The Old Store on the Wakulla River 1784-1804 - Florida Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

Side 1
St. Marks was the only settlement along this coast at the time of the American Revolution and became economically important after the war. In 1784, Panton, Leslie & Company set up a store along the west bank of the Wakulla River, and tens of thousands of deer skins, hides, furs and bees wax traveled along these waters to awaiting ocean-going vessels from which the English products came.
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Side 2
British and Spanish entrepreneurs competed for the Indian trade. When the Second Spanish period began in 1783, after the American Revolution, Panton, Leslie & Company was the only British company allowed to continue their trade with the Indians. By 1784 Panton had a two-story headquarters building in Pensacola and had set up a store on the west bank of the Wakulla River. With his close connections to Alexander McGillivray, Grand Chief of the Creek Nation, Panton virtually controlled the Indian trade.

In 1785 William Augustus Bowles tried to break the Panton, Leslie & Company's monopoly. He attempted to capture Panton's trading post, but failed. Early in 1800, as self-appointed Director General of the Muskogee Indians, Bowles made another effort. He led a band of Indians, attacking and looting the trading post and capturing the fort at San Marcos. The Muscogee flag flew over the fort for five weeks before Bowles was driven out by Spanish troops.

The Indians changed their way of life in order to trade more skins for English products and guns. Their debt to the company became large. In 1804, the John Forbes Company (formerly Panton, Leslie & Company) accepted 1.2 million acres between the Apalachicola and St. Marks Rivers to settle this debt. For years there were ownership disputes over the land. Present-day plats still show survey lines of the Forbes Purchase. One reason for the location of the St. Marks-Tallahassee railroad terminal in the now ghost-town of Port Leon was due to its location east of the St. Marks River, thereby avoiding controversy over ownership.

Today the Wakulla River provides recreation for people and habitat for manatees and other wildlife.

Marker Number: None Date: None County: Wakulla Marker Type: Roadside Sponsored or placed by: St. Marks Stone Crab Festival Website: Not listed

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