Sunday Stamps II - 73

issued 7 May 1971, Canada
designer Laurent Marquat
engraver Charles Gordon Yorke

Samuel Hearne was commissioned by the Hudson's Bay Company to find a north-west passage and a copper mine that had been described by the Dene Indians. He was the first European to travel overland to the Arctic coast. It took three tries before he came upon the Coppermine River but no copper was found and eventually he and his team walked back the 1,700 miles to Churchill on Hudson Bay. Hearne was born in England and went to sea at age 11 after the death of his father. He fought in the Seven Years War in the Navy and joined the Hudson's Bay Company in 1763. he was targeted to be an explorer on the basis of his age (he was only 18), his snowshoeing ability and navigational skills.

for maps on stamps

EDIT: here is a view of the river