The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1935-09-19


r. gled, frozen, drowned and lost
themselves in attempts to find
Northwest Passage-an all water
route through the American continent
that would permit European ships to
reach the Orient without sailing around
Cape Horn.
Much of the exploration and settle
ment of North America has been di-
rectly attributable to the long-enduring
search.
What is probably the nearest thing
to a practical Northwest Passage that
will ever exist is the Hudson Bay route,
now undergoing development by the Ca
madam government. By this route, ships
from European ports would sail through
Hudson Straits, coming far inland
across Hudson bay to the old, but
newly improved port of Churchill, far
up the bay on the west side.
A Hudson Bay railway, which joins
the Canadian National at LIE Pas in
Manitoba, has been built with its north
ern terminus in Churchill. This will
to transfer their cargoes to railway
cars there, which will carry them across
western Canada to Vancouver, where
they may be placed aboard ship again
and sent to sea on the final lap of its
journey to Japan. China, India or other
Oriental markets.
Such a route has several distinct
advantages over the recognized routes
of today, it is claimed. The distance
of travel from Churchill to Liverpool
is about the same as that from Mont
real, Quebec, ST. John and Portland,
and loss than from New York, yet
Churchill is much farther into the
heart of Canada and North America.
To wheat farmers of Manitoba and
western Canada it could be made
vastly important, for its supporters
claim that it could lower the price of
Canadian wheat four cents bushel.
This, of course, would be of vital i'm
portance to wheat farmers in Minnesota
and the Dakotas, for it would make
Canadian wheat much more serious
competitor, although it is possible that
some American farmers would also
find it cheaper to ship their wheat
though Hudson Bay than through Du-
luth and the Great Lakes as so many
of them now do.
Needs Oriental Trade.
But to make it profitable for ship
ping companies to pick up cargoes of
wheat at Churchill, bound for Liver
pool and European ports, their ships
must be able to bring pay loads into
Churchill as we'll as take them out.
1t would hardly be worth while for
many ships to enter Hudson Bay only
under balance to pick up cargo for
the return trip.
The answer seems to be for the ship
ping companies to develop the Oren-
tai trade, so that ships can bring Eu-
ropean manufactured goods to be
transferred to rail for Vancouver and
the Orient, and pick up wheat at
Churchill for the return trip. That
this development will eventually come
about is not at all improbable, for the
Canadian government has spent more
than S57,0O0,0O0 in developing the Hud-
son Bay route in the past few years
and 1t is doubtful that such an outlay
of capital will be satisfied with the
handful Of ships which have cleared
Churchill harbor since the completion
of the Hudson Bay railway five years
ago.
The history Of this development is
fascinating because it is heroic. Al
though he was really not the first
adventurer to poke the nose of his
ship into Hudson straits, it is Hendrix
Hudson to whom goes the honor of
actually discovering the bay which now
bears his name. He found it in 1910
and wintered in the part of it known
as James bay. With few sick sail
ors he was cast adrift in an open boat
and that was the last ever heard of
him.
The first real occupation of the site
of the present Churchill occurred nine
years later and was incidental to the
search of Jens Munck, Danish noble
man, for the Northwest Passage. There
were two ships in his company, but
during the winter he was forced to
spend at Churchill, all but Munck and
two sailors persisted. When the ice
cleared in 1620-the same year the
Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock
the three of them sailed back to Eu-
rope, leaving at Churchill as evidence of
their visit brass cannon, stamped
with the Danish royal mark. In 1881,
more than 500 years later, a cairn,
built of beach stones, was erected to
Munck's honor in Battery park,
Churchill.
Two Frenchmen. Radisson and Gro
settlers, spent the years from 1868
TO 1862 in the country about Churchill
and returned home with tales of the
wealth in furs that existed there. Fail
ing to interest their countrymen, they
told their stories to Prince Rupert