18 Facts About Anthony Henday

Anthony Henday ventured farther into the interior of western Canada than any European had before him.

Anthony Henday camped along the North Saskatchewan River, perhaps on the present site of Rocky Mountain House or Edmonton, and is said to have been the first European to see the Rocky Mountains, if only from a distance.

Anthony Henday's purpose was to encourage First Nations in the upper watershed of the Saskatchewan River to come to Hudson Bay to trade, but the great distance involved, their inability to build canoes and paddle them, and fear of attack by Cree along the river caused Blackfoot and other western prairie First Nations to be reluctant to make the journey.

The HBC authorized and funded Anthony Henday to explore the interior of what is western Canada, using York Factory as his base.

Anthony Henday supposed that Henday passed through Walker Lake, not Lake Winnipeg as is sometimes supposed, then up the Minago River to Moose Lake, then to the Saskatchewan River, and travelling past the French trading post of Fort Basqua.

Anthony Henday's visit, and his visit the next spring to Fort Basqua's sister fort, Fort Poskoyac, are the only two recorded visits by a British explorer or trader to any French fort west of Lake Superior, up to the close of French rule in Canada.

Burpee supposed that Anthony Henday got as far west as about Airdrie in the autumn of 1754.

Anthony Henday was told these people had never been in contact with any Europeans.

Anthony Henday noted that his Cree companions were afraid of them.

That the Archithinues were riding horses was a surprising revelation, and when Anthony Henday reported it upon his return to civilization, the report was disbelieved.

Anthony Henday was invited int that tent and smoked a peace pipe with the "king" and 20 elders.

Anthony Henday invited some of the Archithinues go with them back to York Factory.

Anthony Henday himself did not expore further west but over the next few autumn and winter months made short journeys in the area just to get provisions and furs.

Since the answer had been unsure and because Anthony Henday's trip did not subsequently produce any large increase in furs arriving at York Factory, there were few expeditions to what would eventually be Alberta in the late 1700s.

Peter Fidler travelled through central Alberta in 1792, definitively mapping the location of rivers and lakes, many of which Anthony Henday had likely visited 40 years earlier.

Anthony Henday's journal was copied by others in four different and contradictory versions.

Anthony Henday left the service of the HBC in 1762 largely because his efforts for the company, at least in his estimation, had not been properly recognized.

Anthony Henday Drive, a large ring road in Edmonton, is named in his honour, as is Henday Hall, one of the residence towers in the main student residence complex at the University of Alberta in that city.