CANADA

CANADA.

250th anniversary of Samuel Hearne's expedition to the Coppermine River.
Map of Coppermine River.
Stamp issued on 07.05.1971.
Face value: 6 cents of Canadian dollar.
Printing: Photogravure and Recess.
Print: 14,300,000 copies.
Size: 36 x 21 copies.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 480.
- Scott No. 540.
- StampWorld No. 480.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 682.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 460.

Samuel Hearne (1745 - 1792) was an English explorer, fur trader, writer, and naturalist. From 1769 to 1772 he explored the northwest of present-day Canada, looking especially for the copper mines described by the natives of the region. After some unsuccessful attempts, on July 14, 1771 his expedition, with a group of Chipewyan Indians led by the great chief Matonabbee, reached the Coppermine River. A few days later he became the first European to reach the shore of the Arctic Ocean by land. The same expedition also succeeded in its main objective by discovering copper in the Coppermine River basin. In 1774 Hearne was sent to Saskatchewan to establish Fort Cumberland, the second inland trading post for the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1776 He became governor of the Prince of Wales fort, and still lived through various adventures before his death. He wrote A Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson's Bay to the Northern Ocean, which was published posthumously in 1795.