The Watcher

Traders in Indian Territory

Huge trading companies like the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company were established in North America in the eighteenth century. These companies used the rivers and lakes, wherever possible, as fast transportation routes, utilizing the birch bark canoe to its utmost advantage.

There were also independent traders who, with one or two partners or employees, ventured deep into Indian country risking their goods and lives daily.

Trains of packhorses were used in much of the interior country, but in the area surrounding the Great Lakes and into the northwest, the canoe ruled. The birch bark canoe in this painting is considered to be an "Indian or light canoe" of between ten and fifteen feet in length. Various sized canoes were used for different purposes. A canoe approximately twenty feet long was considered to be a "Half canoe". The "North canoe" was about twenty-five feet long and capable of carrying three thousand pounds and a crew of eight. The "Bastard canoe" was a bit larger and carried approximately three thousand five hundred pounds and ten men. The largest was the "Montreal canoe". It was thirty five to forty feet in length and could carry up to eight thousand pounds with a crew of fourteen. The Montreal was used almost exclusively on the Great Lakes.

Birch bark was especially superior to all other tree barks for canoe building because it's grain runs around the tree instead of lengthwise, thereby allowing sophisticated shaping. Spruce root stripes for lacing, white cedar for ribs and sheathing, and pine pitch for sealing joints completed the list of materials used in the manufacture of this unique craft.

Rules and regulations were established by each government who claimed the trading territory. Traders had to be licensed or risk confiscation of their goods and possible prison time. If soldiers were caught trading even minor items, they would be severely punished and reduced in rank. In 1786 the United States government passed an ordinance stating that only United States citizens could be licensed within it's borders. Only a small number of licenses were issued at a cost of $50.00 each plus a bond relating to the cost of goods to ensure adherence to the rules.

The traders had to extend credit for supplies and gunpowder, and rely on the Indian's word that he would return with pelts after the hunting season. A good relationship with their customers was important and outright cheating wasn't in the best interest of the traders. Besides, Indian "spies" were everywhere. The native information network kept their people well informed of the trader's movements and location.

John Leeth was a fine example of a small independent trader. At age eighteen he began his career with a fur trader working out of Fort Pitt. He was made a prisoner by the Delaware, and was adopted into their tribe. After obtaining his freedom he was again captured (this time by the Shawnee). He again was released and made his way to Detroit. Here he declined an offer by Lt. Governor Henry Hamilton to be an Indian interpreter for the British and was restricted to the fort. Leeth eventually received a permit to leave the fort. He met his adoptive Delaware father and returned to life among the Indians. There he met and married Salley Lowry a white captive. He and his family were soon captured by the British along with some Delaware Indians that were sympathetic to the Americans. He became an agent for British traders until after the signing of the Treaty of Fort McIntosh in 1785. Numerous other attempts at trading, either by himself or with partners, ended up with him fleeing for his life, usually losing his goods and property. One escape, with his family, was an overland trek of two hundred miles in seventeen days, with only parched corn to eat in bitterly cold weather. In the year 1795 he moved to Marietta, Ohio "in a boat of his own building" with all of his possessions. There he bought a canoe, left some of his goods at Marietta, and started up the Muskingum River. His canoe sunk and he lost all that he had on it. There were times when he lived on bread and water, after being forced to part with his gun for bread. His wife died shortly thereafter, and in 1802 he married a widow named Sarah McKee. They settled down on a small farm and had a prosperous life. Leeth enjoyed good health and a competent mind until his death at age seventy-seven in 1832.

The highly detailed painting entitled "The Watcher" has been reproduced as a very limited edition, archival quality, giclee canvas print of only ten individually signed and numbered reproductions.

The giclee process, especially in small quantities, is an extremely costly endeavor, however, it allows the collector to obtain a superior quality, lasting work of art which can be displayed without the need of protective matting or glass.