Hearne, Samuel (1745-1792), was an English explorer and fur trader. He was the first white person to journey overland from Hudson Bay to the Arctic Ocean. He reached the Arctic Ocean in July 1771, while exploring for the Hudson’s Bay Company. He arrived at Great Slave Lake in northern Canada later that year. Hearne set up the first Hudson’s Bay Company inland post in Saskatchewan in 1774. He commanded Fort Prince of Wales in Manitoba from 1775 until the French seized it in 1782. In 1783, Hearne established a post at Churchill, Manitoba. He returned to England in 1787. Hearne was born in London. He joined the Hudson’s Bay Company about 1765. He died in November 1792.
