Studies in American History 
111 
The American Fur Company did not delay the fight. Wil- 
liam Hollister, Captain Fury, and L. M. Taylor, all able and 
experienced traders, came to take Hunt’s place, and Gabriel 
Franchere of Astoria fame was sent from his headquarters 
at Sault Sainte Marie to fight for the raccoons of Louisville, 
Evansville, and Vincennes.®^ Hollister and a Ewing trader 
named Curtis began fighting in the Maumee in the spring of 
1839 and ran up prices to unheard of heights.®® Brewster’s 
position is fully explained in a letter he wrote to Ramsey 
Crooks on January 3, 1839: 
Don’t get alarmed but make up your mind to sanction and back 
up all that we may do. It will cost a considerable advance but .... 
we must have all the skins this year let it cost what it may. My orders 
are now to buy of course as low as we can, but to buy at any rate.®^ 
Crooks replied with approval of Abbott’s position : 
Achieve so decided a victory this season as will discourage our 
opponents completely and if possible prevent their taking the field against 
us next year. Kill them in your own way.**® 
The struggle was not an easy one for the American Fur 
Company. It was difficult to obtain capital, and trappers 
wanted cash for their furs. Interest rates were high, and 
Crooks complained that furs were costing him more than they 
would bring, and, in addition, he was paying usurious rates 
for the money with which to buy them. He was determined, 
however, to go ahead.®® When the season of 1838-1839 was 
over the Ewings had purchased about $50,000 worth of furs 
and the American Fur Company about three times as many.®® 
Both sides lost so heavily by this struggle that an effort 
was made to bring about an agreement limiting competition. 
Probably C. M. Lampson, who handled furs for both com- 
petitors, had something to do with this move.®^ The correspon- 
dence of neither side discusses any understanding, but on July 
24, 1839, Ramsey Crooks for the American Fur Company and 
^ R. Crooks to G. Franchere, July 15, 1839, in American Fur Company Letter Book, 
No. 10. “The small amount of skins you collected on your tour to Louisville is quite 
as much as we expected . . . considering- the lateness of the season and the 
competition,’’ 
William S. Edsall to W. G. Ewing, February 18, 1839, in Ewing Papers ; Brewster 
to J. R. Whetan, December 31, 1838, in American Fur Company Letters. 
8^ Ihid. 
88 February 9, 1839, in Ibid. 
89 Crooks to Brewster, March 21, 1839, in American Fur Company Letters, No. 9. 
9° Estimate of Ewing furs and peltries for 1839. Ewing Papers. 
91 “We note particularly your suggestion to interest all the principal collectors in 
one general plan with a view to keep this trade together and insure fair profits.’’ 
Crooks to C. M. Lampson, June 19, 1838, in American Fur Conipany Letters, No. 8. 
Crooks declared the plan impracticable. 
