Oh, Canada?

Much as I like Canada, and Canadians for that matter, I keep wondering why they're here. I mean, why would the explorers go so far north when it gets so cold during the winter? Was fur that valuable? Did they all do their exploring in August and it was too hot in, say, Bar Harbor?

Some of the explorers were insane, of course. Henry Hudson was the poster boy for the crazy driven types, and his crew mutinied and let him off in the middle of the Atlantic in a small boat and he was never seen again. But there were lots of people up here. People settled in Canada. So it's not just the explorers, it's the ones who stayed who are the crazy ones.