Editing Pierre-Esprit Radisson (section)

==Career==
Radisson's biggest influence in Canadian history dates  from the period of 1658 to 1684, when he was an active [[Coureur des bois|coureur-des-bois]], fur trader, and explorer. In August 1659, Radisson persuaded his brother-in-law, Médard Chouart des Groseilliers, to hire him for his journey around [[Lake Superior]]. The year-long trip was planned to collect furs, in order to participate in the ever-lucrative [[North American fur trade|fur trade]].<ref name="Virtual Museum of New France">{{Cite web |title=The Explorers: Pierre-Esprit Radisson 1659-1660 |access-date=21 February 2016 |website=Virtual Museum of New France |publisher=[[Canadian Museum of History]] |url=http://www.historymuseum.ca/virtual-museum-of-new-france/the-explorers/pierre-esprit-radisson-1659-1660/}}</ref>

In the winter of 1659–1660, Radisson and Des Groseilliers lived just south of Lake Superior in what is now [[Wisconsin]], associating with groups of Huron, [[Odawa|Ottawa]], [[Ojibwa]] and [[Sioux]] (Dakota) Indians.{{sfnp|White|1999|page=117}} When Radisson arrived at an Ojibwa village on the shores of Lake Superior, where he spent much of the winter, he later reported giving three types of presents: to the men, women and children of the village.{{sfnp|White|1999|p=118}} He gave each of the men "...a kettle, two hatchets [tomahawks], and six knives and a blade for a sword"; the women "...2 and 20 awls, 50 needles, 2 graters [scrapers] of castors, 2 ivory combs and 2 wooden ones, with red painte [vermilion], 6 looking-glasses of tin"; and to the children "...brasse rings, of small bells, and rasades [beads] of divers colors...".{{sfnp|White|1999|p=118}} American historian Bruce White wrote that Radission and Des Groseilliers did not entirely understand Ojibwa society, as the kettles were typically used much more by the women for cooking than by the men. Giving paint and make-up only to women overlooked the fact that Ojibwa men used make-up and painted their faces just as much as Ojibwa women did.{{sfnp|White|1999|page=119}} But Radisson may have learned that kettles were used prominently by the Huron in their [[The Huron Feast of the Dead|Feast of the Dead]], and thought that the Ojibwa men might use them in their own version of that feast.{{sfnp|White|1999|page=119}}

On the other hand, White notes that the two Frenchmen clearly understood some aspects of Ojibwa gender roles very well: the gift of tomahawks for the men acknowledged that Ojibwa men were hunters and warriors, while the gift of awls for the women reflected that Ojibwa women gathered rice, gardened, cooked, fished, built bark houses, and wove mats.{{sfnp|White|1999|page=119}} Ojibwa women also played important roles in the fur trade. Some married winter partners or traders, establishing relations that gave advantages to their bands. Others used their sexuality as a way of establishing informal relations with the French in order to ensure the continued supply of European goods and prevent the French from trading with other Indians.{{sfnp|White|1999|page=129}}

Radisson reported on visiting one Ojibwa village in the spring of 1660, where there was a welcoming ceremony: "The women throw themselves backward on the ground, thinking to give us tokens of friendship and wellcome [welcome]".{{sfnp|White|1999|page=129}} Radisson was confused at first by what the action meant, but as the women started to engage in more overtly sexual behavior, he quickly realized what they were offering.{{sfnp|White|1999|page=129}} Several tribal elders informed Radisson that they did not want him trading with their enemies, the Dakota [Sioux], and that he and Des Groseilliers were free to sleep with the unmarried women of the village on condition that they did not trade with the Dakota.{{sfnp|White|1999|page=129}} As Radisson's account was written for an English audience, he was vague as to whether he and Des Groseilliers took up this offer. {{sfnp|White|1999|page=129}}

When Radisson and Groseilliers returned to Québec on August 24, 1660, with many furs, the merchants waiting for them were delighted to be able to sail with the pelts to Europe, but the Governor was jealous of their success.<ref name="Virtual Museum of New France" /> In 1659 Groseilliers had met with Governor [[Pierre de Voyer d'Argenson, Vicomte de Mouzay|Pierre de Voyer d'Argenson]] to gain a year-long permit to explore New France; the governor granted it. Seeing the success of the trip and the number of furs they had brought back, d'Argenson levied high taxes on the men, ostensibly because they had exceeded the terms of their year-long permit by a couple of days.{{sfnp|Warkentin|2012|pages=299–301}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Radisson and des Groseilliers |website=HBC Heritage |access-date=7 October 2015 |url=http://www.hbcheritage.ca/people/explorers/radisson-and-des-groseilliers}}</ref>

After seeking unsuccessfully in the courts to regain what had been confiscated by the Governor, Radisson and Groseilliers decided to go to [[Boston]] in the English [[Thirteen Colonies]] for their next explorations. They would seek English financing there to support their expedition.

===Trade and journeys to Hudson Bay===
[[File:Arrival of Radisson in an Indian camp 1660 Charles William Jefferys.jpg|thumb|right|Arrival of Radisson in an Indian camp in 1660.]]
Throughout their 1659–1660 voyage, the French explorers had heard references to a "salt sea" as an area with an abundance of good furs. They determined the reference must be to [[Hudson Bay]] and began to seek financing and sea-going ships for their new explorations.<ref name="Virtual Museum of New France" /> They could reach this destination by travel on waters outside the continent, instead of through a number of internal rivers.{{sfnp|Friesen|1987|p=49}} The first voyage to Hudson Bay was unsuccessful since the winter of that year came early, and they judged their rations on board insufficient to survive it. The pair were forced to return to [[Boston]] but were promised two ships and crew for a second attempt the following year.{{sfnp|Warkentin|2012|pp=303–304}}

This second attempt was cancelled after one of the ships was destroyed in a storm. The two men were invited to England to meet [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]] in 1665.<ref name="Virtual Museum of New France" />{{sfnp|Warkentin|2012|p=304}} There they passed the winter. In the spring, they left for the New World with ship's crew that the king had promised them.<ref name="Virtual Museum of New France" />{{sfnp|Warkentin|2012|p=305}} The vessel ''Eaglet'', which was carrying Radisson to Hudson's Bay, nearly sank in an Atlantic storm and was forced to turn back to [[Plymouth]], England.{{sfnp|Fournier|2002|pages=173-180}} In September 1668, {{ship||Nonsuch|1650 ship|2}} landed in the [[Rupert River]] region on the shores of [[James Bay]], where Des Groseilliers used his knowledge of frontier living to build dwellings for the crew for wintering over.{{sfnp|Fournier|2002|pages=180-181}} About 300 [[Cree]] Indians came up in the spring of 1669 to trade furs in exchange for European goods.{{sfnp|Fournier|2002|pages=173-181}}

Radisson sought the support of a royal patron to secure a crown monopoly on trade within the Hudson's Bay region. [[Prince Rupert of the Rhine]], the king's first cousin and a war hero on the royalist side during the [[English Civil War]], became that patron.{{sfnp|Fournier|2002|page=171}} Prince Rupert was not considered to be a good businessman and was not one of the king's closest friends, but he was the only member of the royal family prepared to champion the Radisson–Des Groseilliers project of fur trading at Hudson's Bay, and critical to their getting a [[royal charter]] from Charles II.{{sfnp|Fournier|2002|page=171}} While soliciting financing from the [[City of London]], Radisson and des Groseilliers had the advantages of being the only men who knew how to survive in the North, and who also knew the local languages and customs of the Indians, and the geography.

===Foundation of the Hudson's Bay Company===

In 1670, Radisson was back in England and on 2 May received a royal charter giving him and his partners the exclusive rights to the land surrounding Hudson Bay; with this they founded the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] (HBC).<ref name="Virtual Museum of New France"/> During the next few years, they made a number of highly profitable trips between England and the Bay region. With the founding of the HBC, Radisson became forced to deal with a European context; there he had to struggle for survival among rival monarchs, competing courtiers, and the changing political and economic world in which they operated.{{sfnp|Warkentin|2014|p=1}}

King Charles II in his charter for the Hudson's Bay Company also founded a proprietary colony named [[Rupert's Land]], declaring that the lands adjacent to Hudson's Bay or rivers flowing into Hudson's Bay now belonged to the Hudson's Bay Company. In theory, much of modern Canada then belonged to the Hudson's Bay Company, as Rupert's Land was a vast region. In practice, the company maintained a few trading forts on the sea coasts of [[northern Ontario]] and  [[Nord-du-Québec|northern Québec]], to which they later added forts on the sea coast of [[Northern Region, Manitoba|northern Manitoba]]. It was not until the late 18th century that the Hudson's Bay Company showed any interest in moving inland and making good its claims to control Rupert's Land.

Both Radisson and Groseilliers operated within the HBC with the support of Prince Rupert and the company's director [[Sir John Robinson, 1st Baronet, of London|Sir John Robinson]]. Radisson and Groseilliers were successful in having the HBC receive much capital from the City of London in order to fund its operations.{{sfnp|Fournier|2002|pages=173-174}} In 1672, Radisson married Mary Kirke, the daughter of Sir John Kirke, one of the City investors in the HBC.{{sfnp|Fournier|2002|page=175}}

As anti-French and anti-Catholic sentiment increased in England following discontent expressed in events such as the [[Bawdy House Riots of 1668]], both Prince Rupert and Sir John decreased their support for the men. Although Radisson's reasons for doing so are not fully clear, he left London in 1675 with Grosseiliers to reenter the service of France, leaving his wife behind in England.{{sfnp|Fournier|2002|p=218}}

===In French service===

After leaving Britain, Radisson was unpopular in the royal court. In 1677 he decided to join the navy and to fund [[Marshal of France]], [[Jean II d'Estrées]]'s expedition in the [[Franco-Dutch War]] to conquer the island of [[Tobago]], winning the man's favor. Following his involvement in the war, he borrowed 100 [[Louis d'or]] from the Marshal in a failed attempt to pay to arrange his wife's passage  from Britain. He also failed to regain a position in the [[Hudson's Bay Company]], as a further result of anti-French prejudice.{{sfnp|Fournier|2002|p=218}}

In 1681 Radisson headed out to found a fort on the [[Nelson River]] under a French flag, albeit against the wishes of the French state. He did so as a means of capturing the market, fearing the construction of a British fort on the same river and thus further dominance of the bay by the Hudson's Bay Company. He recruited Grosseilliers the following year to build a more permanent base.{{sfnp|Ray|1996|p=280}}

In the winter of 1683 he and Groseilliers went to France to deal with their legal problems. (They had seized two English parties in time of peace and paid Québec tax on furs from Hudson Bay from their Nelson River fort, which may not have been part of [[Canada (New France)|New France]].) Here they found themselves pawns in the events that led up to the [[Glorious Revolution]]. The English ambassador, [[Richard Graham, 1st Viscount Preston|Lord Preston]], asked that they be punished. Compromise plans were made to send Radisson back to the Bay to pick up the remaining furs and divide the profits fairly. Lord Preston recruited Radisson back into the English service and Groseilliers returned to Québec.

===Working for the Hudson's Bay Company===

In 1684 Radisson sailed for the [[Hayes River]] in the vessel ''Happy Return'', where he found Groseilliers' son Jean-Baptiste conducting a brisk trade with the Indians. He recruited Jean-Baptiste into joining HBC service and left for England in September, leaving [[John Abraham (politician)|John Abraham]] in charge of the fort. (Eight days later two ships belonging to [[Charles Aubert de La Chesnaye]] arrived from Québec. Although there was conflict, no blood was shed. The French wintered near the English and returned to Québec with a moderate load of furs.) Radisson's differences with various Hudson's Bay Company underlings in the 1680s suggests that he was not admired by the English seamen who had to work with him, because of their rooted detestation of the French.{{sfnp|Warkentin|2012|p=4}}

In 1685 Radisson was made "Superintendent and Chief Director of the Trade at Port Nelson", where he seems to have accomplished little. In 1687 he made serious charges against the superintendent of [[York Factory]]. The HBC rejected the charges and Radisson was removed. Thereafter he lived in England on an HBC pension, which was irregularly paid. He died in 1710. In 1729 the company voted to pay ten pounds to his third wife, "she being ill and in great want."{{sfnp|Newman|1985|page=352}}