Henry Schoolcraft

Henry he arrived one day to make his name a known one
Henry he was never shy to let you know his mind
Henry he was always in the thick of any action
And then he wrote down everything, one word at a time

Born in Guilderland in 1793
Became a schoolman at the university
Then a glassman, the trade of his family
Then he moved on, he had something else to be

He was a worker, a man of industry
Full of wonder and curiosity
Full of hunger, ambition and energy
And never wrong, he had such certainty

In 1820 Henry joined the governor
To claim Sault Ste. Marie for America

Then he was hired as the Indian Agent there
Never tired, always looking for the new and rare
Sometimes inspired with poems that he liked to share
And often gone traveling everywhere

Henry he preserved what could have disappeared forever
Henry didn't say who had filled up his pen with words
Henry he knew best, at least he certainly knew better
Just how things should be done and how to choose who should be heard

He made a magazine, the first one in Michigan
Wrote the Indian stories, Longfellow was inspired by them
Fought for treaties and Sugar Island for his children
Found the Mississippi's source with the help of the Indians

He lost his first son, he wept and mourned and then
He got religion, became a Presbyterian
He lost his job when the government changed again
Could things get worse? His wife died near Hamilton

It's hard to hate a man who did so much to save a past
It's hard to love a man who loved to glorify himself
Each time you reach to pull down all the words that he created
It's hard to love and not to hate to take him off the shelf

Henry he arrived one day to make his name a known one
Henry he was never shy to let you know his mind
Henry he was always in the thick of any action
And then he wrote down everything, one word at a time