114 
Indiana University 
The Ewings then turned to Pierre Chouteau, Jr., and Com- | 
pany of St. Louis. “How would you like to make the entire ! 
operations of the American Fur Company east of the Miss- I 
issippi, yours west of the Mississippi, and ours all as oneT 
inquired G. W. Ewing.^®^ 
Chouteau replied in an airy manner that he was not i 
alarmed, but that competition was an evil and if the Ewings f 
could make a satisfactory arrangement with Crooks he would | 
agree.^®^ I 
G. W. Ewing then wrote directly to Crooks. He defended Ij 
his breaking the contract of the preceding year because the 1 
contract was unfair to him and illegal, as it sought to create i 
a monopoly. He proposed, however, that they make another i 
arrangement for the coming year.^^^ j 
The reply of Crooks was uncompromising. “I have re- 
flected on your course since the contract of 1839’’, he wrote: | 
and when I call to mind more especially your efforts last winter to leg- 
islate us out of Indiana, I should consider myself an unfaithful servant 
of the corporation I represent if I encouraged you to expect we can 
ever come to any mutual understanding. . . . The position you now 
occupy is of your own choosing and we have not the slightest inclination 
to change the existing relations.^®® 
In the fall G. W. Ewing again took up the question of com- 
promise with Crooks. He suggested that they avoid excite- 
ment and district the country. “If a reasonable arrangement 
can be made I will confirm it immediately”, he wrote.^®^ The 
only reply was a statement that the American Fur Company 
desired to buy furs on “equitable” terms and its attitude 
would depend largely on that of the Ewings. 
There was a threat of bitter war for the winter of 1840- 
1841, but the fight did not develop. Brewster employed Hol- 
lister and Fury for northern Indiana and Franchere re- 
mained at Evansville in charge of the Ohio and lower Wa- 
June 25, 1840. AmeiJcan Fur Company Letters, Detroit Department, 1840. 
P. Chouteau, Jr., to G. W. Ewing, July 10, 1840, in ibid. 
G. W. Ewing- to R. Crooks, New York, July 23 and 31, 1840, in American Fur 
Company, Detroit Department, 1840. 
106 Crooks to G. W. Ewing, July 31, 1840, in ibid. 
101 October 29, 1840, in ibid. 
10* Crooks to G. W. Ewing, December 26, 1840, in American Fur Company Letters, 
No. 15. 
