The Search for the Northwest Passage

The Northwest Passage

Fig. 1. Popular Northwest Passage Routes. Map by NASA, March 14, 2005. Source: Wikimedia Commons.1

The Northwest Passage is the sea route through the islands of the Canadian Arctic linking the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Being mostly north of the Arctic Circle, the weather in the summer can reach around 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and in the winter lows can dip to -50 degrees. The terrain on the islands surrounding the passage are primarily tundra with a thick permafrost layer below the topsoil, leaving the land devoid of trees. The passages frequently freeze solid in the winter, making ship movement nearly impossible for a large portion of the year. Additionally, the complex network of shoals, currents, and tides make navigation difficult, combined with  icebergs which remain all year round make the northwest passage an unappealing shortcut for vessels seeking passage between the Atlantic and Pacific. Recently, with the polar ice cap rapidly disappearing, the ice that chokes the straits of passage has receded, making it possible for specially designed cargo icebreaker ships to traverse the passage in the late summer or fall.2 However, as the deeper channels of the passage are further north, the ice cap will have to recede much farther before it will be passable for normal cargo ships.

Much of the early obsession about the northwest passage comes from the hope of a shorter trade route with Asia. The economies of European merchant states were heavily driven by the tea and spice trade, and having a shorter route would allow for more efficient trade with Asia. The discovery of the passage would also give the British control of the fastest route between England and Asia, allowing them to exercise greater control over the Pacific Ocean and Asian trade.3

Early Exploration

Fig. 2. Area of Early Exploration. Map in Ann Savours, The Search for the North West Passage (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999), 16.4

Voyages of Martin Frobisher, 1576-78

The first meaningful expeditions of discovery into the Canadian Arctic were the voyages of Martin Frobisher from 1576-78. The expressed purpose of his first voyage was to “reach Cathay [China] through a passage to the northwest”5 He found what he thought was a strait, and named it after himself. These supposed straits however, turned out to just be be a bay. They made landfall on what is now Meta Incognita Peninsula on Baffin Island, and made contact with the Inuit. Peaceable relations soon fell apart, and five men were kidnapped. Frobisher attempted to search for them, but that only brought more conflict, so he made the choice to leave them behind. While on land, they discovered a rock that they thought contained gold. This rock became the focus of his second voyage, in which he returned to the same area to look for the five men, and mine more of the ore to bring back to England.

Fig. 3. John White, The Skirmish at Bloody Point, Frobisher Bay, ca. 1585–1593. Courtesy of the British Museum via Wikimedia Commons.6

Despite no gold ever being refined from the ore, he returned on a third voyage with one hundred miners order to extract more ore. He also dipped briefly into what is now known as Hudson Strait, before turning around in the face of roaring currents and tides. Frobisher’s three voyages provided the first charts of the area around the entrance to the passage.7 The ore he brought back turned out to be worthless, but he proved that it was possible to sail and explore the Canadian Arctic, paving the way for more explorers to expand on his search for the passage.

Voyages of John Davis, 1585-87

The explorer John Davis followed in Frobiser’s footsteps, embarking on three voyages from 1585-87. He produced wider ranging charts, especially of the now named Davis Strait, as well as the Greenland coast. He also traded with the inuit for seal skins, and fished for cod. His third voyage was focused on expanding on Frobisher’s discoveries and finding the northwest passage. He made it about halfway up Baffin Island before turning back south, passing the entrance to Frobisher Bay and Hudson Strait, before returning to England. His work better defined the area that needed to be explored, helping Henry Hudson and William Baffin to make their respective discoveries.8

Fig. 4. Map of the Northern Discoveries of John Davis 1585–87. Map in Clements R. Markham, A Life of John Davis, the Navigator (London: George Philip & Son, 1889). Source: Wikimedia Commons.9

Voyage of Henry Hudson, 1610

In 1610, Henry Hudson finally traversed the strait that Frobisher discovered, and entered Hudson Bay. After wintering in the south end of the bay, his crew mutinied on him and he along with the men loyal to him were set adrift in a small boat, never to be seen again. His discovery of the bay was soon followed up by a man named Thomas Button who charted the west coast of the bay, revealing that there were no passages directly to the west, but there could be a passage to the northwest beyond Southampton Island in the northern part of the bay. This discovery of the bay brought them within the reach of the fur trade, which the English soon moved to exploit.10

Fig. 5. An oil painting of an abandoned Henry Hudson with his son. Collier, John. The Last Voyage of Henry Hudson. 1881. Oil on canvas. Tate Britain, London. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Last_Voyage_Of_Henry_Hudson.jpg.11

Voyages of William Baffin 1615-16

In 1615, Baffin attempted to further explore the northern reaches of Hudson bay. He was repulsed by ice which clogged the whole northern part of the bay. Disillusioned with the chances of a navigable passage through the bay, he went up through the Davis Strait on his second voyage. He charted the bay which bears his name, as well as Lancaster Sound, one of the key parts of the passage. However, he thought it was a bay, so did not appreciate the magnitude of his discovery.

Fig. 6. William Baffin’s chart of the Hudson Strait. Baffin, William. Chart of Hudson Strait. 1615. Map in Clements R. Markham, ed., The Voyages of William Baffin, 1612–1622. London: Hakluyt Society, 1881. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Baffin_Chart_of_Hudson_Strait.png.12

The Hudson’s Bay Company

The Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) was given its charter by the king in 1670, after the early voyages of discovery by Frobisher, Davis, Baffin, and Hudson. The charter gave it a de facto monopoly on trade within the whole watershed of Hudson Bay. To exploit the fur resources available, they built a chain of forts and trading posts on the west coast of the bay with which they would trade with Inuit in the area. They would also send expeditions of discovery out to the surrounding areas, mostly with Inuit guides, to explore the area and search for mineral deposits.

 Fig. 7. A map of Hudson Bay with HBC trading posts marked. Map of Hudson Bay and Strait. Map in Glyndwr Williams, Voyages of Delusion: The Quest for the Northwest Passage (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003), 16.13

One of these expeditions, by a man named Samuel Hearne, was another major factor indicating there was not a navigable northwest passage, with his navigation of the Coppermine River all the way to its mouth in the Arctic Ocean. This indicated that no navigable passage existed south of the Arctic Circle.14 The HBC had a tenuous hold on the forts and their trading rights. Being so far away from England, it was difficult to project power in order to defend their claims. Back and forth clashes with the French combined with the harsh environment made life in the frontier outposts exceptionally difficult. They relied heavily on supply ships from England in order to survive. Usually only one ship a year came,15 so they were forced to make their supplies last. If the ship was unable to reach the posts due to ice or other conditions, the men at the post were at risk of starving to death over ensuing winter. This led to strained relationships between the men at the forts and explorers, as they were more worried about making sure they could survive the winter than in aiding the visitors, and chafed at giving their valuable supplies to the explorers.16 

Fig. 8. Ogden, Henry Alexander. “Indians at a Hudson Bay Company Trading Post.” 1882. Wikimedia Commons.https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Indians_at_a_Hudson_Bay_Company_trading_post.jpg.17

From Passage to Prestige

By the 1730s, the evidence for an easily traversable Northwest Passage was rapidly waning. However, the Irish MP Arthur Dobbs made an impassioned argument that another expedition should be sent to try and find the passage. In 1741, Christopher Middleton was sent to Hudson Bay to attempt to find the passage. He was repulsed by the same ice that stopped William Baffin, and he returned to England unsuccessful.18 The final nails in the coffin of the idea of an easily navigable Northwest Passage were the voyages of James Cook and George Vancouver who surveyed the entire pacific seaboard up to Alaska, finding no evidence of a northwest passage south of the arctic. After this, the voyages to force the passage became about prestige, rather than for any economic reason.19  Up till now, The voyages have been disparate ventures, without much strong, centralized government backing. Now, as a matter of national prestige, the full weight of the Royal Navy is behind the push to force the passage through the Canadian Arctic.20

First Voyage of William Edward Perry, 1819-20

Perry’s expedition of 1819-20 was the most successful single expedition of the whole search for the Northwest Passage.  Using two Royal Navy ships, HMS Hecla and HMS Griper, he entered the passage through Lancaster Sound, and headed straight west through Perry Channel. Finally he wintered on Melville island, a full three quarters of the way through the passage, before being forced to turn around by ice. In addition to his westward success, he also helped expand the knowledge of how to properly and comfortably survive wintering aboard ships in the Arctic. He paid great attention to preventing scurvy, as well as the comfort of his crew. This was one of the first voyages to use canned food, which was a brand new invention in the 19th century. Perry’s expedition laid the groundwork for every other expedition that followed into the high arctic, including the Franklin expedition soon to come.21

Fig. 9. Parry’s ships Wintering in the ice off Winter Island. Durand-Brager. Édouard Parry à l’île Winter. 1863. Illustration in Arthur Mangin, Voyages et Découvertes outre-mer au XIXe siècle. Tours: Ad Mame et Cie, 1863. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Durand-brager-296.png.22

Onto The Erebus and Terror

While this is not an exhaustive history of every expedition which contributed to the search for the Northwest Passage, these voyages lay the groundwork for understanding of how the knowledge of the region and the sailing abilities changed over time. One thing that is important to keep in mind is that every voyage was aided or guided in some way by the native Inuit, who had immense knowledge of the land, and frequently came to the rescue of desperate explorers. The technology that the sailors used had dramatically changed from Frobisher to Parry. Parry had access to canned food, dramatically better navigational techniques, as well as the combined knowledge of over 200 years of English Arctic exploration. The success of Parry’s voyage left the British in a prime position to complete the final push for the passage, with the fateful voyage of the HMS Erebus and Terror.

  1. NASA. “Popular Northwest Passage Routes.” March 14, 2005. Map. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Northwest_passage.jpg.
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  2. Brigham, Lawson W. “Northwest Passage Transit Realities.” Proceedings, September 2025. https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2025/september/northwest-passage-transit-realities. ↩︎
  3. Williams, Glyndwr. Voyages of Delusion: The Quest for the Northwest Passage. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. 
    ↩︎
  4. Savours, Ann. 1999. The Search for the North West Passage. St. Martin’s Press. ↩︎
  5. Savours, Ann. 1999. The Search for the North West Passage. St. Martin’s Press. 4. ↩︎
  6. White, John. The Skirmish at Bloody Point, Frobisher Bay. Ca. 1585–1593. British Museum. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_White_%E2%80%93_The_skirmish_at_Bloody_Point,Frobisher_Bay(British_Museum)_(cropped).png. ↩︎
  7. Savours, Ann. 1999. The Search for the North West Passage. St. Martin’s Press.
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  8. Savours, Ann. 1999. The Search for the North West Passage. St. Martin’s Press.
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  9. Markham, Clements R. Map of the Northern Discoveries of John Davis 1585–87. 1889. Map in Clements R. Markham, A Life of John Davis, the Navigator, 1550–1605. London: George Philip & Son, 1889. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Markham_Davis_Strait_map.jpg. ↩︎
  10. Savours, Ann. 1999. The Search for the North West Passage. St. Martin’s Press.
    ↩︎
  11. Collier, John. The Last Voyage of Henry Hudson. 1881. Oil on canvas. Tate Britain, London. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Last_Voyage_Of_Henry_Hudson.jpg.
    ↩︎
  12. Baffin, William. Chart of Hudson Strait. 1615. Map in Clements R. Markham, ed., The Voyages of William Baffin, 1612–1622. London: Hakluyt Society, 1881. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Baffin_Chart_of_Hudson_Strait.png. ↩︎
  13. Williams, Glyndwr. Voyages of Delusion: The Quest for the Northwest Passage. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. ↩︎
  14. Savours, Ann. 1999. The Search for the North West Passage. St. Martin’s Press.
    ↩︎
  15. Williams, Glyndwr. Voyages of Delusion: The Quest for the Northwest Passage. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. ↩︎
  16. Williams, Glyndwr. Voyages of Delusion: The Quest for the Northwest Passage. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. ↩︎
  17. Ogden, Henry Alexander. “Indians at a Hudson Bay Company Trading Post.” 1882. Wikimedia Commons.https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Indians_at_a_Hudson_Bay_Company_trading_post.jpg.
    ↩︎
  18. Williams, Glyndwr. Voyages of Delusion: The Quest for the Northwest Passage. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. ↩︎
  19. Savours, Ann. 1999. The Search for the North West Passage. St. Martin’s Press. 39. ↩︎
  20. Williams, Glyndwr. Voyages of Delusion: The Quest for the Northwest Passage. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. 
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  21. Savours, Ann. 1999. The Search for the North West Passage. St. Martin’s Press.
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  22. Durand-Brager. Édouard Parry à l’île Winter. 1863. Illustration in Arthur Mangin, Voyages et Découvertes outre-mer au XIXe siècle. Tours: Ad Mame et Cie, 1863. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Durand-brager-296.png. ↩︎

Generative AI was used to aid me in creating my citations, and used to edit writing for clarity and grammar. All research and analysis is my own.