Henri de Tonty

Henri de Tonti (1649/50 – August 1704) was an Italian soldier, explorer, and fur trader in the service of France.

Henri de Tonti, an Italian from the Kingdom of Naples, was most likely born near Gaeta, Italy, in either 1649 or 1650. He was the son of Lorenzo de Tonti, a financier and former governor of Gaeta. Alphonse de Tonti, one of the founders of what is now Detroit, was his younger brother.

His father, Lorenzo, was involved in a revolt against the Spanish viceroy in Naples, Italy, and was forced to seek political asylum in France around the time of Henri's birth.

In 1668, Henri joined the French Army and later served in the French Navy. During the Third Anglo-Dutch War, Henri was part of the French troups that King Louis XIV sent to Sicily in 1675 under the Command of The Duke of Vivonne to support the rebellion of the important town of Messina (circa 100.000 inhabitants in 1674) against the crown of Spain. Tonty took part in the military operations in the village of Gesso, up the hills near Messina and he lost his hand in a grenade explosion. From that time on, wore a prosthetic hook covered by a glove, thus earning the nickname "Iron Hand". Among the officers fighting beside the French expedition corps, there were the brothers Antonio and Thomas Crisafy, who years later Tonty will have the chance to meet again in Nouvelle France.

In the summer of 1678, Tonti journeyed with René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, who recognized him as an able associate. La Salle left Tonti to hold Fort Crèvecoeur in Illinois, while La Salle returned to Ontario.

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