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Samuel Hearne




In 1756 he entered the navy, and was some time with Lord Hood ; at the end of the Seven Years' War ( 1763 ) he took service with the Hudson's Bay Company . In 1768 he examined portions of the Hudson Bay coasts with a view to improving the cod fishery, and in 1769 - 1772 he was employed in north-western discovery, searching especially for certain copper mines described by Indians.

His first attempt (from 6 November 1769) failed through the desertion of his Indians; his second (from 23 February 1770 ) through the breaking of his quadrant; but in his third (December 1770 to June 1772) he was successful, not only discovering the Copper of the Coppermine River basin, but tracing this river to the Arctic Ocean . On July 17 1771 , Chipewyan chief Matonabbee travelling as his guide on his arctic overland journey, massacred a group of unsuspecting Inuit ; this would be known as the Massacre At Bloody Falls .

He reappeared at Fort Prince Of Wales on 30 June 1772 . Becoming governor of this fort in 1775 he was taken prisoner by the French under La Pérouse in 1782. He returned to England in 1787 where he died in 1792 .

He is the author of ''A Journey from Prince of Wales’s Fort in Hudson’s Bay to the Northern Ocean'' 1795 .


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