Radisson, Pierre-Esprit National Historic Person
French River, Ontario
Radisson
© National Archives of Canada/C-15497
Address :
Highway 69/400 crosses the French River, French River, Ontario
Recognition Statute:
Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date:
1971-05-27
Life Date:
1636 to 1710
Other Name(s):
-
Radisson, Pierre-Esprit
(Designation Name)
Importance:
Fur trader and explorer, helped found the Hudson's Bay Company (1670)
Plaque(s)
Existing plaque: Highway 69/400 crosses the French River, French River, Ontario
In 1659 the coureur de bois Pierre Radisson and his brother-in-law, Médart Chouart Des Grosseilliers, left Montreal on a illicit voyage of trade and exploration north of Lake Superior. Here they conceived the idea of tapping this fur-rich region from Hudson Bay. Failing to enlist French support for the scheme, they turned to England; the result was the founding of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1670. The next two decades saw the erratic Radisson alternately in the service of France and England, in Hudson Bay, Canada and the Caribbean. In 1687 he became an English subject, and he spent the rest of his life in London.