Canada, My Home and Native Land [1] Quiz

Answer: The Vikings

Around AD 1000 a group of Vikings, supposedly led by the indomitable explorer Leif Ericsson, landed on the shores of Newfoundland and set up housekeeping. Remnants of a Viking settlement where discovered at L'Anse aux Meadows in the 1960's. There is speculation this is the legendary Vinland of Viking folklore, so named due to the proliferation of wild grapes.

Answer: John Cabot

John Cabot, was born Giovanni Caboto in Italy around 1450. He made three attempts to find the northwest passage and succeeded in landing on Canadian soil on his second trip in 1497. No one is sure where he landed exactly, whether it be Newfoundland, Labrador or Cape Breton. On his return to England, he petitioned King Henry VII to finance a third trip and sailed with five ships from Bristol in May 1498. Only one ship was financed by the king, the other four were financed by wealthy merchants. Most history books say that, of the five ships, only one returned.

The other four, including John Cabot's, were never heard from again, whereas a few history books say he returned safely to England and died shortly after.

Answer: Jacques Cartier

Jacques Cartier led three expeditions to Canada in the name of France. The first in 1534. On his second expedition in 1535, he made it as far as the present day Montreal where he settled in for the winter. Unfortunately his party suffered severe hardships, losing 25 men to scurvy.

He led a third expedition in 1541, returning to France with diamonds and gold which turned out to be quartz and iron pyrite. Cartier was the first to name Canada when he heard one of the natives say "Kanata" meaning village or settlement in the Huron-Iroquois language.

He died in France in 1557.

Answer: Samuel de Champlain

Samuel de Champlain led an interesting life. Besides establishing a permanent settlement in what is now Quebec City, his incursions into what is now New York state led to hostilities between the French and Iroquois that lasted throughout the French domination of the area.

He also was the first European to explore the lake in Vermont/upper New York/Quebec which bears his name. His exploits and accomplishments are too numerous to mention in this limited space. He died in Quebec in 1635.

Answer: Henry Hudson

During one of Henry Hudson's voyages, he sailed approximately 200 kilometers up the river that now bears his name, however what distinguishes his explorations from any of the others is mutiny. On his third voyage he sailed into what is now Hudson Bay. Thinking it might be the Pacific Ocean he sailed as far south as James Bay.

Unfortunately, winter set in and he had to build a crude settlement to weather the winter, which resulted in severe hardships for his crew. In the spring of 1611, while preparing for the return to England, the crew, thinking he had secret supplies hidden away for himself, mutinied.

The crew threw Hudson, his son and 7 loyal crew members into a boat with no provisions and abandoned them. He was never heard from again.

Answer: Sir Humphrey Gilbert

Sir Humphrey Gilbert was another explorer looking for the fabled Northwest passage. He was a soldier/sailor/politician in the service of Queen Elizabeth I and fought the Spanish along with his step-brother, Sir Walter Raleigh. This is another individual whose life is far too colourful to explore here. Suffice it to say, he established a permanent settlement on the shores of Newfoundland in the name of England around 1583 and was lost at sea, on his return to England the same year.

Answer: Sir John Franklin

On his last expedition in 1845 to prove there was a Northwest passage, his ship became trapped in ice. It has been reported his starving crew resorted to cannibalism in order to survive. Another reason given for the death of Franklin and the 128 men in his party, is lead poisoning. Franklin's expedition was one of the first to have some of their supplies sealed in tin cans. The lead in the solder used for sealing the cans leached into the contents which in turn were ingested by his crew. This was speculation, as none survived.

In recent years, bodies of some of his crew were found intact buried in the permafrost. Chemical analysis of tissues from these corpses showed extremely high concentrations of lead.

Answer: Alexander Mackenzie

Alexander Mackenzie emigrated to Canada in 1774 when he was 10 years old. He obtained a job with a fur trading company which assigned him the task of looking for new sources of furs. During his explorations he became obsessed with finding the elusive Northwest Passage.

His first attempt took him too far north and what he thought was the Pacific Ocean was actually the Arctic Ocean. He went to England to study surveying and map making and on his return to Canada, he set out from Montreal in May 1793 to find the passage. Crossing the Rockies he reached the Pacific Ocean in July of the same year, making him the first European to cross North America by land.

He went back to Britain and published his memoirs making him a rich man. He died as Sir Alexander Mackenzie in 1820.

Answer: James Cook

James Cook is better known for his explorations of the Pacific Ocean, however, before embarking on his historic Pacific expeditions, he surveyed and mapped the St. Lawrence River, making it possible for General Wolfe to sail his ships up the St. Lawrence River to Montreal.

The resulting attack and defeat of the French on the Plains of Abraham in 1759 brought the French domination of Canada to an end. Cook later explored some of the west coast of Canada. In 1779, while on one of his trips to Hawaii, he got into a confrontation with the Hawaiians over some stolen goods and was killed.

Answer: George Vancouver

Vancouver, except for his exploration of the west coast, led a regular explorer's life until he returned to England. During his time at sea he had disciplined a young able seaman multiple times, including flogging and putting him in irons for fraternizing with the natives, sleeping on watch and stealing. Eventually this young man left the ship and made his way back to England. Unfortunately for Vancouver, he was unaware this young man, named Pitt, had inherited a seat in the House of Lords and was a cousin to Prime Minister Pitt the Younger. On his return to England, Vancouver was hounded unmercifully by Pitt and his cohorts even to the point of being challenged to a duel and physically attacked on the streets. Vancouver died a broken man in 1798.