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Indiana University 
pelts bought by Comparet and the Ewings but without suc- 
cess.'^® The fight was again bitter between Hunt and Hotte, 
and the price of raccoons in the woods went up to sixty-six 
cents a pelt/^ Crooks ordered Brewster to go to any lengths 
against his German competitor. 
You have our full permission to put him down in any way you 
please, only do it effectually. Convince him that 1838 is not 1837. . . . 
It is a war of extermination this season, and the most violent competi- 
tion of former days sinks into insignificance when compared with the 
reckless rivalry of the present day.^^ 
As a result of Brewster’s work the company got all the 
furs in the Maumee except the Ewing collection. Hotte went 
back to New York, and Brewster felt that he had the whole 
country to himself. 
The Ewings had been annoying to the American Fur Com- 
pany officials. They had dickered now with Brewster and 
again with Hotte and at times had threatened to ship their 
furs independently. Crooks had sought to get the Ewing furs 
on a commission of five per cent but soon found that Suydam, 
Sage, and Company had the contract.^® 
With Hotte gone and market conditions appearing settled, 
the Ewings entered the struggle openly against the American 
Fur Company. They succeeded in getting many pelts away 
from Hunt in both the Maumee and Wabash valleys.*® In 
the fall of 1838, they hired a number of experienced fur- 
buyers. They even induced Hunt to quit the American Fur 
Company and buy furs for them.*^ Nor were the Ewings 
satisfied with their old district. They opened up a strenuous 
competition at Evansville and Vincennes and even followed 
their rival to St. Louis and sought to cut into the trade on 
the upper Mississippi, the Missouri, and the country to the 
southwest.*- They also sent a buyer into Michigan to bid 
against Brewster in his own home.** In this fight they were 
aided financially by their agents, Suydam, Sage, and Com- 
pany.*^ 
W. Brewstei’ to R. Crooks, December 21, 1837, April 26, May 11 and 14, 1838, in 
American Fur Company Letters. 
Brewster, letters of May 8 and 14 and June 13, 1838, in ibid. 
Crooks to Brewster, May 15, 1838, in ibid. 
™ Crooks to Brewstef, June 23, 1838, in American Fur Company, ibid.. No. 8. 
Brewster to Crookfe, July 21, 1838, in ibid. 
Ewing Papers, Ndvember 11, December 22 and 24, 1838. 
W. G. and G. W.' Ewing, Instructions to George Hunt, January 8, 1839, in ibid. 
W. S. Edsall, Sterlhenson, Mich., to W. G. Ewing, April 13, 1839, in ibid. 
April 25, 1839, stydam. Sage, and Company sent letters of credit for $20,000. 
Ewing Papers. 
