Henry Hudson first entered the bay that would later bear his name looking to pass it by. To Hudson, the "New World" — a vast, untamed wilderness — was simply a barrier to the rich markets of the Orient. His crew agreed, and they sent the explorer to his death to avoid spending one moment more in what they considered a wintry wasteland.

But for almost 400 years after Hudson first probed the bay's icy coast, thousands of explorers, hunters, trappers and businessmen have sought to prove them wrong.

From the earliest trade with native tribes to the era industrialization, and finally into today's shopping mall culture, the "Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading into Hudson's Bay" — or the Hudson's Bay Company — has made its livelihood culling the natural riches of North America.

But the company accomplished more than business success. It also controlled a huge swath of territory, and the company's discoveries, innovations and political wranglings played an instrumental role in the history of Canada and North America.

Courtesy of the National Archives of Canada.
Courtesy of the Hudson's Bay Company Archive.
Courtesy of the Hudson's Bay Company Archive.
Courtesy of the National Archives of Canada.
Courtesy of the Hudson's Bay Company Archive.