1610 — Henry Hudson first enters the bay.

1611 — Hudson set adrift by mutinous crew.

1612-1632 — Exploration by several explorers shows the bay, later named for Hudson, is landlocked, and not the "Northwest passage" explorers sought.

1659 — Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Medard Chouart, Sieur Des Groseilliers, French explorers working for England, head west from Lake Superior to lands that would later be called Missouri and Mississippi.

1660 — Radisson and Groseilliers travel among tribes in Great Lakes and return to Montreal with furs. They propose exporting pelts via Hudson Bay.

1662 — Radisson and Groseilliers say they'll leave Quebec for Hudson Bay, but sail for New England instead.

1668 —- Radisson and Groseilliers leave England for Hudson Bay: Radisson on Eaglet and Groseillers on Nonsuch. Storms force Radisson back to Plymouth. Groseilliers makes it to the Bay and Nonsuch crew builds the first fort in the region. The group spends the winter trading for pelts.