Henry Hudson offers liquor to Native Americans during his expedition up the North River (now the Hudson River) (MPI/Getty Images)

I read “The Lost City of Z” on the beach in St. George this year, and although I wouldn’t say it ignited a desire to traverse the Amazonian jungle, I will say that it got me more interested in explorers.

So imagine my excitement when an explorer story popped up on MSNBC today — the mysterious end of Henry Hudson, someone you should care about if you love the great metropolis that is New York City.

Looking for a direct route from Europe to Asia on the orders of the powerful Dutch East India Company, Hudson ended up in what would become the Big Apple in 1609. Ice had foiled his original plan, as it tends to do.

He went back to Amsterdam before setting out to sea again in 1610, this time with the British East India Company backing him (these companies do get confusing). Only this time, it seemed that Hudson had finally found the fabled Northwest Passage. The excitement died down quickly when ice once again trapped him, in James Bay.

The crew spent the difficult winter on land and voiced their desire to go home. Our hard-headed explorer declared that no, they would all go back to the task they’d been sent to do. This proclamation didn’t sit well with the crew, understandably. I can imagine being a homesick crewmember after a long, hard winter — angry, half-starved and feeling like you’re on a fool’s errand.

The crew took matters into its own hands. That’s right: mutiny. Hudson’s ship docked in England in 1611 — without Hudson. The crew was put on trial and admitted to sticking their captain and his loyal followers on a lifeboat and bidding them an eternal adieu.

But a history professor coming out with a book on Hudson this year, Peter Mancall, speculates that Hudson’s demise may have been a bit grislier, judging from blood in the boat and somewhat damning letters from the crewmen.

We may never know what really happened, but it’s certainly an interesting piece to the puzzle. What history mysteries would you love to see solved? For me, it’s the Lost Colony of Roanoke.

I can vouch for each of these nautically themed articles being worth a read:

Could the Northwest Passage open for business?
How did a shipwreck double the size of the United States?
Taken by the Sea: 11 Real-life Shipwrecks
How to Survive a Shipwreck