The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1921-01-20
.BALLOONISTS RECALL
HUDSON BAY HISTORY
Hudson Bay: Where the U. S. Naval
Balloonists Alighted

Factory, at the s-outhernmost poin
Of Hudson Bay, pilots of the Unite
n States naval balloon which recent
y was blown from New York City t
le the frozen north in relatively a few
! hours, stumbled on a country rich il
the history and traditions of the pic
i turesque old Hudson Bay Company,
z says a bulletin issued from the Wash
ington headquarters of the Nationa
d Geographic Society.
"Henry Hudson-sHenrick' Hud-
son to his Dutch employers-was re-
sponsible strangely enough, for put
4 ting on the map both the starting
and ending point of this recent
chance balloon trip. In 1909 he an
chored his famous Half Moon close
to the present location of New York's
Goddess of Liberty, and the follow
ing year, still searching for the elu-
sive Northwest passage, he sailed in
to Hudson Bay and followed its
eastern shore south to near the pres
ent Moose Factory.
The End of Hudson's Dream
st was there in James Bay, the
shallow arm of Hudson Bay, that
Henry Hudson suffered the keenness
of disappointment that can come
only to the worlds greatest dream
ers. His dream was to find a passage
to the South Sea- and therefore a
short cut to India. Then he sailed
into Hudson Bay and found that it
was a great body of water he was
sure his dream was about to be real
lied. But when he reached the shall
low James Bay, and nosing across,
found that there was a west coast to
the great expanse of water, his
dream came to an end.
at was on the shores of James
Bay that Hudson and his surly crew
wintered following his discovery, and
only a short distance to the north
that the great explorer met his tragic
end next spring, when, bound by the
m~utineers he was set adrift in a
small boat with a handful of sick
men, to perish.
Company Given Right to Make War
The Company of Gentlemen
Adventures Trading to Hudson's
Bay which carved dominion for
Great Britain across North America,
established its first post near Moose
Factory soon after King Charles II
its charter in 1879 and blith-
" made its members true and abso-
lutte lords of three-fourths of a con-
vested them with trading mo-
nopolies, rights to pass laws and inn
punishments, and even gave
power to make war on non
Christian peoples. During the three
md a half centuries since that time
Moose Factory has remained one OF 4
he important posts of the Hudson u
Bay Company, gathering a rich har- h
rest of furs. 1t was the scene OF G
many raids and counter raids in the o
.arly days between the French and +
he Company's employees.
Hudson Bay is one of the most !:
characteristic features on the map :
f North America, standing out as :
trikingly as the Gulf of Mexico and :
overing almost as great an area. :
ll1,a,l, - fill. 60, eIo,+ Of f51rpISb- -
ng a passage to the South Sea- as :
he early explorers hoped, its west
rnmost coast is on the very center {
ne of the continent. Much of the
urrounding territory of the bay is E
nexplored wilderness. This is es-
true of the east coast to- CT
ard Labrador. W
May Become American Baltic p:
"On the west coast are Port +
hurchill, the bays best port, and al
bout 100 miles to the south, Port pr
'elson. Both these ports are to be
onnected by railroads with Winni- III
eg and the wheat and cattle country tn
| lue WCSI. odlliliS sSooClo Ply NhS g.
.udson Bay between July Is and &C
ctober l. and steamers for a slight OF
longer period. When the railroads c,
the Importance of the Hud- to
IN Bay ports it is believed that ice be
ships will make possible the vo
of cargoes between June Is so
Id November l. By the Hudson
ay route, Edmonton, Alberta, is re
100 miles nearer Liverpool than by la
ontreal route. lie
choose Factory at the southern tic
ost reaches of Hudson Bay, though "a
plated from the settled part of Can mi
by forests and swamps in sum- no
err and frozen wastes in winter, is tia
lily about as far from New York as TIRE
The distance from Ottowa 90
Moose Factory is about equal to CT,
"A -. NJ. VII L. D.4l-l.-O ~