Panton, Leslie & Co. were engaged in that trade at Charleston and Savannah long before the American revolution; a trade which, even then, extended through the Coosa country in the heart of the Creek nation. With a full knowledge of it, in all its details, they established themselves at Pensacola with a view of drawing a part of it there. This was the beginning of the commercial struggle which is continued to this day, between the gulf and Atlantic ports for the trade of Central Alabama. It began with the Indian ponies as a means of transportation; it is carried on now by the steam horse; and a future generation may see it continued by electricity. The pony used by the trader was a strong, hardy little creature, which with ease carried one hundred and eighty pounds and traveled twenty-five miles a day. The rich and abundant pasturage in those times enabled him to supply himself with sufficient food at noon and at night to meet his requirements. There was often oddity in his load. It might be a miniature chickenhouse, or two kegs of taffi, hung to his sides, with a pack of merchandise on his back; or two pendant firkins of honey-comb, with a pile of hides, skins, or beeswax towering between. One driver for ten animals was the usual proportion of man and beast. The companies were generally from five to ten, making a long line of march, following the main and lateral trails mentioned in a previous chapter. But as all the Indian settlements were visited, their movements could not always be on the ridge. Sometimes creeks and rivers had to be crossed. On such occasions, when the stream was not fordable with safety to the packs, they were ferried over on rafts composed of logs or masses of matted cane, guided where the current was strong by a grapevine rope stretched across the stream. Regarded by their savage customers as friends, who came periodically to administer to their wants, and gratify their taste for taffi, the traders made their journeys in perfect security. Like their class everywhere, they were joyous men, full of fun and jokes, news and gossip, to which full play was given, under the spur of a cup of taffi, when caravans met. Beside the trade thus carried on, there was one equally as great, if not greater, carried on by the Indians themselves, without the intervention of the traders. The business required Panton, Leslie & Co. to keep up a stock of $50,000 at least, and a large corps of clerks to wait on their savage customers. Other business sprung up and brought population. Sawmills were erected, brickyards opened and a tanyard established, which added leather to the exports of the town.