Henry Alfred Braithwaite 
A Short Biographical Sketch of a Famous 
New Brunswick Guide and an Important 
Announcement for Forest and Stream 
ENRY ALFRED BRAITH- 
WAITE, or Uncle Henry as he 
is called by nearly all of his 
sporting men, is the oldest guide in 
New Brunswick. Seventy of his 
eighty-three years of life have been 
spent in the woods guiding, 
hunting and trapping. His 
long experience and varied 
adventures have made him 
a recognized authority on 
the furred and feathered 
inhabitants of the forest. 
Uncle Henry was born at 
St. Marys, New Brunswick, 
in 1841. At the age of nine- 
teen he went to Frederic- 
ton and has made his home 
there ever since. He al- 
ways had a love of the 
woods, and the first animal . 
he trapped was a mink 
when he was nine years old. 
His early knowledge of the 
woods and of the habits of 
game was gleaned from 
Gabriel Eckewen, chief of 
the Maleseet Indians, who 
stopped over night at Uncle 
Henry’s home on his trips 
to and from the woods, and 
he frequently went into the 
woods with Gab. His first 
experience with sporting 
men was with one of Old 
Gab’s parties, which in- 
cluded the Provincial Gov- 
ernor and his son, and a 
member of the British Regi- 
ment stationed at Freder- 
icton. Upon reaching 
Uncle Henry’s house, the 
party discovered they had 
left a jug of rum at the 
settlement. Gab, not wish- 
ing to delay the party while 
he went back for it, sent a 
team back to bring it to the 
house and detailed the boy Henly, as he 
called him, to bring it to camp on a 
toboggan the next day. 
THIS he did in a blinding snow storm, 
following the trail over barrens 
and open plains and was greeted at 
camp with cheers from the party; but 
he says he never knew whether the 
cheers were for him or the jug. 
At the age of fourteen, Uncle Henry 
went into the woods and cooked for 
Page 7 
twelve men in a lumber camp. For 
several years after that he trapped and 
hunted in the fall and spring and spent 
the winters in the lumber camps. In 
1882, he studied surveying and lumber 
cruising under the late Edward Jack 

Henry Alfred Braithwaite and family 
and followed that trade until 1889. 
After that he made a business of hunt- 
ing and guiding summer and winter. 
He has covered the greater part of New 
Brunswick and a part of Quebec, and 
also made trips up the Labrador coast. 
At present his nearest sporting camp 
to civilization is twelve miles and the 
farthest is seventy-five, with many in 
between. His hunting parties have 
come from the United States, and En- 
gland, and have included the nobility. 
Readers 
Uncle Henry made all his toboggans, 
snow shoes and birch back canoes, for 
he says he couldn’t buy any that would 
stand the work. In times of sickness 
or accident, he has had to be his own 
doctor. Failing health has caused 
Uncle Henry to give up his 
work, but he still keeps in 
touch with the old life 
through two young men 
who look after his camps 
and grounds for him and 
he is always ready to tell 
his adventures or give you 
reliable information con- 
cerning his friends of the 
woods. 
OREST AND STREAM has 
been fortunate in ob- 
taining from Mr. Braith- 
waite, a series of articles 
on wild life, based on the 
famous woodsman’s long 
experience in the forests 
of the north. 
The stories will be pub- 
lished under the caption 
“Henry Braithwaite’s 
Tales of the Forest” and 
will appear each month. 
The first of these tales, on 
the next pages, concerns 
the bear. 
The following anecdotes, 
from the experiences of 
Mr. Braithwaite, are so 
unusual and portray so 
faithfully the character 
of the black bear, that 
they are a valuable rec- 
ord of fascinating interest 
to the naturalist, sports- 
man and nature lover. 
Other animal articles in 
the series will have to do 
with additional bear  sto- 
ries, caribou, moose call- 
ing, Canada lynx, beaver, fox, fisher, 
marten, mink and otter. There are 
several interesting sketches of New 
Brunswick bird life, dealing with the 
great blue heron, loon, moose bird 
(Canada jay), osprey or fish hawk 
and owls. 
In addition there is a paper on the 
spruce bud worm and one in which 
Mr. Braithwaite tells of some of the 
remarkable shots he has made in the 
course of his long woods career. 
