Alexander Henry (fur trader)
| Alexander Henry | |
|---|---|
| Alexander Henry the younger | |
| Died | 1814-05-22 Fort George (present-day Astoria, Oregon) |
| Occupation | Fur trader, explorer, writer |
Alexander Henry (died 22 May 1814), known as "the younger" to distinguish him from his uncle Alexander Henry the Elder, was a fur trader, explorer, and diarist who worked for the North West Company in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He led summer brigades through Kaministiquia (present-day Thunder Bay) and left one of the most detailed journals of the western fur trade.
Early life and family
Henry was a nephew of Alexander Henry the elder, a prominent fur trader. His cousin William and his brother Robert also worked in the trade. His birth date and place are not recorded.[1]
Career
Henry began trading among the Ojibwa in 1791 within the North West Company's Lower Red River department.[1] He commenced a detailed journal in the autumn of 1799 on the Whitemud River in present-day Manitoba, a record that would eventually cover the fur trade from Lake Superior to the mouth of the Columbia River.
During the winter of 1799–1800, he operated a post near Fort Dauphin Mountain in the Riding Mountain area of Manitoba. In the spring of 1801, he established a post near present-day Pembina, North Dakota, and received a partnership in the North West Company effective with the 1802 outfit.[1] Around this period he formed a relationship with the daughter of an Ojibwa chief known as Liard.
From 1803, Henry regularly led summer brigades to Kaministiquia (Fort William, in present-day Thunder Bay), which served as a central rendezvous and supply point for the North West Company's interior operations.[1] His will, drawn up on 15 July 1813, was executed at Fort William, attesting to the town's importance in his working life.[2]
In 1806, Henry led a trading and exploring party into the Missouri River basin, where he encountered Jean-Baptiste Lafrance and observed Mandan, Cheyenne, and Crow peoples. On 18 August 1808, he met David Thompson near Cumberland House in present-day Saskatchewan, and subsequently moved into the Saskatchewan River region. He wintered at Fort Vermilion at the mouth of the Vermilion River in present-day Alberta during 1808–1809, where he compiled an ethnographic report on the Cree that included a vocabulary in five languages: English, Ojibwa, Cree, Slavey, and Assiniboin.[1]
In 1810, Henry traded at New White Earth House near the mouth of Wabamun Creek and wintered at Rocky Mountain House. The following year he crossed the Continental Divide via Howse Pass into the Kootenay watershed, trading among the Peigan, Salish, and Sarcee peoples.[1]
Columbia River
In 1813, Henry was dispatched with Alexander Stewart (Stuart) to establish trade at the mouth of the Columbia River. There he witnessed and documented the North West Company's purchase of Fort Astoria from Pacific Fur Company, renamed Fort George, the arrival of HMS Racoon, and the arrival of the supply ship Isaac Todd. He recorded detailed observations on chief Comcomly and the Chinook people, explored the Cowlitz and Willamette river valleys, and visited the site of Fort Clatsop.[1] His journal entries from this period contain some of the most detailed contemporary descriptions of Indigenous peoples and landscapes at the Columbia's mouth.
Death
On 22 May 1814, Henry drowned in the Columbia River when an open boat capsized during a passage from Fort George to the Isaac Todd. Donald McTavish and five sailors also perished in the same accident.[1]
Journal and legacy
Henry's journal, transcribed around 1824 by George Coventry from the original, is held at Library and Archives Canada.[3] An edited version was published by Elliott Coues, though this version has been criticized as adulterated.[4] A more faithful excerpt of his Astoria journal was published by B. C. Payette.[5] Portions of his journal were also published by C. N. Bell in the Manitoba Historical and Scientific Society's Transactions.[6]
Henry's accounts remain a valued record of Indigenous nations, landscapes, and the working life of the North West Company across Rupert's Land and the Pacific slope. His connection to Fort William (Thunder Bay) through the annual brigade route and his 1813 will grounds him in the region's fur-trade history.[7]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Barry M. Gough."Barry M. Gough, "Henry, Alexander," Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 5."[website].Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 5 (University of Toronto/Université Laval).1983.University of Toronto/Université Laval.Link.(Rights: copyrighted | Access: open)
- ↑ "Will of Alexander Henry."[record].1813-07-15.ANQ-M, CM 1, 7 Oct. 1815.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ George Coventry (transcriber)."Alexander Henry's journal transcript."[record].c. 1824.Library and Archives Canada, MG 19, A13.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ Elliott Coues (ed.)."New light on the early history of the greater Northwest."[book].(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ B. C. Payette (comp.)."The Oregon country under the Union Jack: a reference book of historical documents for scholars and historians."[book].1961.pp. 1–170 (Henry's Astoria journal).(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ C. N. Bell."Henry's journal."[book].Manitoba Historical and Scientific Society, Transactions (Winnipeg).1888.nos. 31 (May 1888), 35 (1889), 37 (1889).(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ L. J. Burpee."The search for the western sea: the story of the exploration of north-western America."[book].1908.New ed., 2 vols., Toronto, 1935.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)