Henry Hudson had already been famous when he set sail for a northeast passage to the Orient. The year before his journey up the Hudson River, in 1608, he was hired by the Dutch East India Company to explore waterways to Asia. Although he traveled through the water near the Artic Circle, he never found a route to Asia.

In 1609, he was again hired by the Dutch East India Company to find a route to Asia. He set sail on April 4, toward Asia, but found the route too difficult and too cold. He decided to try a northwest route instead and sailed toward North America. By September 1609, Hudson had sailed down to Virginia, and then back up again to Sandy Hook, New Jersey, where he began his trip up the river that would be named after him. Although Hudson and his crew faced some danger from Native Americans, for the most part they had a wonderful journey all the way up to Albany, where they had to turn around. Hudson noted that the land had been "pleasant with grass and flowers and had goodly trees as has ever been seen".