What voyages did Samuel hearne do?

Answer 1

Hearne's Three Arctic Expeditions

Hearne's first Arctic journey originated from Prince of Wales Fort and lasted from Nov. 6 to Dec. 11, 1769. It was poorly organized by Norton. Without knowledgeable guides, Hearne could not go into the vast spaces - Hudson Bay and Great Slave Lake. From this expedition Hearne learned that Indians could not be pushed and that he would not travel with other Europeans, for he had found them unable to take the hardships of travel in the Canadian sub-arctic.

Norton sent Hearne on his second expedition in February 1770. Again Hearne had a poor Indian guide, both in the sense of geographical knowledge and influence among his fellow natives. In August the party was plundered, and in latitude 70 ° N they became totally lost. The accidental breaking of Hearne's quadrantforced their return on November 25, for without this instrument he would have been unable to fix the exact positions of the coppermine-riveraccording to instructions.

In December 1770 Hearne began his third and most important journey. In this he had a good guide, Matonabbee, and did his own planning. On July 15, 1771, Hearne reached the Arctic Ocean at the mouth of the Coppermine River, traveling en route via Artillery, Aylmer, and Contwoyto lakes. He was thus the first European to reach the Arctic Ocean overland from Hudson Bay. On this expedition he exhibited no great abilities as an astronomer, and the accuracy of his readings was justifiably questioned by contemporaries such as Alexander Dalrymple. Yet his principal objective - the examination of the practicability of exploiting the copper ore deposits near the river - was completed, even if the findings were negative. He returned to Hudson Bay on June 30, 1772, via Great Slave Lake and thereby proved the nonexistence of a Northwest Passage in the territory that he had traversed.

Hearne's later service in the company included founding Cumberland House in 1774, being in charge of Prince of Wales Fort after 1776, and defending it unsuccessfully against the French under La Pérouse in 1782. He died in England in November 1792 of dropsy.

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