Henry Kelsey

Henry Kelsey ( – 1 November 1724) was an English fur trader, explorer, and sailor who played an important role in establishing the Hudson's Bay Company in Canada. He is the first recorded European to have visited the present-day provinces of Saskatchewan and, possibly, Alberta, as well as the first to have explored the Great Plains from the north. In his travels to the plains he encountered several Plains First Nations, as well as vast herds of the American bison, their primary source of food.

Early life and career Kelsey was born and married in East Greenwich, south-east of central London.

Kelsey was apprenticed in London at age 17 to the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) and departed England for Canada on 6 May 1684. He was posted at a fort on Hudson's Bay near present-day York Factory, Manitoba, near the mouth of the Nelson River on Hudson Bay. Kelsey started exploring in the winter of 1688–1689 when he and a First Nations boy carried mail overland 200 miles southeast from Fort York to Fort Severn, another HBC post. He was described as "a very active Lad delighting much in Indians' company, being never better pleased than when he is traveling among them." In the summer of 1689, Kelsey and the same First Nations boy tried to find First Nations north of the Churchill River to open trade with them. Kelsey travelled inland for about 235 miles north of the Churchill, but returned without having any success.

In spring 1691, Kelsey received a supply of trade goods from York Factory; his orders were to obtain what beaver pelts he could and to return the following year with as many First Nations people as possible to introduce them to the trading post. On 15 July 1691, he set out from Deering's Point "to discover and bring to commerce the "Naywatame poets," an Indian people of the Great Plains. (Another source mentions the presence of the "Esinepoets" people (Assiniboine) on the Prairie about that time.)

At Deering's Point, Kelsey was still in the austere Taiga boreal forest of northern Canada. His apparent goal was to reach the First Nations people of the richer lands of the Aspen Parkland and prairies to his south and west. Accompanied by Cree, Kelsey ascended the Carrot River by canoe, crossed into present-day Saskatchewan, then continued on foot to a point northwest of present-day Yorkton, entering the aspen parkland. Kelsey's route was probably via several well-travelled foot trails. Entering the aspen parkland, possibly near the Touchwood Hills, he encountered the Assiniboine, a buffalo-hunting people of the Great Plains.

He died on 1 November 1724 and was buried on 2 November 1724 in St Alfege Church, Greenwich. He was distinguished for his ability to establish good relations with Indians, which enabled him to be mostly successful as a trader.

Numerous places and institutions have been named in his honour. Kelsey Generating Station. The Kelsey Dam and GS is the first hydro station built on the Nelson River. It was started in 1957. It is a major station with 7 turbines and a total capacity of 290 MW. Kelsey Lake in Manitoba, just south of The Pas. Kelsey Sportswear Ltd in Winnipeg, Manitoba, is a manufacturer of Men's and Ladies outerwear, est. 1968. In honour of Henry Kelsey's expeditions, Kelsey Sportswear brands their outerwear as Kelsey Trail. Kelsey Sportswear's other brands include, KELTEK Safety Apparel and WORKTEK. Henry Kelsey Senior Public School in Scarborough, now part of the City of Toronto. Kelsey Park in Saskatoon. Kelsey Hall, one of the residence towers in the main student residence complex at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Canada Post issued a 6¢ postage stamp in 1970 entitled "Henry Kelsey, first explorer of the Plains". The Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology or SIAST (abbv.) named its Saskatoon campus for Kelsey. The Rural Municipality of Kelsey in Northern Manitoba. The Kelsey Recreation Centre in The Pas, Manitoba. The call letters for CBC radio in Saskatchewan are CBK; the K stands for Kelsey. The French-immersion Kelsey Elementary School (K–8) in Saskatoon. The Henry Kelsey rose, part of the Explorer rose series developed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, was named for him. Big Game Records, the Henry Kelsey Awards, are the official Big Game records of the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. A commemorative dollar coin of Canada, minted in 1990.

He was also referenced in the song Northwest Passage by Stan Rogers as "Brave Kelso". Rogers confessed in an interview in 1982 that during the writing of the song, he had not been sure of Kelsey's name, and had guessed it was "Kelso" when recording the song.

Information concerning Kelsey in print include: LONG, Morden H. Knights Errant of the Wilderness. Tales of the Explorers of the Great North-West Whillans, James W., First in the West: The Story of Henry Kelsey, Discoverer of Canadian Prairies Knox, Olive. Little Giant. The Story of Henry Kelsey Whyte, Jon. Homage Henry Kelsey A Poem in Five Parts. Conner, Daniel C.G. (with Doreen Bethune-Johnson). Henry Kelsey and the People of the Plains (Publisher series: Native People and Explorers of Canada Series) Wolfart, H.C. Linguistic Studies Presented to John L. Finlay Memoir 8 Algonquian and Iroquoian Linguistics (contains "Henry Kelsey's Christmas Message, 1696"), 1991.