ina Hubbard was devastated by the news. Her husband, American journalist Leónidas Hubbard, was dead! He and his party had become lost while exploring unmapped areas of Labrador in 1903. Leónidas had starved to death. His two companions a ‘Scotch Indian’ named George Elson, from Northern Ontario, and fellow American Dillon Wallace barely made it back alive. Wallace had been Leónidas Hubbard's close friend. He told the grief-stricken Mrs. Hubbard that he wanted to write a book about the expedition. Mina agreed and Wallace's book, The Lure of the Labrador Wild, was based largely on the dead man's journal.

When the book was published, however, Mina Hubbard was very upset. She felt that Wallace had made her husband look like a weak person who was largely responsible for the failure of the expedition. She even decided that Wallace had been responsible for her husband's death. When she learned, in 1905, that Wallace intended to make another attempt at the journey, she decided to restore her husband's good name by making the trip herself.

She said she would travel from the Hudson's Bay Company post at Northwest River, through the Labrador interior, to Ungava Bay. In the early 1900s the press feasted on tales of adventure in the last unexplored corners of the world. Newspaper readers were amazed that a well-to-do white woman would dare to travel in the frigid wilderness. Only Natives had the skills for survival there. Not only that, Mina said that she would reach Ungava Bay ahead of Wallace. She was going to compete with a man).

Mina Benson had been born in 1870 in Bewdley, near Hamilton, Ontario. She had a good education, and was trained as a nurse. Mina went to New York City and was working at Staten Island Hospital in 1900 when she met Leónidas Hubbard. He was in the hospital recovering from typhoid fever. They were married early the next year.

Leónidas was very interested in outdoor adventure, but he didn't have much experience. Just two years into their marriage, he decided to go off to explore wild Labrador and make a name for himself. Mina had no objections. But when he was brought back to New York in a coffin, Mina ran away with the idea that Dillon Wallace was responsible for his death, not poor planning and lack of preparation.

Nevertheless, Mina was very careful with her own preparations. She began by hiring four very capable men, though there was no doubt that she was in charge of the expedition. The crew boss was George Elson, who had accompanied her husband and Wallace. Then there were Joe Iserhoff, who was half-Russian and half-Native, and Job Chapries, a Cree. Both men were from the James Bay region. The youngest member of the party was a half-Inuit trapper named Gilbert Blake. He was familiar with some of the country they would travel through. All the men were good strong paddlers who knew how to handle canoes in all kinds of water.

The explorers would have to hunt and fish for most of their food, but they also packed 750 pounds (340 kilograms) of provisions more than half of it was flour. Their equipment included guns (Mina herself strapped on a revolver), two tents, cooking gear, knives, axes, nets, sleeping bags, two cameras, and a hot water bottle for Mina on cold nights. One of the most important pieces of equipment was a sextant, with which Mina could take daily readings to establish their location.

On June 27, 1905, the party set off in two canoes. Their goal was the Hudson's Bay Company Post on Ungava Bay, more than 500 rugged miles (800 km) away. They had to arrive there by the last week of August to meet up with the Company supply ship Pelican. If they missed the ship, they would be stranded there for the long Labrador winter. At about the same time that Mina's expedition got under way, Dillon Wallace began his journey. He had decided to take a more overland route.

The idea of a lone woman traveling through remote country with four men must certainly have raised eyebrows. Mina's companions, however, were always gentlemen. It does seem from Mina's journal that George Elson was falling in love with her, but if that was so, he kept his feelings to himself.

Mina's companions tried their best to keep her out of danger, since she was a woman the ‘weaker sex.’ There were times when she found this annoying. “It began to be somewhat irksome to be so well taken care of,” she wrote. There were even times, she said, when she wished she were a man, so she could do things women weren't supposed to do, like climb up rocks and trees to look into eagles' nests.

Though she was well prepared and brimming with self-confidence, Mina did not underestimate the raw power of Labrador, as her husband had done. In the remote wilderness the smallest accident or injury can lead to disaster a fall, an overturned canoe, an encounter with a wild animal. She knew the journey would be a tough one.

The route took them through rivers and lakes, deep into Labrador. Sometimes they paddled. Sometimes Mina walked while the men poled the canoes up stretches of shallow water. Many times they had to portage, carrying canoes and supplies overland to the next body of water. Just a few days into the journey, they had a close brush with disaster. Mina, George, and Gilbert were on shore while Joe and Job were poling a canoe up a wicked rapid. Mina wrote in her journal:

“… I saw the canoe turn bottom up like a flash, and both men disappeared. I stood unable to move. Almost immediately Joe came up. Then I saw Job appear. He had not been able to hold to the canoe. The current had swept him off, and was now carrying him downriver. My heart sickened at the sight, and still I could not move.”

Mina shouted to Joe, who was able to rescue Job from the fast water. George pulled the overturned canoe ashore. They had lost their three axes, necessary tools in the bush. Fortunately, several days later they found an old axe at an abandoned Native camp.

“Starvation broods over Labrador,” Mina wrote in her journal. But that slow death was not for her group. Day after day they ate bannock, a type of bread made with flour, water, salt and baking powder. They cooked it over an open fire, so the bannock was often covered with ash. Mina found it to be tough. George joked, “You can throw them around, or sit on them, or jump on them, and they are just as good after you have done it as before.”

Mina and the men fished, gathered berries, and hunted. They brought in geese, ptarmigan, partridges, and ducks. Sometimes they had to settle for porcupine, which Mina didn't like at all. When they came upon migrating caribou the men would shoot one, butcher it, and dry the meat to preserve it. Caribou meat helped them survive, but it bothered Mina to see the beautiful animals killed. Once, on Indian House Lake, George caught a swimming caribou by the tail and allowed it to tow the canoe through the water, then let it go unharmed.

The only ‘wild’ animals to give them trouble were mice, which came in the night to eat holes in things like hats and waterproof bags. Worse than the mice were the flies and mosquitoes. Mina wrote frequently about the biting, stinging hordes:

“My hands and face, too, were swollen and sore from the bites of the flies and mosquitoes … I could feel my ears and neck wet and sticky with blood, for some of the bites bled a good deal… Their bite was like the touch of a live coal.”

The net veil Mina wore to protect her face and the smudge fires the men lit at night were little help against the maddening insects. Sometimes Mina prayed for rain or a sharp cold night to keep the pests away. But the rain brought its own problems. It soaked clothing and made campfires impossible, leaving them cold, wet, and shivering in their tents. Worst of all, a long storm could confine them to camp for days, wasting precious time. They needed to reach Ungava Bay on schedule.

In spite of all the bad weather, hard work, and insects, Mina was absolutely in love with the wild country. She drew maps, made notes, took photographs, and collected specimens of the plants. She filled her journal with descriptions of the rivers, lakes, and mountains. She loved the freedom of the great land so much that she put her foot down and said the men were being too protective of her. She left camp alone to do a little exploring, which probably wasn't a wise thing for anyone to do. The four men almost panicked when they realized she was missing, and went searching for her. When they found her, George said that they had never been on a trip before “where the women didn't do what they were told.”

By August 11 the expedition had covered 300 miles (480 km) and had reached the source of the river that flows north to Ungava Bay. But many portages around boiling rapids made progress very slow. Time was running out, and they had to reach Ungava Bay before the Pelican departed at the end of the month. Now, every hour counted.

They began to come across old camps and Native burial grounds. They were in the country of the Montagnais tribe, and Mina's guides were worried that if they came upon a Native camp, the welcome might not be friendly. A few days later they sighted a Montagnais camp, and the men paddled very slowly as they approached it. They heard rifle shots, and Mina responded by firing her revolver in the air. As they drew nearer they heard children screaming and women shouting. George understood their language and realized they were shouting, “Go away! Go away! We are afraid of you. Our husbands are away.”

George answered them in Montagnais. “We are strangers and are passing through your country,” he yelled. Suddenly they were welcomed with greetings and laughter. The Montagnais men were away on a trading excursion, so only the women and children were in the camp. Mina took some pictures and made notes on the Native dress and lodgings. The visit had to be short, even though the people tried to persuade the strangers to stay. The Montagnais told Mina and the men that they were two days' travel from the country of the Nascaupee, the “Barren Grounds” tribe. Then, to Mina's distress, the Natives said it would take two more months to reach Ungava Bay. Mina's heart sank. That would mean they had no hope of catching the Pelican. She wondered if they should turn around and go back the way they had come, but then they might end up traveling through Labrador in winter. Perhaps the Montagnais were exaggerating. She decided to push on. But what if the Natives were correct?

They reached the country of the Nascaupee tribe in three days. Again they were welcomed. The Nascaupee were very excited at seeing an “English” woman in their country. Mina took more pictures and made more notes. When the Natives heard that the strangers were going to the post on Ungava Bay, they said, “Oh! You are near now. You will sleep only five times if you travel fast.”

Only five days to the post! Mina was thrilled. In fact, she was so sure of reaching her goal that she shared some of her provisions with the Nascaupee. Mina gave away some tea, rice, flour, and salt. George, however, thought that the Nascaupee might just be telling them that Ungava was close, so that they would give away more of their provisions. He was also worried about the water ahead. The Natives had told him there were rapids almost all the way to the coast.

They did, in fact, have to travel down over 130 miles (210 km) of almost continuous rapids, at what Mina called “toboggan pace.” There was always the danger of a canoe overturning, and the powerful current made it difficult for them to go ashore. While shooting one rapid, George and Job had a narrow escape, almost wrecking their canoe on some rocks.

Finally, on August 26, they reached quiet water. They had to camp when darkness fell, though they were certain they were only a few miles from the Hudson's Bay Company post. The next morning all that was on Mina's mind was the Pelican. Had they missed the ship? The men were paddling at a leisurely pace, allowing the river to carry them. Mina wanted them to paddle like demons. She wrote. “… my strong desire was to take them by their collars and knock their heads together hard. This was not practical in the canoe, however….”

Suddenly George exclaimed, “There it is!” Minutes later they beached the canoes in a cove in front of a little group of tiny buildings. Mina joined the men in their shouts of joy, but she was still a bundle of nerves. She could not see the Pelican. When the agent at the post came down to greet them, Mina asked, “Has the ship been here?”

She must have felt the sharp stab of disappointment when he told her it had. “And gone again?” she asked.

The man replied, “Yes. She was here last September. I expect her in September again, about the middle of the month, or later.”

The Pelican, it turned out, had been unexpectedly delayed. Mina and the four men had made it!

Mina Hubbard was the first non-Native woman to travel through the wilds of Labrador, a remarkable accomplishment at that time. Thanks to her careful planning and her wise choice of guides, she had done it without any major problems. Her expedition gained valuable information on the geography, flora, wildlife, and people of the region. She was the first person to photograph the Natives of the interior. And to top it all off, she won her race with Dillon Wallace. She arrived at the post six weeks ahead of him. Yet the most important thing to her, she wrote, was that she had in a small way fulfilled her late husband's dream.

A few years after her great adventure, Mina traveled to England to promote her book, A Woman's Way Through Unknown Labrador. There she married again, and apparently lived a quiet life. In 1956, at the age of 86 and suffering from dementia, Mina Hubbard wandered into the path of a train and was killed. Her book remains a Canadian classic.