Major Andrew Henry ( 1775 – January 10, 1832) was an American miner, army officer, frontiersman, trapper and entrepreneur. Alongside William H. Ashley, Henry was the co-owner of the successful Rocky Mountain Fur Company, otherwise known as "Ashley's Hundred", for the famous mountain men working for their firm from 1822 to 1832.National Park Service: Andrew Henry.
/ref> Henry appears in the narrative poem the ''Song of

Hugh Glass Hugh Glass ( 1783 – 1833) was an American frontiersman, Trapping, fur trapper, trader, hunter and explorer. He is best known for his story of survival and forgiveness after being left for dead by companions when he was mauled by a grizzly bear ...

'', which is part of the Neihardt's '' Cycle of the West''. He is portrayed by

John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics. He rec ...

in the 1971 film '' Man in the Wilderness'' and by

Domhnall Gleeson Domhnall Gleeson (; born 12 May 1983) is an Irish actor and screenwriter. The son of actor Brendan Gleeson, he studied media arts at the Dublin Institute of Technology. He began his career by directing and writing several short films, and garne ...

in the 2015 film '' The Revenant'', both of which depict Glass's bear attack and journey.

Early life

Henry was born in or around 1776 in Fayette County, in the

Province of Pennsylvania The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn, who received the land through a grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania was derived from ...

, and was tall and slender, with dark hair, blue eyes, and a reputation for honesty. Henry went to

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, in his twenties, but moved on to Spanish Upper Louisiana Territory in 1800 (before the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase () was the acquisition of the Louisiana (New France), territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. This consisted of most of the land in the Mississippi River#Watershed, Mississipp ...

), to the lead mines near present-day Potosi,

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, and in 1806, he bought a share of a lead mine.Lindsley, Margaret Hawkes. 1990. Andrew Henry: Mine and Mountain Major. Jelm Mountain Publications. 374 pp.

Career

In 1807, he joined with

Manuel Lisa Manuel Lisa, also known as Manuel de Lisa (September 8, 1772, in New Orleans Louisiana (New Spain) – August 12, 1820, in St. Louis, Missouri), was a Spanish citizen and later American citizen who, while living on the western frontier, became a ...

and three members of the

Corps of Discovery The Corps of Discovery was a specially established unit of the United States Army which formed the nucleus of the Lewis and Clark Expedition that took place between May 1804 and September 1806. The Corps was led jointly by Captain Meriwether Lewi ...

( George Drouillard,

Peter M. Weiser Peter M. Weiser (October 3, 1781 – death between 1813 and 1828) was an American soldier and member of the Corps of Discovery on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Early life Weiser was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania of German parentage, the so ...

, and John Potts) and founded Lisa, Menard & Morrison to establish trading and beaver trapping enterprises at the headwaters of the Missouri River. In 1809, Henry led an expedition to the Three Forks of the

Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...

near present-day

Three Forks, Montana Three Forks is a city in Gallatin County, Montana, United States and is located within the watershed valley system of both the Missouri and Mississippi rivers drainage basins — and is historically considered the birthplace or start of the M ...

, where he tried to establish a beaver trapping outpost but was beaten back by the Blackfoot People. In 1810, Henry abandoned the Three Forks outpost and crossed the Continental Divide and briefly trapped the headwaters of the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river in the interior Pacific Northwest region of the United States. About long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. Begin ...

, wintering in caves and hovels that historians have named "Fort Henry" on Henry's Fork of the Snake River, near present-day

Saint Anthony, Idaho St. Anthony or Saint Anthony is a city in and the county seat of Fremont County, Idaho, Fremont County, Idaho, United States. The population was 3,542 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, up from 3,342 in 2000.Blackfoot Indians, Henry returned to Saint Louis,

in January, 1812. When the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

was declared Henry enrolled in the army, rising to the rank of

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

. In 1818, Henry married Mary Flemming, daughter of one of the owners of the lead mine. Mary Flemming was of French birth and considerably younger than Henry; the marriage was a happy one for them both and produced four children. Henry returned to lead mining. In 1822, he started what would become the Rocky Mountain Fur Company with William H. Ashley. The new company sent three

keelboat A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open w ...

s up the

, three different times. Henry led an expedition of 21 men, 60 horses and one keelboat to the mouth of the

Yellowstone River The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the Western United States. Considered the principal tributary of the upper Missouri, via its own tributaries it drains an area with headwaters across the mountain ...

and built a post that came to be known as Fort Henry. The next boat, under the command of Daniel Moore, sank, along with ten thousand dollars' worth of provisions. Ashley equipped a third boat, piloted it himself, and was able to get through to Henry at the Yellowstone. Ashley then immediately returned to Saint Louis to make preparations for the following season. In 1824, after a profitable season Henry retired from the company and returned, once more, to lead mining. He died in

Washington County, Missouri Washington County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 23,514. The county seat and largest city is Potosi. The county was officially organized on ...

on January 10, 1832.

In popular culture

The actor Tris Coffin played Henry in the 1966 episode, "Hugh Glass Meets the Bear", on the syndicated television

anthology series An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different ca ...

, ''

Death Valley Days ''Death Valley Days'' is an American Western (genre), Western anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program was ...

''. John Alderson was cast as the rugged trail guide Hugh Glass, the trapper who was mauled by a

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...

, left for dead, but survived by crawling two hundred miles to safety. Others in the episode were Morgan Woodward as trapper Thomas Fitzpatrick and Victor French as Louis Baptiste. Actor/Director

played Captain Henry, a character based on Andrew Henry, in the 1971 film: Man in the Wilderness.

Richard Harris Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. Having studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, he rose to prominence as an icon of the British New Wave. He received numerous a ...

portrayed The Hugh Glass character. In the 2015 film The Revenant, Henry is played by

. In the latter film, however, Henry is killed by John Fitgerald (played by Tom Hardy). Actor Chris Brantley portrayed Henry in Season 2, Episode 5 of the INSP series Into the Wild Frontier.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, Andrew American fur traders American miners People from Missouri Territory 1770s births 1832 deaths