Alexander Henry

Alexander Henry (1739 - 1824), a native of New Brunswick, New Jersey, became a fur-trader at Fort Michilimackinac (Mackinac, Michigan) in 1761. Captured by Native Americans in 1763 in connection with the operations unleashed by Pontiac, he was rescued by Wawatam, an Ottawa, who had adopted him as a brother; in 1764 he took part in Colonel John Bradstreet's expedition; in 1770, with Sir William Johnson, the duke of Gloucester and others, formed a company to mine copper in the Lake Superior region; was a fur-trader again until 1796; and then became a merchant in Montreal. His Travels and Adventures in Canada and the Indian Territories between the Years 1760 and 1776 (1809; reprinted 1901) is a valuable account of the fur trade and of his adventures at Michilimackinac.

He should not be confused with his nephew of the same name, also a fur-trader, whose journal was published in 1897 in 3 vols., as New Light on the Early History of the Greater Northwest.

Original text from http://1911encyclopedia.org