Not to be confused with his nephew Alexander Henry the younger (d. 1814), who was also a fur trader.
Alexander Henry 'The Elder'
Born
August 1739 (1739-08)
New Brunswick, New Jersey
Died
4 April 1824(1824-04-04) (aged 84)
Montreal, Quebec
Known for
Explorer, author, original founder of the Beaver Club, and pioneer of the British-Canadian fur trade
Spouse
Julia Calcutt Kittson
Children
6
Alexander Henry 'The Elder', in French: Alexandre Henri Le Vieux (August 1739 – 4 April 1824) was an American-born explorer, author, merchant who settled in Quebec following the Conquest of New France and was a partner in the North West Company and a founding member and vice-chairman of the Beaver Club. From 1763 to 1764, he lived and hunted with Wawatam of the Ojibwe, who had adopted him as a brother.[1]
"Blessed with as many lives as a cat", he recounted his time with the Ojibwe and subsequent explorations in his Travels and Adventures in Canada and the Indian Territories between the years 1760 and 1776 (published in New York City in 1809), which he dedicated to his friend Sir Joseph Banks. The book is considered an adventure classic and one of the best descriptions of Native Indian life at this time.
An "easy and dignified" raconteur, in 1776 Henry was invited to give an account of his journeys at the Royal Society in London and at Versailles to Queen Marie Antoinette. In the 1780s, Henry introduced John Jacob Astor into the North American fur trade; subsequently, Astor would stay as Henry's guest during his annual visits to Montreal.
AlexanderHenry 'TheElder', in French: Alexandre Henri Le Vieux (August 1739 – 4 April 1824) was an American-born explorer, author, merchant who settled...
CCGS AlexanderHenry is a former Canadian Coast Guard light icebreaker and buoy tender that served on the Great Lakes from 1959 to 1984. In 1986, the vessel...
addition to Alexander Mackenzie, this group included Americans Peter Pond and AlexanderHenrytheelder. Further reorganizations of the partnership occurred...
306 Accessed 9 September 2022 AlexanderHenrytheelder, "The course of the river," Travels and Adventures in Canada and the Indian Territories[....] (1809)...
The first English trader to reach this distant post was Alexander Henrytheelder, whose French partner, Jean Baptiste Cadotte, founded a permanent trading...
Alexander Henrytheelder from the Ojibwas following the capture of Fort Michilimackinac in June 1763 during Pontiac's Rebellion. Wawatam, the leader and...
acquainted with AlexanderHenrytheelder, Simon McTavish and the brothers Thomas, Benjamin and Joseph Frobisher. They would be the founders of the North West...
River The Porte de l'enfer (Hell's Gate) is a peculiar cave in the river's bank speculated to be a native ochre mine. In 1761, AlexanderHenrytheelder reported...
for the HBC at Churchill, Manitoba. With all his canoes full he headed for Grand Portage. In 1775, he, Thomas Frobisher, and AlexanderHenrytheelder, tried...
up the Ontonagon and confirmed the existence of the fabled rock. In 1766, under the guidance of a party of Ojibwe, trader AlexanderHenrytheelder laid...
4 William AlexanderHenry (December 30, 1816 – May 3, 1888) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and judge. He was one of the Fathers of Confederation and...
and a Hudson's Bay Company trading post in 1776. In June 1775, AlexanderHenrytheelder left Montreal with 16 canoes and goods worth £3,000. On Lake Winnipeg...
Chipman, lawyer, public servant, politician (born 1754) April 4 – AlexanderHenrytheelder, fur trader, merchant, militia officer, jp, and author (born 1739)...
raids by the Iroquois. In 1762, AlexanderHenrytheelder passed by the mouth of the Dumoine when travelling to Sault Ste. Marie. He wrote: "at the mouth...
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