Hudson Bay (sometimes called Hudson’s Bay, usually historically) is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada with a surface area of 1,230,000 km² (470,000 sq mi). Although not geographically apparent, it is for climatic reasons considered to be a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It drains a very large area, about 3,861,400 km² (1,490,900 sq mi), that includes parts of southeastern Nunavut, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, all of Manitoba and indirectly through smaller passages of water parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Montana. Hudson Bay’s southern arm 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.
The bay is named after Henry Hudson, an Englishman sailing for the Dutch East India Company, and after whom the river that he explored in 1609 is also named. Hudson Bay encompasses 1,230,000 km² (470,000 sq mi), making it the second-largest water body using the term “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 m (330 ft) (compared to 2,600 m (8,500 ft) in the Bay of Bengal). It is about 1,370 km (850 mi) long and 1,050 km (650 mi) wide. 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. Hudson Bay is often considered part of the Arctic Ocean; the International Hydrographic Organization, in its 2002 working draft of Limits of Oceans and Seas defined the Hudson Bay, with its outlet extending from 62.5 to 66.5 degrees north (just a few miles south of the Arctic Circle) as being part of the Arctic Ocean, specifically “Arctic Ocean Subdivision 9.11.” Other authorities include it in the Atlantic, in part because of its greater water budget connection with that ocean. Some sources describe Hudson Bay as a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, or the Arctic Ocean. Canada treats the bay as an internal body of water and has claimed it as such on historic grounds. This claim is disputed by the United States but no action to resolve it has been taken.
The search for a western route to Cathay and the Indies, which had been actively pursued since the days of Columbus and the Cabots, in the latter part of the fifteenth century, directly resulted in the discovery of Hudson Bay. English explorers and colonists named Hudson Bay after Sir Henry Hudson who explored the bay beginning August 2, 1610 on his ship Discovery. In 1611, Henry Hudson sacrificed his life on its waters, to impress his name indelibly on that great inland sea. On his fourth voyage to North America, Hudson worked his way around Greenland‘s west coast and into the bay, mapping much of its eastern coast. 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 or the crew members stranded with him, but historians see no evidence that they survived for long afterward. In May 1612, Sir Thomas Button sailed from England with two ships to look for Henry Hudson, and to continue the search for the north-west passage to India.
During this period, the Hudson’s Bay Company built several factories (forts and trading posts) along the coast at the mouth of the major rivers (such as Fort Severn, Ontario; York Factory, Churchill, Manitoba and the Prince of Wales Fort). The strategic locations were bases for inland exploration. More importantly, they were trading posts with the indigenous peoples who came to them with furs from their trapping season. The HBC shipped the furs to Europe and continued to use some of these posts well into the 20th century. The Port of Churchill was an important shipping link for trade with Europe and Russia until its closure in 2016 by owner OmniTRAX.
HBC’s trade monopoly was abolished in 1870, and it ceded Rupert’s Land to Canada, an area of approximately 3,900,000 km² (1,500,000 sq mi), as part of the Northwest Territories. Starting in 1913, the Bay was extensively charted by the Canadian Government’s CSS Acadia to develop it for navigation. This mapping progress led to the establishment of Churchill, Manitoba as a deep-sea port for wheat exports in 1929, after unsuccessful attempts at Port Nelson.
