A fur trader by the name of Alexander Henry was the first Englishman to reach Mackinac after the fall of New France. His story of his adventures gives a graphic picture of the course of events on the upper lakes during the years when the siege of Detroit and the Indian uprising under Pontiac left the northern forts isolated and unprotected. Henry reached Fort Mackinac in September, 1761. For the latter part of his journey from Montreal he had adopted the disguise of a French trader, for the Indians stopped every party to inquire whether any Englishman was coming to the lakes. As soon as his nationality became known at Mackinac he was warned by the Canadians that he should lose no time in making his escape to Detroit, as the Indians would not tolerate the presence of an Englishman. Henry suspected that the Canadians had fostered this spirit to retain control of the fur trade, and were exaggerating the dangers of his position in the hope of frightening him away. Still, it did not add to his comfort to hear that a party of Indians was coming to pay him a visit. As he sat in his house one afternoon the door opened and an Indian chief, six feet tall, walked quietly in. Behind him were sixty more, each with a tomahawk in one hand and a scalping knife in the other. In absolute silence they stalked into the room in single file, seated themselves, at a sign from their leader, on the floor, and began to smoke their pipes. In the long pause that followed Henry had time to study his formidable visitors. Their faces were painted with charcoal mixed with grease, and their bodies, bare to the waist, were decorated with white clay plastered on in various patterns. Some had feathers thrust through their noses; others had them stuck into their hair. Unless their purpose was friendly these warriors would not be safe guests for a single trader to entertain. After a long time the chief began to address him. He told him that because of his bravery in venturing into this country alone he might stay among them, in spite of his being an Englishman, the hated enemy of their father, the king of France. The august assembly ended with a request that the young men be allowed to taste his “English milk,” meaning rum, and the trader was assured of his safety at Mackinac.