Henry Youle Hind (1 June 1823 – 8 August 1908) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

and

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

. He was born in Nottingham, England, and immigrated to

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, settling in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

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, in 1846. Hind led expeditions to explore the Canadian prairies in 1857 and 1858. In 1857, he explored the Red and

Assiniboine River The Assiniboine River ( ; ) is a long river that runs through the prairies of Western Canada in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. It is a tributary of the Red River. The Assiniboine is a typical meandering river with a single main channel embanked ...

valleys, and in 1858, the Assiniboine, Souris, Qu'Appelle, and

South Saskatchewan River The South Saskatchewan River is a major river in the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The river begins at the confluence of the Bow River, Bow and Oldman Rivers in southern Alberta and ends at the Saskatchewan River Forks in ce ...

valleys. The expeditions are described in his reports ''Narrative of the Canadian Red River Exploring Expedition of 1857'' and ''Reports of Progress on the Assiniboine and Saskatchewan Exploring Expedition''. Hind's activities changed perceptions of the North West and helped open up the

Canadian Prairies The Canadian Prairies (usually referred to as simply the Prairies in Canada) is a region in Western Canada. It includes the Canadian portion of the Great Plains and the Prairie provinces, namely Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. These provin ...

for agriculture settlement.

Early life

Henry Youle Hind was born in Nottingham, England.Morton, p. 11 He was the third son of Thomas Hind and Sarah Youle Hind. His older brothers were Thomas and James Fisher, the younger William. He also had a younger sister Sarah. On 7 February he married Katherine Cameron at York Mills. She was the second daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Duncan Cameron. Their first child Thomas Francis Neil Hind was born in 1851. They settled in

where they had four more sons and two daughters by 1863. Hind was responsible for much of his own education growing up, but did receive some formal schooling. He was taught the classics, mathematics, and penmanship at Nottingham Grammar School. In 1837 he went to study in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. In 1839 he returned to England and continued his studies in Nottingham for another four years. On 26 May 1843 Hind was accepted into

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

but only stayed for one year. In 1846, he immigrated to Canada where he settled in Toronto. In March 1847 he began his scientific career writing on a meteorological 'halo'. In October of that year he was employed by Egerton Ryerson. He was given a position at the Provincial Normal School in

as a second master of science and mathematics. In 1850 he published ''Lectures on Agricultural Chemistry'' and the following year ''A Comparative View of the Climate of Western Canada.'' In December 1851 he became an early member of the Canadian Institute. From 1852 until 1855 he was the editor of the Institute's periodical the ''Canadian Journal.'' He was also employed as a professor of

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

Trinity College, a position he held until 1864. Between 1856 and 1858 he published articles in the Canadian Almanac. These included ''The Future of Western Canada, Our Railway Policy,'' and ''The Great North-West''.

1857 Red River Expedition

By the 1850s,

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestown, ...

had reached a critical stage in its development. Since the 1837 Rebellions in

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

and

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...

there had been an increase in immigration and construction of westward canals and rail lines. In the two Canadas agricultural land was becoming scarcer and higher in price. In the North-West of the continent, the fur trade networks were becoming unstable with the future of the west remaining in the control of the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

unlikely. New agricultural land was needed by people in the provinces of

and

. Out of this need for land a movement of expansionism was created in Upper Canada, north of the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

and the 49th parallel of latitude. In

and the Ottawa Valley prominent members of society including George Brown (1818-1880), and Alexander Mcdonnell sought to annex the North-West. To prove that the land in the North-West as suitable for agriculture and settlement, the British Royal ministry in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and Canadian provincial governments funded expeditions exploring west in 1857. The British expedition was formed by the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

and was led by John Palliser (1817-1887). The Canadian expedition was led officially by George Gladman. Hind was recommended by the head of the Canadian Geological Survey, William Logan (1798-1875), to lead the scientific portion of the expedition. Throughout the expedition Hind was to collect information on topography, vegetation, soil and meteorological observations. The Canadian expedition departed on 23 July 1857 from

on the Northern Railway. The group included George Gladman, his son Henry, Simon Dawson, W. H. E. Napier, S. L. Russell, G. F. Gaudet, A. M. Wells, J. A. Dickenson and Robert Wynne. The expedition included a dozen

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

, representatives of the

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

, a dozen Ojibwa natives, several

French Canadians French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in the provi ...

, a Scottish man and a

Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...

native man. The group arrived at Fort William by the end of the month. The Palliser and Hind expeditions sought to prove that the previously uninhabitable fur trade lands of the North-West would be useful for agricultural development and immigrants from Upper and Lower Canada. These scientific expeditions were the most immediate consequences of the expansionist campaign. Ultimately the work of Palliser and Hind redefined public opinion and the perceived geography of the North-West. They created the idea of two vast sub-districts. Palliser's Triangle consisted of poor soil and was arid and uninhabitable. Hind's discovery, called the Fertile Belt, stretched from the Red River Settlement to the Saskatchewan River Valley and the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

. They reinforced the myth of good land in the north of

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

and the myth of bad land in the interior. The Fertile Belt supported expansionist claims of an agricultural oasis. Hind was aware of this and noted it in his work on the expedition, ''Narrative of the Canadian Red River Exploring Expedition of 1857 and of the Assiniboine and Saskatchewan Exploring Expedition of 1858'' stating that "it is a physical reality of the highest importance to the interests of

that this continuous belt can be settled and cultivated from a few miles west of the ''Lake of Woods'' to the Passes of the

, and any line of communication, whether by waggon road or railroad, passing through it, will eventually enjoy the great advantage of being fed by an agricultural population from one extremity to another." The route that the Canadian expedition used was well known by fur traders and was also used by the Palliser Expedition. They reached

Fort Frances Fort Frances is a town in, and the seat of, Rainy River District in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census was 7,466 Fort Frances is a popular fishing destination. It hosts the annual Fort Frances C ...

by 19 August 1857. From there Hind and Simon Dawson split from George Gladman. They met six men and two canoes to cross the southern portion of the Lake of the Woods to portage the western shore of the Roseau River. Using the Roseau River, Hind and Dawson were to reach the Red River. This was not a usual route for fur traders. On 22 August 1857 they reached Garden Island. This was a traditional Ojibwa settlement where they grew corn, potatoes, pumpkin and squash. On the Island Hind collected samples of corn which caused the group to be questioned by an Ojibwa raiding party. An unnamed Ojibwa man was quoted in Hind's ''Narrative'' as saying "to deny your request; but we see how the Indians are treated far away. The white man comes, looks at their flowers, their trees, and their rivers; others soon follow; the lands of the Indians pass from their hands, and they have nowhere a home. You must go by the way white man had hitherto gone. I have told you all." Following this encounter, Hind and Dawson were forced to take the traditional fur trade route down the

Winnipeg River Winnipeg River is a Canadian river that flows roughly northwest from Lake of the Woods in the province of Ontario to Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba. This river is long from the Norman Dam in Kenora to its mouth at Lake Winnipeg. Its drainage basin, w ...

to the Red River. Through the government commission of the 1857 expedition Hind was to complete three tasks. The first was to explore the Red River Settlement, the second to examine the

westward as far as

Portage la Prairie Portage la Prairie () is a small city in the Central Plains Region of Manitoba, Canada. In 2016, the population was 13,304 and the land area was . Portage la Prairie is approximately west of Winnipeg, along the Trans-Canada Highway (exactly ...

and make inquiries in the Souris Valley about lignite coal. Third, Hind had to explore the Red River Valley southward to the Roseau River and examine the river well enough to understand the route from the Lake of the Woods. He only had one month from 9 September until 8 October to complete these tasks. The expedition ended quickly; Hind was back in Toronto by 4 November 1857. Although he had left the North-West, the work of the expedition was not over. Hind printed a report on the expedition in 1858 that ran over four hundred pages in total length. His report was received well especially by the ''Globe'', a newspaper run by expansionist George Brown. The reception of the Canadian expedition ensured another for the following year although this time it would be led by Hind and Simon Dawson.

1858 Assiniboine and Saskatchewan Expedition

The success of the 1857 expedition led to the creation of two Canadian expeditions led by Simon Dawson and Hind in 1858. Dawson was to evaluate the country from the Red River to Fort William for an immigration route. Hind's expedition was to look westward from the Red River to the south branch of the Saskatchewan River to examine territory for the possibility of settlement, coal mining in the Souris Valley and the salt springs of Lake Winnipegosis. The members of Hind's expedition included photographer and surveyor Humphrey Lloyd Hime, J.A. Dickenson, John Fleming, thirteen

, an Ojibwa man, and two French Canadians. The group arrived at Grand Portage on 5 May 1858 and had arrived at the mouth of the

by the 29 May. It took some time to prepare the supplies and men for the expedition but they were in the field by 19 June. In addition to scientific information, Hind also collected information on the lifestyle of the Plains Cree. In 1857 the Plains Cree in council had decided that no white man should be allowed to hunt in or travel through their country due to multiple broken promises and the destruction of the buffalo. Hind was witness to the collapse of the hunting economy of the old North-West. By 18 September 1858 Hind's expedition was beginning its last phase. By 28 December he was back in Toronto.

Later career

Following Hind's return to Toronto he resumed his teaching position at University of Toronto, Trinity College and membership to the

Royal Canadian Institute The Royal Canadian Institute for Science (RCIScience), known also as the Royal Canadian Institute, is a Canadian nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting the public with Canadian science. History The organization was formed in Toronto as t ...

. He prepared a report on the 1858 expedition and attempted to organize a third expedition to the

Bow River The headwaters of the Bow River in Alberta, Canada, start at the Bow Glacier and Bow Lake (Alberta), Bow Lake in Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies, Canadian Rocky Mountains. The glacial stream that feeds Bow Lake (Alberta), Bow Lake ...

and the

. An economic depression in 1857 left the Canadian government wary of further expenditures on scientific expeditions so Hind's proposal was declined. In 1859 he published ''Of Some of the Superstitions and Customs Common Among the Indians in the Valley of the Assiniboine and Saskatchewan'' in the ''Canadian Journal''. After 1859, Hind attempted to resume exploring and publishing. During the winter of 1859-1860 Hind returned to England to see his ''Narrative'' published. In 1861 he planned an expedition to the North-East. He sought to survey the land around the

Labrador Peninsula The Labrador Peninsula, also called Quebec-Labrador Peninsula, is a large peninsula in eastern Canada. It is bounded by Hudson Bay to the west, the Hudson Strait to the north, the Labrador Sea to the east, Strait of Belle Isle and the Gulf of ...

. This was not a government funded expedition. In 1863 he published a report on this expedition entitled ''Explorations in the Interior of the Labrador Peninsula'' in two volumes. In 1864 Hind left his job at Trinity College after being invited to speak at the

. Once back in Toronto he was invited by Peter Mitchell of

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

to have their geological resources surveyed. Hind left

in May for New Brunswick. At the same time as Hind's geological survey, another was being led by L. W. Bailey and G. F. Matthew. Only one of these surveys was to be paid a sum of five hundred dollars by the Canadian government. While the government was deciding which report would be used, an anonymous editorial was published in The Headquarters, a local daily in

Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River (Bay of Fundy), Saint John River, ...

which scrutinized the work of Bailey and Matthew. It was believed that Hind was the author of the editorial and it had serious consequences for him. He lost his reputation among workers in the same field and was not employed as the provincial geologist of New Brunswick. In September 1864 Hind settled his family in Fredericton. In July 1865 his eldest son drowned while bathing in the Saint John River. The family remained in Fredericton until the following year. In the fall of 1866 the Hind family moved to

Windsor, Nova Scotia Windsor is a community located in Hants County, Nova Scotia, Hants County, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a service centre for the western part of the county and is situated on Nova Scotia Highway 101, Highway 101. The community has a history d ...

where the boys attended King's College and the girls Edgehill. Two of Hind's other sons died; James Archibald of unknown causes after the move to Windsor and John Youle of typhoid in 1880. In Windsor Hind was employed by the Mineral Exploration and Mining Association of Nova Scotia. In 1876 he was invited by Francis von Ellerhausen to make a geological survey of

Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...

. Two years later he displayed a map of the oceanic currents in the region. From 1884 until his death in 1908 Hind wrote no more on any scientific or public subject. He became focused on the local history of Windsor. In 1889 he published a history of the Old Burying Ground and in 1890 the ''Centennial History of King's College.'' In February 1906 he became ill and died on 8 August 1908. He was buried in Maplewood, Nova Scotia. Hind was named a National Historic Person in 2018.Government of Canada Announces 12 New National Historic Designations
Parks Canada news release, 27 March 2018

Works

* ''The Canoe Route Between Fort William...Fort Garry...1857'', (1858) * ''Lake Superior And The Red River Settlement'', (1859) * ''North-West Territory...'', (1859) * ''Reports Of...Assiniboine & Saskatchewan Exploring Expedition'', (1859) * ''Narrative Of The Red River Exploring Expedition Of 1857'', (1860) * ''A Sketch Of An Overland Route To British Columbia'', (1862) * ''Explorations In The Interior Of The Labrador Peninsula'', (1863) * ''Eighty Years' Progress Of British North America'', (1863) * ''The Dominion Of Canada'', (1869) Source:

References

Sources

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hind, Henry Youle 1823 births 1908 deaths English explorers of North America Explorers of Canada People from Nottingham Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Canadian geologists Canadian geographers English emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario