Anthony Henday

Anthony Henday (fl. c. 1725–1762) was one of the first Europeans to explore the interior of what would eventually become western Canada. He ventured farther westward than any white man had before him.^[1] As an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company, he travelled across the prairies in the 1750s, journeyed into what is now central Alberta, and possibly arrived at the present site of Red Deer. He 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.^[2][3]

In 1754 he and his group came to what is now Alberta with a mission to meet the Blackfoot and encourage them to trade with the Hudson's Bay Company. They travelled some 2,900 kilometres (1,800 mi) by canoe and some 1,400 kilometres (900 mi) by foot.^[4] Henday and his group travelled 1,400 kilometres (900 mi) to within sight of the mighty Rocky Mountains and back another 1,400 kilometres (900 mi) in just six days less than a year.^[5]

His 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.^[6]