville, however, did, and captured the ships from the numerically superior English.^[6]

Meanwhile, James II and Louis XIV had negotiated a 'Treaty of Peace, good Correspondence and Neutrality in America' to settle the Anglo-French conflict on the Bay. It provided that each side would keep whatever it 'now possessed'. France knew about the forts and England did not. In 1688 James II was overthrown, England and France went to war and the treaty became moot.

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Newman, Peter C (1985). Company of Adventurers: The Story of the Hudson's Bay Company. Markham, ON: Viking. ISBN 0-670-80379-0.