Henry Kelsey (trader and explorer)

Trader, explorer, mariner

• Born: c.1667
• Birthplace: East Greenwich, England
• Died: November 1, 1724
• Place of death: Greenwich, United Kingdom

Significance: Henry Kelsey was the first European to explore great stretches of land previously known only to the native peoples.

Background

Henry Kelsey was a British mariner and explorer credited with being the first European man to explore the Great Plains that span the United States and Canada. He was born around 1667 and was primarily a trader attached to the Hudson’s Bay Company, which at one point was the largest landowner in the world. Little or close to nothing is known about Kelsey’s parentage and his early past. It has been accepted that a John Kelsey from East Greenwich, near London, was the most likely person to have been Henry Kelsey’s father because of his background as a mariner.

The surviving legacy of Henry Kelsey and much of what is known about him today comes from the Kelsey Papers. This is a collection of Kelsey’s journal entries about his famous expedition into the Great Plains and his own personal accounts of the customs and religious practices of the Native Americans he encountered in his journeys. Kelsey was also known to have been an enthusiast of the Indian languages and wrote extensively about Cree vocabulary, which was published by the Hudson’s Bay Company.

Life’s Work

Kelsey began his apprenticeship at the Hudson’s Bay Company on March 15, 1684, which lasted four years. Kelsey soon made a name for himself as an active young man who delighted in the company of the Native Americans and in learning their language. His first posting with the Hudson’s Bay Company was at York Factory, situated along the Nelson River. The earliest known exploit of young Kelsey is a round trip he undertook from York Factory to Severn in the winter of 1688 to deliver a few letters. An Indian boy accompanied him during this journey, which took him over a month to complete.

The earliest account of significant travel mentioned in the Kelsey Papers was a sea voyage aboard the Hopewell in the early summer of 1689. Kelsey travelled alongside Captain James Young in a bid to travel north from the Churchill River in the hope of finding Indian encampments that could be used to establish a trade route. This voyage was deemed to be an utter failure because the Hopewell only managed to travel twenty leagues due to large quantities of ice that hindered their journey. At this point, Kelsey convinced Captain Young to let him and his Indian companion try their luck ashore, where they attempted to travel by foot. The Kelsey Papers reveal they only managed to travel 130 miles and were forced to turn back because of Kelsey’s inexperience and his companion’s ineptitude.

The account of the expedition that made Henry Kelsey famous was first presented as a parliamentary report in 1749 as proof of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s active interest in exploration. The initial report presented to a committee of the House of Commons was limited in content and failed to mention the exact objective of Kelsey’s journey. Joseph Robson, a former employee of the Hudson’s Bay Company, later used this omission in an attempt to discredit Kelsey’s whole expedition and the company itself.

While conceding that Kelsey did embark on a journey to the Great Plaines, Robson assiduously denied that Governor George Geyer authorized Kelsey to embark on an exploratory expedition. A counter narrative suggested by Robson indicated that Kelsey was a young boy who ran away from York Factory with a few Indians he had befriended due to the ill treatment meted out by Governor George Geyer. Robson wrote that Henry Kelsey later returned after a few years with an Indian wife and this was how the Hudson’s Bay Company learned of his exploration into the Great Plaines. The Kelsey Papers contained a more comprehensive narrative of the journey itself and were published in 1929, effectively disproving Robson’s version of events.

Kelsey started his journey on June 12, 1690 with a mission to diversify from the fur trade with the Indians and discover new facets of trade. He was instructed to be on the lookout for minerals, mines, and drugs. Governor Geyer had also suggested that frequent war between the Indian tribes were acting as a hindrance for the company’s successful trade relationships. Hence Kelsey was also instructed act as a peacemaker between warring tribes he might encounter in his journey. On July 10 he reached a spot he named Deering Point after Sir Edward Dering, then Deputy Governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company. The exact location of Deering point is much contested but is popularly accepted as a bend in Saskatchewan River. Kelsey set up camp at Deering Point and waited for fresh supplies from York Factory. On July 15 he set out again to the unknown wilderness in the hope of making contact with the Naywatame tribe. There is no certainty about the true identity of the tribe Kelsey called the Naywatame; it is speculated that they might have been the Nodwayes or the Sioux.

Henry Kelsey’s expedition eventually took him to the Canadian west after passing through the Red Deer River and the Great Salt Plaines. Kelsey’s discovery of slate mines in the area was also a boost for the Hudson’s Bay Company. While travelling through the Canadian west Kelsey also became the first European to have come across grizzly bears in the region. After spending two years with the tribes deeps in Canadian west, Kelsey returned to York Factory in the summer of 1692. The expedition was deemed a success because it was reported that Kelsey brought "fleets of Indians" with him for the company to trade with.

One aspect that is consistent with Kelsey’s career is an undeniable link to the native people and a fascination with their cultural tenets. This fascination led to some complaints. James Knight, who was the Governor of Albany while Kelsey was the master of one of his frigates, complained about Kelsey’s soft spot for the Indians.

Henry Kelsey served the Hudson’s Bay Company for approximately thirty-eight years.

Impact

Although Henry Kelsey was known to have traveled with Indians who knew the land, his expedition into the great unknown of the Canadian inland was in a class apart. Because of the sheer difficulty of this journey, most of his contemporaries who tried to emulate his feat failed in their attempts. Henry Kelsey will be known for his ambition and will that opened up a vast stretch of land that was not penetrated.

Personal Life

Kelsey had married Elizabeth Dix on April 7, 1698. They had three children Elizabeth, Mary and John. Henry Kelsey died in his own home in Church Street, East Greenwich on Nov 2, 1724.

Bibliography

Bell, Charles Napier. "The Journal of Henry Kelsey (1691–1692)." Our Roots. University of Calgary, 2006. Web. 19 Jan 2016. <http://www.ourroots.ca/e/page.aspx?id=255039>.

Davies, K. G. "Kelsey, Henry." Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. 2. University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003. Web. 19 Jan. 2016. <http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/kelsey‗henry‗2E.html>.

"Henry Kelsey." Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2015. Web. 18 Jan. 2016. <http://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Kelsey>.

Warkentin, John. The Kelsey Papers. Regina: Canadian Plains Research Center, 1994. Print

Wishart, J. David, "Kelsey, Henry." Encyclopedia Of The Great Plains. University of Nebraska—Lincoln, 2011. Web. 19 Jan. 2016. <http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.ea.023>.