Explorers of Canada Who Made It...or Died Trying

Early Canadian Exploration

Period: Jan 1, 1490 to Jan 1, 1800

Christopher Columbus sails to America

Oct 12, 1492

Christopher Columbus-Wikipedia

John Cabot is granted permission to sail for England

Mar 5, 1496

On March 5, 1496 King Henry VII of England granted John Cabot the right to "seek islands and countries of the heathen towards the west, east, and north" sailing under the English flag.

John Cabot discovers Newfoundland and/or Cape Breton Island

May 2, 1497

John Cabot embarked on his ship, the Matthew, to explore the lands across the Atlantic, hoping to find a north west passage to the Indies and China. John Cabot and his son Sebastian were the first Europenas to discover Canada, landing on the coast of Newfoundland and/or Cape Breton.

John Cabot is lost at sea.

Jan 1, 1498

Cabot makes his second voyage across the Atlantic to the Maritimes but is lost at sea

Jacques Cartier sails across the Atlantic to discover new lands for France.

Jan 1, 1534

Jacques Cartier explores the coast of Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick. He lands on the Gaspe Peninsula and claims the land for France.

Jacques Cartier, on the Gasped Peninsula, claims the area for France.

Jul 24, 1534

Jacques Cartier visits Stadaconna

Jan 1, 1535

Jacques Cartier journeys up the St. Lawrence to the Native settlements of Stadacona and Hochelaga. He gives Canada its name (from Indian word kanata, meaning village).

Cartier establishes the first French settlement

Jan 1, 1541

Cartier returns to North America with the Sieur de Roberval to found a settlement. They named it Charlesbourg-Royal and it became the first French settlement in North America.

Samuel de Champlain is comissioned by France to sail to the settlement of Quebec

Mar 15, 1603

Samuel de Champlain set sail for Quebec from Honfleur, France following in the path of Jacques Cartier to the St Lawrence River and Tadoussac.

Champlain establishes a colony in Nova Scotia

Jan 1, 1604

Pierre Du Gua de Monts and Samuel Champlain establish a colony in Nova Scotia.

Samuel de Champlain establishes the first successful New France Colony at Port Royal

Jan 1, 1605

Port Royal is established in Nova Scotia by the French under Samuel de Champlain.

In 1607, the Muscovy Company of the Kingdom of England hired Hudson to find a northerly route to the Pacific coast of Asia.

Jan 1, 1607

The English were battling the Dutch for northwest routes. It was thought at the time that, because the sun shone for three months in the northern latitudes in the summer, the ice would melt and a ship could make it across the top of the world.

Champlain founds Quebec City

Jul 3, 1608

Champlain is the first European to use firearms against Indians (Iroquois).

Jul 30, 1609

Champlain travels with the Algonquins to Lake Champlain where they attack the Iroquois and the French use firearms against the Iroquois.

Henry Hudson explores Hudson Bay and is set adrift by a mutinous crew and dies.

Jan 1, 1611

In 1611, after wintering on the shore of James Bay, Hudson wanted to press on to the west, but most of his crew mutinied. The mutineers cast Hudson, his son and 7 others adrift;[2] the Hudsons, and those cast off at their side, were never seen again.

Samuel de Champlain is named the Governor of New France

Jan 1, 1612

Champlain discovers the Great Lakes

Jan 1, 1615

The founder of Quebec City and one of the most charismatic figures in Canadian history, Samuel de Champlain opened up the St Lawrence river and extended French influence throughout the Great Lakes basin.

Champlain continues to explore the New World

Jan 1, 1616

Champlain completes eight years pf exploring, traveling as far as west Georgia Bay. The French and Huron form an alliance.

Samuel de Champlain dies

Dec 25, 1635

He administered and continued to explore eastern Canada for the next 20 years and on December 25, 1635 he died after suffering a stroke a month previously.

Samuel Hearne attempts to find a copper mines in the Canadian North.

Jan 1, 1769

In 1769 Samuel Hearne was chosen to head a land expedition to the north to investigate native reports of a great river and large copper mines. His first two attempts met with failure.

Samuel Heane's successful third voyage discovered norther copper mines and important geological information regarding the North West Passage

Jan 1, 1770

1770, guided by a Chipewyan, he set off on the third and successful expedition, which took him across the barren grounds to the Coppermine River and down to its mouth. He came back by Great Slave Lake and arrived at Fort Prince of Wales on June 30, 1772. Although the copper mines proved disappointing, the trip was of great importance. In spite of his inaccurate geographical data, Hearne opened up an unknown territory. He gave an accurate and valuable account of the Chipewyan, and he proved that there was no short Northwest Passage.

Samuel Hearne establishes Fort Cumberland

Jan 1, 1774

Hearne was sent to Saskatchewan to establish Fort Cumberland, the second inland trading post for the Hudson's Bay Company in 1774.

George Vancouver visits the west coast of Canada with Captain Cook’s third voyage.

Jan 1, 1778

Bad weather prevents Captain Cook’s ships from getting close to land, and the crew sees very little of the Canadian coast in their search for a Pacific outlet for the Northwest Passage.

Alexander Mackenzie journeys to the Beaufort Sea, following what would later be named the Mackenzie River.

Jul 14, 1789

On behalf of the North West Company Mackenzie travelled to Lake Athabasca where, in 1788, he was one of the founders of Fort Chipewyan. He learned that the First Nations people understood that the local rivers flowed to the northwest. Acting on this information, he set out by canoe on the river on July 10, 1789 following it to its mouth in the hope of finding the Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean. He ended up reaching the Arctic Ocean on July 14. The river was later renamed the Mackenzie River in his honor.

Vancouver is appointed Captain of Discovery for the voyage to the Pacific Northwest.

Jan 1, 1790

Vancouver leads the expedition to the Pacific Northwest where he spends three seasons charting

Jan 1, 1791

Vancouver is more famous for the charts he produced of the Pacific Northwest. These detailed charts were the result of an astonishing survey of much of the 27,000 km of coastline in British Columbia. This coastline is an intricate and complex network of inlets and islets, much of it too dangerous for Vancouver’s large ships. Thus the majority of the survey work was done in small rowboats. The work was long and arduous, taking three years to complete.

Mackenzie reaches the Pacific coast at Bella Coola, British Columbia, on North Bentinck Arm, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean.

Jul 20, 1793

In 1792, Makenzie set out once again to find a route to the Pacific. Thus, he completed the first recorded transcontinental crossing of North America north of Mexico.

Vancouver publishes charts of the coast of British Columbia through Alaska

Jan 1, 1798

Vancouver produced the most detailed and comprehensive charts of this coast, charts that were used for over a hundred years. Vancouver’s journals and accompanying atlas went into a second edition printing only three years after publication in 1798. There were also French, German, and Swedish translations by 1801, and a Russian edition in 1827.