Alexander Henry (the older) was among the first "English" fur traders to adventure into the former French territory after the fall of New France. With rare courage and persistence he began in 1760 to trade with the Indians. He was to owe his life to his capacity to make friends with them. Henry was caught up in the fury of Pontiac's war and after a succession of hair-breadth escapes, survived the frightful massacre at Fort Michilimackinac. He disguised himself at one time in the picturesque garb of a voyageur, at another in the feathers and war-paint of an Indian and was hunted for his life among the woods and lakes of the wilderness. Many another danger he endured, and lived to write about his adventures.

Later, because of his first-hand knowledge and quick grasp of Indian developments he was to play an important, if inconspicuous part in the great peace council at Niagara. His travels took him eventually as far afield as the Saskatchewan river and into the country of the Assiniboines. Without realizing it, he penetrated to within a few miles of the final stages of the route to the Pacific. Much of the incident in Henry's story is so exciting and so colorful that it seems more like fiction than history. Yet every step of his travels is documented and the author never departs from the facts.

From the dust jacket