author
Pierre Esprit Radisson
d. 1710
A restless 17th-century explorer and fur trader, he moved between French and English service and helped shape the early northern fur trade. His partnership with Médard des Groseilliers played an important part in the events that led to the founding of the Hudson's Bay Company.
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About the author
Born in France around 1636 or 1640, Pierre-Esprit Radisson later settled in New France and became one of the best-known coureurs des bois of his era. Early in his life in North America, he was captured by Mohawks and lived among them for a time, an experience that gave him firsthand knowledge of Indigenous languages and customs.
Radisson is closely linked with his brother-in-law, Médard des Groseilliers. Together they traveled widely in the interior, traded furs, and pushed into regions that were still little known to Europeans. After struggling to win support from French authorities, they turned to the English, and their efforts helped set in motion the creation of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1670.
His later career was anything but steady: he repeatedly shifted between French and English service, joined trading and military ventures around Hudson Bay, and spent years caught between rival empires. He died in London on June 21, 1710, remembered as an energetic, controversial figure whose adventures left a lasting mark on the history of Canada and the North American fur trade.