Samuel Hearne
Samuel Hearne was a British explorer known for being the first European to traverse the interior of Canada north and west of Hudson Bay. Born in London in 1745, he joined the British Royal Navy at the age of twelve and later became a deck officer in the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). His expeditions aimed to locate copper deposits reported by Indigenous peoples, leading him on a grueling journey to the Coppermine River, which he reached after three attempts spanning nearly two years. Hearne's memoir, "A Journey to the Northern Ocean," provides important insights into the flora, fauna, and Indigenous communities of the region, particularly the Chipewyans and Inuit.
Despite his discoveries, including the Great Slave Lake and the Mackenzie River, his work faced criticism regarding the accuracy of his maps. Hearne's experiences were marked by both achievements and tragedies, including a violent encounter that left a profound impact on him. In his later years, he served as the governor of Fort Prince of Wales and worked to improve the health and welfare of Indigenous peoples affected by European diseases. Hearne died in 1792, shortly before his memoir was published, leaving behind a legacy that continues to inform anthropological studies of Northern Canada.
Samuel Hearne
British explorer, sailor, and trader
- Born: February 1745
- Birthplace: London, England
- Died: November 1792
- Place of death: London, England
Education: Beaminster Grammar School
Significance: First European to reach the shores of Artic Ocean overland.
Background
Samuel Hearne, a British explorer, was the first European to travel across the vast interior of Canada north and west of Hudson Bay. Hearne was born to Samuel Hearne Sr. and Diana Hearne in London, England. At the age of three, Samuel Hearne lost his father, who had been the secretary of the London Bridge Waterworks. Diana moved to Beaminster in Dorsetshire, England to provide a good education to her children. But Hearne could not bring himself to like academics, though he was very imaginative and drew impeccably. When he turned twelve, his mother, at his constant pleading, sent him to join the British Royal Navy under the supervision of Lord Samuel Hood in 1757.
Hearne, who was much liked and rewarded by Hood, remained with the Navy as midshipman until the Seven Years War ended in 1764. He then joined Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), a fur trading company, as a deck officer on the Churchill. HBC started to look for new sources of minerals and metals to supplement a failing fur trading business. Indigenous people, who came to the company’s trading posts to sell fur and ornaments, spoke about vast lands known as the Barren Grounds filled with copper deposits near the mouth of a river (the Coppermine River) that flowed into the Arctic Ocean in the deep north. But they warned that the journey to the river was long, tedious, and fraught with risks. Given Hearne’s age and his ability to walk for long distances on snowshoes, HBC sent Hearne to find and bring back copper from the mysterious land through the Northwest Passage, which allegedly connected to Asia. Hearne reached the Arctic shores in his third attempt, making the extraordinary journey on foot from Fort Prince of Wales, an HBC outpost located at the mouth of Churchill River by the shores of Hudson Bay, to the Coppermine River.
Life’s Work
In his memoir, A Journey to the Northern Ocean, Hearne wrote about the three attempts he made to get to the Arctic shores overland from Fort Prince of Wales. The memoir also included a detailed account of the flora and fauna of the region along with the life, character, and customs of native communities, like the Chipewyans, and his experiences with them. His first expedition in1769 was a failure. He was taken several miles into the wild by the Indians only to be raided and abandoned. As he found his way back to the Fort, he learned how to survive off the land.
In his second attempt, Hearne took Connee-quese, a native Indian, with him as a guide. Hearne was misled for the second time when the guide lost direction near Yathkyed Lake, situated in the remote region west of Hudson Bay. Connee-quese suggested they seek help from the group of Chipewyans who had joined them. For the second time, the Chipewyans stole Hearne’s belongings and left him in the cold without food or clothes. Lost as he was, Hearne walked for three days before he met Matonabbee, the Chipewyan chief who would accompany and guide him to his destination in his third attempt.
In 1771, Hearne and Matonabbee set out to find the precious copper fields for the third time, traversing 3,500 miles in all. The journey would last nineteen months. Hearne’s third attempt, though it ended in success, was not a happy one. Another group of belligerent Chipewyans joined him on his way to the north of the Great Slave Lake, situated in the Northwest Territories of present-day Canada. Hearne reached the Coppermine River near the Arctic shore only to find the land and weather to be too hostile for any trade, with frozen unstable grounds of ice and dense shoals, which made maneuvering difficult. He could only find very small amount of valuable copper. He drove a symbolic pole in the ground, claiming the region for HBC, in spite of his disappointment. Soon after, the Chipewyans, who had forcefully accompanied Hearne, attacked and killed twenty-one members of the Inuit community, who had been in conflict with the Chipewyans for some time. A young girl was killed when the Chipewyans drove two spears through her body as she held on to Hearne’s feet seeking protection. The incident left a deep mental scar for Hearne. He named the site Bloody Falls.
On his way back, just a few miles away from the Fort, he made an entry in the journal: "Though my discoveries are not likely to prove of any material advantage to the Nation at large, or indeed to the Hudson’s Bay Company, yet I have pleasure to think that I have fully complied with the orders of my Masters and that it has put a final end to all disputes concerning a North West Passage through Hudson’s Bay" (HBC, para. 6). He was promoted to governor of the Fort Prince of Wales, the largest HBC fort, in 1776.
Impact
His memoir has been one of the most important sources of anthropological insights about the indigenous communities such as the Chipewyans and Inuits and the biodiversity in the remote regions of Northern and Northwestern Canada. But the validity of the route maps drawn by Hearne has been questioned since his quadrant broke twice on his journey to the Arctic. Hearne also was the first European to describe the Great Slave Lake and the Mackenzie River. He etched his name on a smooth rock at the mouth of the Churchill River in Canada before leaving the fort, the only other legacy that he left behind.
Personal Life
Hearne spent much of his adulthood serving HBC and retired from HBC as the governor of Fort Prince of Wales. As governor, Hearne helped improve the health and living conditions of the indigenous people who had contracted diseases such as smallpox and scurvy from the Europeans. Compassionate and humane, Hearne lacked aggression. In 1782 the French attacked the Fort. Vastly outnumbered, Hearne surrendered without putting up a fight. His captor, French admiral De La Pérouse, took a liking to him and treated him very well on their journey from the fort back to England. La Perouse was intrigued by Hearne’s accounts of the Arctic and urged him to publish the accounts of his extraordinary adventures. Hearne visited Fort Prince of Wales a year later to help resettle the new governor but soon returned to London as his health deteriorated. He gave away his savings to anybody who asked for monetary help. He died in 1792, three years before his memoir was published.
Bibliography
"Account of the Late Mr. Samuel Hearne." European Magazine and London Review. Vol. 31. 1797. Miami: HardPress, 2013. 369–372. Print.
Hearne, Samuel. A Journey from Prince of Wales’s Fort in Hudson’s Bay, to the Northern Ocean Undertaken by Order of the Hudson’s Bay Company, for the Discovery of Copper Mines, a Northwest Passage, &c., in the Years 1769, 1770, 1771, & 1772. London: Strahan, 1795. Print.
McGoogan, Kenneth. Ancient Mariner: The Arctic Adventures of Samuel Hearne, the Sailor Who Inspired Coleridge’s Masterpiece. Reprint ed. New York: Da Capo, 2004. Print.
Nuttall, Mark. "Hearne,Samuel." Encyclopedia of the Arctic. New York: Routledge, 2005. Print.
"Samuel Hearne." Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2015. Web. 17 Dec. 2015. <http://www.britannica.com/biography/Samuel-Hearne>.
"Samuel Hearne." HBC Heritage. Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), 2015. Web. 17 Dec. 2015. <http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/explorers/samuelhearne>.
"Samuel Hearne’s Search for the Copper Mines." CBC. CBC/Radio-Canada, 2001. Web. 17 Dec. 2015. <http://www.cbc.ca/history/EPCONTENTSE1EP6CH3PA2LE.html>.