Panton, Leslie & Company

Panton, Leslie & Company was a company of Scottish merchants active in trading in the Bahamas and with the Native Americans of what is now the Southeastern United States during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Panton, Leslie & Company was a partnership formed at St. Augustine, capital of British East Florida, by William Panton, John Leslie, Thomas Forbes, Charles McLatchy and William Alexander in 1783 for the purpose of trading with the Indians of Florida and adjacent territory claimed by Spain. The partners, who were Loyalists, had been forced out of the United States during the American Revolutionary War, with their property confiscated. Having established themselves in Florida and the Bahamas, the company was able to continue operating in Florida after the colony's return to Spain in 1783 because there were no Spanish traders established in the trade with the region's Indians. Panton, Leslie & Company were granted a monopoly on this trade in East Florida, and eventually also dominated the Indian trade in West Florida.

For many years Panton, Leslie & Company dominated trade with the Creeks and Seminoles. They eventually captured much of the trade with the Choctaws and Chickasaws, and were important in the trade with the Cherokees. The partners harbored a great antipathy to the United States, and used their influence with the Indians to advance Spanish territorial claims against the United States, and to encourage the Indians to resist white settlers and the United States' attempts to acquire land from the tribes.

Panton, Leslie & Company also operated as merchants in the Bahamas, organizing shipping of cotton and other local products, and acting as agents for merchants in Britain.

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