Henry Hudson came from England and very little is known about him before 1609. In 1609 the Dutch East Indian company hired Hudson to find a north west passage to the Orient, as the normal sea route via Africas southern cape was too long,expensive and time-consuming. They provided him with the 80 ton ship "Half Moon" and a crew of 20 men consisting of Dutchmen and Englishmen. "Half Moon" sailed from Amsterdam on the 4th of April with destination to the northern part of North America. They first came to the coast of the state of Maine where they had to cut timber for a new mainmast because of a dreadful crossing. They were fishing and trading with the indians they met, and moved on south to Chesapeake and Delaware bay. Hudson understood that this was not a passage to the Orient and turned north again and came to the mouth of the Hudson River in September. The river who later on should be named after him. An Italian, Giovanni da Verranzano, was the one who first discovered the Hudson River in 1524. He wrote "We found a wounderful place at some steep hills but we didīnt went on to investigate the river we saw." In September 1609 Hudson started to investigate the river. The first night he dropped anchor at the north part of Manhattan. On the 14th of September he nearly thought that he had found the north west passage, but became disappointed as he was coming close to Albany and he returned. Hudson wrote in his log that the landscape was beautiful and he called the river "River of Mountains". The Indians in the area called it "Muhheakunnuk" (great waters constantly in motion). On the 2nd of October as "Half Moon" was approaching Manhattan, they met hostile indians and Hudson ordered to shoot against them. Many indians were killed and the event was remembered 15 years later as the Dutchmen settled on Manhattan in 1624. "Half Moon" left the river on the 4th of October and sailed back over the Atlantic to England.

The following year Hudson made his last journey. A group of rich Londoners still thought that they could find the seaway to the Orient via a north west passage, and sent Hudson as Captain on the ship "Discovery". He sailed north via Island into the Hudson River and from there into Hudson Bay, also named after him. "Discovery" was fixed into the ice in James Bay and they had to spend the winter there. During this time the crew were fighting with each other and at last they mutinied in the spring. Hudson and his son and some others were put into a smaller open boat and were never found again. Some of the rebellious men were later killed by eskimos. The ship "Half Moon" foundered some years later outside the coast of Mauritius in the Indian ocean.