# Major Andrew Henry — A Cycle of the West character guide

> Major Andrew Henry in A Cycle of the West by John G. Neihardt.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Henry, Major Henry, the Major

**First appearance:** 0004-i-ashley-s-hundred

## Snapshot

The Ashley-Henry expedition's steady commander, whose name becomes a talisman for a betrayed man crawling back from the grave.

## Who they are

Major Henry is the organizing will behind the fur venture, the leader whose men ride westward with the day and whose camp is the fixed point in a landscape of treachery. When Hugh Glass, broken and abandoned, finds a squared grave and a trail of many horses, it is Henry's name that flickers between hope and betrayal in his fevered reasoning. Henry's decision to push on to the River of the West gives the narrative its forward motion, and his authority is the standard against which the loyalty and cowardice of lesser men are judged.

## In the story

### [The Song of Three Friends](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/the-song-of-three-friends)

Leader of the expedition up the Missouri River, who sends Fink and Talbeau on a land journey to deliver a message to Ashley.

### [II: The Up-Stream Men](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/ii-the-up-stream-men)

Leads Ashley's band up the Missouri River.

### [III: To the Musselshell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/iii-to-the-musselshell)

Calls for volunteers to trade with the Bloods at the Musselshell.

### [VI: The Shooting of the Cup](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/vi-the-shooting-of-the-cup)

Henry's fort is the destination of the trappers, and he hosts the feast and storytelling.

### [VII: The Third Rider](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/vii-the-third-rider)

Announces the new expedition to the River of the West and calls for volunteers.

### [The Song of Hugh Glass](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/the-song-of-hugh-glass)

The leader of the expedition who reluctantly leaves Glass behind, embodying the harsh decisions of frontier survival.

### [The Song of Hugh Glass](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/the-song-of-hugh-glass)

Leads the expedition of eighty trappers up the Grand River toward the Yellowstone, with Glass among his men.

### [Graybeard and Goldhair](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/i-graybeard-and-goldhair)

Leads the expedition of eighty trappers up the Grand River. He and his men arrive to find Glass mauled, but later retreat under threat of attack.

### [II: The Awakening](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/ii-the-awakening)

Mentioned as the leader of the men who were riding westward; Hugh expects them to have camped nearby.

### [IV: The Return of the Ghost](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/iv-the-return-of-the-ghost)

Leader of the fort at the Big Horn's mouth; he dismisses the ghost sighting as impossible, asserting that the dead are dead.

### [V: Jamie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/v-jamie)

Implied through 'Henry's Post' and 'Henry's traders,' as the context of the journey and the search for Jamie.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/major_henry
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters