>>2694080Henry Hudson was a pretty badass but ruthless explo'r and he was literally obsessed with finding the northwest passage to get to the Pacific via the Arctic. For over a decade he commanded some of the most important and daring expeditions in North America, starting in the late 1500s.
Finally one summer he breached the far north ice flows and discovered the gigantic sea that is now called "Hudson Bay". By the time they oriented themselves to this gigantic landscape their ship got icebound - luckily they were an experienced crew and anchored the ship in calm water relatively close to shore. They abandoned the ship for the winter and survived on land in what could only be indescribable hardship. This is not a green landscape even in summer, and in winter they had to try and survive off whatever was on the ship and aggressively fishing the bay for protein and fat. There was much disdain and turmoil amongst the crew, and many died of malnutrition and acts of violence.
After months the ice began to melt and what was left of the ragged, angry, malnourished crew were able to make their way back to the ship owing their lives only to the graces of God. And they STILL had to survive the depressing spectre of a 3-4 month journey back to England ahead of them, through the open and violent north Atlantic and without adequate supplies.
Aaaaand then Hudson said nope, we're going west and we're continuing and we're finding dat Northwest Passage.
The crew immediately threw him, his teenage son, and a few loyal bootlickers onto a wooden paddle boat and set them adrift amongst the spring icebergs while the ship sailed back to England with fewer mouths to feed.