Andrew Henry (1775-1823) was a Major of the US Army who co-owned the Missouri Fur Company and was the commanding officer of Fort Kiowa in South Dakota. He led a 100-man expedition along the Missouri River in 1823 to collect furs, with Hugh Glass, Jim Bridger, and John S. Fitzgerald taking part in it; Henry was killed while tracking down Fitzgerald for attempting to murder Glass.
Biography[]
Andrew Henry was born in 1775 in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and he moved to Tennessee in his twenties before heading to the Louisiana Territory of Spain in 1800 for mining opportunities. In 1806, he bought a share of a lead mine, and in 1809 he co-founded the Missouri Fur Company, leading fur trapping expeditions along the Missouri River with Fort Kiowa in South Dakota as his base. Unfortunately, the Arikara War complicated things, as his forces had to fight against the Arikara tribe. In 1823, 32 of his men were killed in an Arikara attack on his encampment along the Missouri after a successful hunt, forcing him to withdraw to his boat with the remaining men. Navigator Hugh Glass suggested that they let the boat continue down the river to trick the Pawnee, and the soldiers would continue on foot; while John S. Fitzgerald and some other frontiersmen complained about the extra four weeks added to the journey, Henry trusted Glass. The two men that decided to stay with the boat were both killed by the Arikara tribe. During the voyage back to Fort Kiowa, Glass was mauled by a bear, and the company was unable to carry his stretcher up steep cliffs; Henry was forced to leave him behind, and he offered $300 to every man that stayed behind with him. Fitzgerald, Jim Bridger, and Glass' half-Indian son Hawk decided to stay behind.
In a few weeks, Henry's company returned to Fort Kiowa, and Fitzgerald and Bridger arrived later on, announcing that they had buried Glass after he died. Henry gave Fitzgerald his reward, but Bridger abruptly left without the money; Fitzgerald had actually killed Hawk and left Glass for dead, and Bridger was forced to comply. After six weeks, Glass arrived at the fort, and Fitzgerald fled for Texas. Henry beat up Bridger and accused him of treason, but Glass told Henry that Bridger was telling the truth about believing that he was dead. Henry and a scarred Glass set out to track him down before he could re-enlist in the army to justify his killing of men, but Henry was ambushed by Fitzgerald while heading out alone on his horse to follow his trail. He drew a pistol as Fitzgerald aimed a rifle at Henry, and they shot each other at the same time; Fitzgerald killed Henry with his rifle and scalped him. Glass found Henry's body and decided to put it on his horse as a decoy, causing Fitzgerald to waste his shot on shooting Henry's corpse while Glass was able to shoot Fitzgerald and eventually gain his revenge.