102 
Indiana University 
way for the downfall of British control of the fur trade in 
all the country south of Detroit. 
Even before the close of the Indian wars other events were 
bringing disaster to the fur trade. The French Revolution 
had produced a hesitation in business, but the threat of war 
between revolutionary France and the powers of Europe sup- 
porting the old regime, possibly including Great Britain, pre- 
cipitated a panic among the fur-dealers. An expression of 
this fear is found in a letter which William Robertson wrote 
to John Askin on August 8, 1792, stating. 
To our trade this is ruin, and there can be no doubt of a very 
serious diminution in the price of furs in consequence of this general 
war, into which, .... we may be actors before it is over.'^® 
Isaac Todd was not so pessimistic, but he also foresaw 
the fall in the price of furs. In view of the Indian troubles 
in America and the European situation he suggested to his 
firm that it curtail its buying of pelts. He believed that the 
drop in the price of furs for that year would be fifteen to 
twenty per cent and that the price would continue to fall. He 
also suggested to Askin to look to the United States govern- 
ment for some more advantageous trade than that offered 
by his old connections.^^ 
The next year Great Britain entered the war, and the 
prices of furs dropped so far that Askin sold his collection 
for much less than it had cost. His raccoon skins could not 
be sold at all and were shipped to New York in search of a 
market. Askin’s only hope to recoup his losses was to buy 
furs at half what he had been paying and to make something 
from other kinds of trade. 
In 1792 he was in debt to the old firm of Todd and McGill 
£20,217 in the depreciated Canadian currency of the time. 
James McGill requested him to reduce the amount, but Askin 
could not do so. Two years later his debts to McGill had in- 
creased £4,000 exclusive of accumulated interest.^^ All of 
these losses, however, were not due to the decline in the price 
of furs. The inability of Askin to collect debts due him from 
his traders was an important factor. Thus at Vincennes 
alone there was due him from twelve traders the sum of 
£8,134 currency.^^ By 1795 he was practically a bankrupt, and 
‘‘0 Askin, Pap&i's, II. 
Isaac Todd to John Askin, London, August 10, 1792, in ibid. 
James McGill to Askin, January 10, 1794, in ibid. 
Accounts and notes to be collected at Post Vincennes, 1791 [?]. The largest sum 
was for £3,622. Francis Vigo owed £261. Ibid. 
