Henry, Alexander (1739-1824), won fame as a fur trader in Canada after Britain gained control of the area from France in the 1760’s. He helped open western Canada and the area north of Lake Superior to trade with the British.
Henry was born in August 1739 in New Jersey. He became a trader as a young man and was one of the first traders to reach Mackinac Island in the Straits of Mackinac. The island became the center of the western fur trade. In 1763, an Indian friend saved Henry’s life after Indians organized by Pontiac captured Mackinac Island (see Pontiac ).
In 1781, Henry became a merchant in Montreal and sold his trading interests to the North West Company, a famous fur-trading firm. Henry described his experiences as a fur trader in his book Travels and Adventures in Canada and the Indian Territories between the Years 1760 and 1776 (1809).
