Anthony Henday’s Journey: First Contact, Fur Trade Ambitions, and the Hudson’s Bay Company in North America
In the vast sweep of Canada’s western history, few events carry as much weight as those first tentative encounters between Europeans and Indigenous peoples. These were moments freighted with expectation, curiosity, and unspoken consequence. For the Indigenous nations who had shaped the lands of the North American interior for millennia, these encounters marked the beginning of a complex, often fraught relationship with European traders and their ambitions. One such moment occurred in 1754, when Anthony Henday, an employee of the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), ventured into the western plains, becoming one of the first Europeans known to explore what is now Alberta.
Henday’s journey was part of a broader story: the ambitious rise of the Hudson’s Bay Company, its relentless drive to extend its commercial empire, and the profound effects it would have on the Indigenous peoples of the prairies. Henday’s mission and the reactions of the Blackfoot Confederacy to this initial contact reveal much about the dynamics of early trade, diplomacy, and resistance in Canada’s western interior.
The Hudson’s Bay Company: Ambition and Origins
The roots of Henday’s journey lay in the formation of the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) nearly a century earlier. Established in 1670, the HBC was born out of both ambition and opportunity. English merchants Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Médard Chouart des Groseilliers, French explorers disillusioned with the monopolies of the French fur trade, proposed to King Charles II of England that the region surrounding Hudson Bay — then called “Rupert’s Land” — could be a rich source of fur. Their explorations and subsequent advocacy secured the King’s support. On May 2, 1670, the Hudson’s Bay Company was granted a royal charter, giving it exclusive trading rights to the vast and largely unmapped watershed of the bay, an area that would eventually cover one-third of Canada.
The ambitions of the HBC were straightforward yet far-reaching: to dominate the lucrative fur trade. Europe’s insatiable demand for beaver pelts — used to make felt hats — had created a profitable transatlantic market. The HBC established a series of trading posts around Hudson Bay, including York Factory and Moose Factory, where furs brought by Indigenous trappers were exchanged for goods such as metal tools, cloth, and firearms. Unlike the French fur traders, who often ventured inland and lived among Indigenous communities, the HBC initially preferred to conduct business at their coastal forts, relying on Indigenous middlemen to bring furs to the posts.
This strategy, while profitable, began to show limitations as competition with the French intensified. The North West Company (NWC), founded in the 1770s, adopted a more aggressive approach, pushing inland to meet Indigenous nations directly. The HBC realized it could no longer rely solely on its coastal model and began sending employees, known as “pedlars” or inland explorers, to establish trade connections further west.
It was against this backdrop of competition and ambition that Anthony Henday embarked on his journey in 1754.
Anthony Henday’s Mission: Expanding the Fur Trade
Anthony Henday’s expedition into the western plains was not a journey of exploration for exploration’s sake; it was a calculated commercial endeavour. The Hudson’s Bay Company hoped that by reaching Indigenous nations on the plains — particularly the Blackfoot Confederacy — they could persuade them to bring their furs eastward to HBC posts. At the time, the Blackfoot held considerable influence over the southern plains of present-day Alberta, serving as skilled hunters and powerful intermediaries in trade networks.
Henday’s route took him inland from York Factory on Hudson Bay, across the North Saskatchewan River, and into the expansive plains. The journey was arduous, demanding both physical endurance and social skill. Henday’s journals, though sparse and often ambiguous, document his encounters with the Blackfoot and other Indigenous nations he met along the way.
Historian W. L. Morton, in “The Fur Trade in Canada”, notes that Henday’s primary goal was to “secure new alliances and disrupt existing trade networks that linked the Blackfoot and other western nations to French traders and their Métis allies.” Henday carried trade goods — blankets, muskets, metal tools, and other European wares — to demonstrate the advantages of doing business with the Hudson’s Bay Company.
The Encounter with the Blackfoot Confederacy
Henday’s most significant moment came when he reached a large camp of the Blackfoot Confederacy. The Blackfoot, composed of the Siksika, Kainai (Blood), and Piikani nations, were the dominant power on the southern plains. Their lives revolved around the bison, which provided food, clothing, and tools, and their power derived from their skills as hunters, warriors, and traders.
Henday was invited into the camp, where he witnessed a scene both foreign and awe-inspiring. The Blackfoot camp was bustling, with countless tipis set against the broad horizon of the plains. Henday’s journal suggests he observed communal dances, feasts, and rituals that underscored the Blackfoot’s rich cultural traditions and political organization.
Henday presented the Blackfoot leaders with gifts and proposed that they bring their furs to Hudson Bay posts in the east. However, the Blackfoot were unimpressed. To them, Henday’s suggestion posed significant challenges. The journey to Hudson Bay was long, dangerous, and impractical, especially when French traders operating to the west provided easier access to trade goods. Moreover, the Blackfoot valued their independence and saw no reason to abandon existing trade relationships for a distant and uncertain proposition.
Historian Hugh A. Dempsey, in “Indian Tribes of Alberta”, writes, “The Blackfoot response to Henday was pragmatic. They understood the value of trade, but they were not willing to disrupt their lives or alliances for the sake of one trader’s ambitions.” Henday’s visit, while cordial, did not achieve the Hudson’s Bay Company’s objectives. The Blackfoot, confident in their position, remained aloof from HBC influence, continuing to trade with their established partners.
Impact of Contact: Early Dynamics and Indigenous Agency
While Henday’s journey may have failed in its immediate goals, it signified the beginning of a relationship between Europeans and the Indigenous peoples of Alberta. These early encounters were not defined by conquest but by negotiation, diplomacy, and Indigenous agency. The Blackfoot and other nations maintained control over their territories and trade networks, determining the terms under which they engaged with Europeans.
For the Hudson’s Bay Company, Henday’s experience highlighted the challenges of inland expansion. Indigenous nations were not passive participants in the fur trade; they were skilled negotiators who understood the value of their resources. The HBC would need to adapt its strategies if it hoped to compete with the French and North West Company, who had already cultivated deeper relationships in the interior.
At the same time, first contact brought subtle but far-reaching changes. The introduction of European goods such as firearms, metal tools, and cloth transformed Indigenous economies and daily life. While these items offered practical advantages, they also introduced new dependencies and competition that would have long-term consequences.
Conclusion
Anthony Henday’s 1754 journey into the Alberta plains represents a pivotal moment in Canadian history. His mission, rooted in the Hudson’s Bay Company’s ambitions to dominate the fur trade, brought him into contact with the Blackfoot Confederacy, a powerful Indigenous nation that held firm control over the southern plains. While Henday’s efforts to forge trade relationships fell short, his journey marked the beginning of European efforts to expand into Alberta’s interior, laying the groundwork for the profound changes that would follow.
The Hudson’s Bay Company, born from royal ambition and economic opportunity, pursued its goals with determination. Yet its encounters with Indigenous nations like the Blackfoot revealed the complexities of early contact. Indigenous peoples were not passive recipients of European trade but active agents who shaped their own destinies, maintaining their autonomy and traditions even in the face of external pressures.
As historian Harold Innis observes in “The Fur Trade in Canada”, “The fur trade was not a conquest but a collaboration — a negotiation of interests in which Indigenous nations held the power to choose their terms.” Henday’s journey, though a footnote in the broader history of the fur trade, embodies this delicate and dynamic relationship, one that would come to define the history of Alberta for centuries to come.
References:
- Dempsey, Hugh A. Indian Tribes of Alberta. Glenbow Museum, 1998.
- Morton, W. L. The Fur Trade in Canada: An Introduction to Canadian Economic History. University of Toronto Press, 1974.
- Innis, Harold. The Fur Trade in Canada. University of Toronto Press, 1956.
- Ray, Arthur J. Indians in the Fur Trade. University of Toronto Press, 1998.
- Gough, Barry M. First Across the Continent: Alexander Mackenzie’s Journey. University of Oklahoma Press, 1997.