[1] As an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company, he travelled across the prairies in the 1750s, journeyed into what is now central Alberta, and possibly arrived at the present site of Red Deer.
[5] His purpose was to encourage First Nations in the upper watershed of the Saskatchewan River to come to Hudson Bay to trade, but the great distance involved, their inability to build canoes and paddle them, and fear of attack by Cree along the river caused Blackfoot and other western prairie First Nations to be reluctant to make the journey.
For the furs that HBC desired they wanted to trade commodities such as tobacco, kettles, axes, mirrors, beads, and alcohol.
The HBC was concerned that La Vérendrye and other French entrepreneurs were funnelling the fur trade from Rupert's Land away from the English posts at Hudson Bay.
Eventually, James Isham, chief factor at York Fort, suggested an expedition to the western Prairies to encourage First Nations to trade at Hudson Bay.
It is variously thought he travelled as far west as present-day Red Deer,[11] Balermo,[12] Innisfail, [13] Stettler, [14][15] Eckville,[16] or the Calgary area – all or only some of those places.
Turning north he spent February, March and April along today's Red Deer River, building canoes.
It is documented Henday's group passed the French Fort Paskoya "Pasqua"/"Basquia" or "Paskoway Yay," today's The Pas, on July 15, 1754, as recorded in his journal.
[1] On September 10, 1754, Henday and his party camped approximately 29 kilometres (18 mi) north-east of where Chauvin is located today, quite possibly at Sherlock Lake.
[24] Henday urged the residents there to build up their stocks of fur by going into the woods to hunt and trap, but he reported that they instead preferred to take their ease, staying in camp and "enjoying their primitive entertainment of drumming and conjuring.
"[25] Henday himself did not expore further west but over the next few autumn and winter months made short journeys in the area just to get provisions and furs.
Since the answer had been unsure and because Henday's trip did not subsequently produce any large increase in furs arriving at York Factory, there were few expeditions to what would eventually be Alberta in the late 1700s.
Peter Fidler travelled through central Alberta in 1792, definitively mapping the location of rivers and lakes, many of which Henday had likely visited 40 years earlier.
At the French forts of La Corne and Paskoya, gifts of brandy from residents there persuaded the Indians to trade most of their prime furs, and they were lost to Henday's company”[26] He celebrated St. George's Day (April 23).
[27][28] As Henday travelled inland to the Blackfoot country and back to York Factory, he talked about the First Nations having problems with alcohol.
On 30 May 1755 Henday remarked in his journal that he is unable to continue their travels back to York Factory because his First Nations companions "drank too much" He also noted ruefully that they were trading their best furs to the French in exchange for alcohol.
[31] His trip as presented in the four versions cannot always be put in a modern context, due to there being no landmarks he identified that are still extant today.