Hudson Bay High Sea

Hudson Bay's open waters formed a seasonal sea road between the Atlantic and the trading posts on its shores. Hudson's Bay Company ships sailed from London with trade goods, passed through the ice of Hudson Strait and continued to the bay's river-mouth posts. In the eighteenth century their captains also traded with Inuit along the strait. At York Factory, Indigenous traders brought furs to exchange for guns, kettles, knives and blankets. An early freeze could prevent a ship from leaving the bay and force its crew to spend the winter there.