MARTIN FROBISHER
Sir Martin Frobisher was an English privateer (a pirate licensed by the British government), navigator, explorer, and naval officer. After years of sailing to Africa, and then looting French ships in the English Channel, Frobisher sailed to northeastern North America to search for a Northwest Passage ( a sea route across northern Canada from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, making the trip to Asia easier).
In 1576, Frobisher began a series of three trips to what is now Canada, and
found some ore that he thought was gold on Baffin Island (which he claimed
for England). On his third trip, in 1578, Frobisher sailed 15 ships up the
Hudson Strait, and set up a temporary mining settlement near what is now known
as Frobisher Bay. Although Frobisher failed to find either as northwest passage
or gold, he was one of the first people to explore this area of Canada.
Diary Entry:
Copyright © 2001 C. Fotheringham, P. Milz, and Galileo Educational Network Association™