Churchill

Churchill has long been inhabited by Native cultures, dating back millennia to the Thule people, the Dene and more recently the Chipewyan and the Cree. It was first visited by Europeans in 1619 when Danish explorer Jens Munk arrived there on an ill-fated expedition. The Hudson Bay Company eventually established a post there in 1717 in order to bring in furs for export back to Europe. Fort Prince of Wales was established across the river mouth from the present site of Churchill to protect the English traders from the French; however it was captured without a fight by French warships and razed in 1782. Churchill remained a fur trading site for centuries and eventually became the site of an important RCMP detachment.