Familiarization with Inadequately Known Areas in Hudson Bay and James Bay 1668 to 1689

English activity on Hudson and James bays was renewed in 1668 to 1669 with the arrival of the Nonsuch at the mouth of the Rupert River. This successful trading venture led to the founding of the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1679, the traders returned and began the detailed examination of the coast from the south end of James Bay (1679) to about the Thelewiaza River on the west shore of Hudson Bay (1689). Posts were established, Aboriginal contacts were made and through them the English began to gather information about the western interior.

[D]
Click for more information, 33 KB
The Expedition Leaving Fort Frontenac on Lake Ontario. November 18, 1678

When the Intendant Jean Talon returned to New France in 1679, he foresaw the possibility of the English encirclement from the north and south. Forbidden by Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Secretary of State for the Marine under Louis XIV, from sending French fur traders west of Montéal, Talon instead ordered a series of exploring expeditions to claim the land, and to persuade the Aboriginal peoples they contacted to travel to Montréal to trade. Within a year (1671) the Saguenay route was explored and 1673 Louis Jolliet and Father Jacques Marquette had reached and explored the Mississippi from the mouth of the Wisconsin River south to latitude 34° 40' N (near present-day Memphis, Tennessee).

To the south, at the east end of Lake Ontario, Cavelier de La Salle gained permission to establish Fort Frontenac (1673), and in 1678, to pioneer a route from New France to the Gulf of Mexico. The final exploration and mapping of the Great Lakes and the penetration of the upper Mississippi was made from the north by Dulhut (1678 to 1680) and from the south by La Salle's agents (1680).

In 1686, feeling threatened by English competition in the expanding fur trade on land claimed by France, an overland expedition, financed in part by the Compagnie du Nord and led by Pierre de Troyes, travelled over the Timiskaming - Abitibi route and ousted the English from James Bay. In 1697, the French crown closed most of their interior forts and ports, and ordered the return of the traders and soldiers to the St. Lawrence, curtailing French exploration in Canada until well into the eighteenth century.

Voyages of Exploration

An audio description for each voyage of exploration shown on this map can be accessed from the list below or through the map using Get Statistics.

• 1668 to 1669 Zachariah Gillam and Médard Chouart des Groseilliers (English)
• 1670 Charles Bayly and Pierre-Esprit Radisson (English)
• 1671 Charles Bayly and Pierre-Esprit Radisson (English)
• 1674 Charles Bayly (English)
• 1686 Michael Grimington, John Abraham (English)
• 1688 to 1689 Henry Kelsey (English)
• 1689 Henry Kelsey (English)

The descriptions of the voyages of exploration are based on research by C.E. Heidenreich, Department of Geography, York University. An audio version of each description can be played as the user follows the exploration route made by the explorer on the map.

The Atlas of Canada relies on Apple’s QuickTime technology for the delivery of multimedia content. The Atlas of Canada media player will attempt to detect whether you have the necessary software installed, and will give you notice if you do not. In order to play the Atlas multimedia content, you must install the QuickTime player. For general information on QuickTime before downloading go to: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/products/

• Probing the Rivers on the North Shore of the St. Lawrence 1651 to 1664 Map | Read about this map
• The Iroquois Country 1654 to 1656 Map | Read about this map
• The Great Lakes 1654 to 1670 Map | Read about this map
• Exploration of the Rivers to James Bay 1671 to 1686 Map | Read about this map
• Exploration West and Southwest Beyond the Great Lakes 1673 to 1688 Map | Read about this map
• French Exploration in Abeyance 1691 to 1729 Map | Read about this map
• The Western Interior 1731 to 1757 Map | Read about this map
• Exploration of the Ohio River 1739 to 1749 Map | Read about this map
• Early Probes of the North Pacific Coast 1741 Map | Read about this map
• The Search for a Northwest Passage and Exploration of the Eastmain 1742 to 1749 Map | Read about this map

• History
• Exploration 1497 to 1760
• Exploration 1651 to 1760
• References and Links