We are returning to Hudson Bay in August to spend 2 weeks at York Factory.  Last summer on our expedition to the Bay we realized that the story of the Battle of Hudson Bay and Pierre D’Iberville needs to be told.

Last year our goal on the Bay was to evaluate isostatic rebound and how, using old maps from the lat 1600s, the topography had changed.  We found significant changes to height and landscape.  Using old Hudson Bay Company and Royal Navy maps we have a very tight search area for where The Pelican (D’Iberville’s ship) was most likely grounded and also have a small (but still lots of square miles) area for where the Hampshire should be.

Using ground penetrating radar and a magnetic anomaly detection gear on a vehicle (hovercraft, boat) we can use technology to find locations.  Our goal is data collection only so that a follow-on expedition by the archaeologists of Province of Manitoba and Government of Canada can recover these important artifacts.  The output of this expedition will be a lesson plan for students use that includes a video that uses the expedition to tell the story of the French/English struggle for control of North America.  History will come alive for students as they come along on the expedition while learning about the Battle of Hudson Bay, Pierre D’Iberville, York Factory and life in 1697.  The kit will include a teacher’s educational outline, video and learning objectives that meet the needs of Canadian and American students when they are learning about the early history of North America (Canadian History in Canada, Pre-Colonial in U.S.)

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