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1891-92. ] EARLY TRADERS. 269 
The frontiers of New York and Pennsylvania swarmed with dos-lopers 
(bosch-loopers) the Dutch counter-part of the reckless coureurs des bots. 
The excitement and uncertainty prevailing in all the colonies encouraged 
them in their defiance of the officers of the Crown and prevented 
punishment of their crimes. 
The Revolution followed and the occupation of Montreal for several 
months by the Americans in 1775-6 materially dislocated the trade of the 
province. The adhesion of the western Indians with a few exceptions to 
the Crown had the effect of cutting off all trade with the settlements south 
of the Lakes, and the posts of Niagara, Detroit, and Mackinac became of 
more consequence than ever. 
Charles de Langlade and his nephew Gautier de Verville once more 
led the Indians of the Northwest to the relief of Montreal. They were 
ably seconded by De Quindre, La Motte, La Bute, and other French 
Canadians. Alexander McKee and Matthew Elliott, traders of long 
experience and marked ability, fled from Pittsburg to Detroit where they 
were at once employed by the Lieutenant-Governor in the Indian 
Department. Both of them soon acquired an extraordinary influence 
among the tribes in the vicinity which they retained during the remainder 
of their lives. 
Other traders like Godefroy de Linctot, Hammelin, and McCarty 
joined the Revolutionary party, but their efforts among the Indians had 
slight success. 
In May, 1777, instructions were issued by the Governor to permit no 
vessels or boats except those of Indians to navigate the Lakes without 
satisfactory passports, and prohibiting the construction of any vessel 
larger than a common rowboat. All vessels already afloat were to be 
taken into the public service. To compensate the merchants as much as. 
possible for the loss and inconvenience they must necessarily sustain from 
this arbitrary measure, the commanders of these vessels were instructed 
whenever possible to assist in transporting their goods free of charge, 
merely taking an acknowledgement from the owner for the service 
performed. In the autumn of 1779 when Niagara was threatened with 
an attack, passes were refused to everybody. 
Yet side by side with the military operations, in spite of all restrictions 
and obstacles, the trade went on with undiminished energy. 
A memorial from “the merchants and traders from Montreal to the 
great carrying-place in Lake Superior and the interior country commonly 
named the North or Mer de Ouest” presented to General Haldimand in 
May, 1780, estimated the annual returns from their operations in that 
