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.This limitationapparently was successful because in October 1761 Sterling requested thatno more rum be sent to him.His goal was to have a vintner make winefrom local fruit in Detroit that would sell at a greater profit than rum.Although the Indians found no presents of rum and powder awaitingthem in Detroit in spring 1762, they did find traders with gunpowder tosell, a few gifts, and a gunsmith.The prohibition of rum had no noticeableeffect in Detroit by June.Although the Indians grumbled about it andthreatened the English at first, they resigned themselves to hunting and raisingtheir corn, causing less trouble than the previous year.The Indian consumption of rum was far less per person than others inAmerica.The colonists, the British army, Canadians, and Indians consumedmorethan 7milliongallonsannually.Thecoloniesproducedat least4.8milliongallons and imported 3.8 million gallons annually, of which more than 1million gallons was exported.Most of the remaining rum was consumed bythe adult male colonists.There were 1.6 million people in thirteen colonies,with an average of five people per family, or 320,000 adult males consuming6.4 million gallons twenty gallons of rum a year each.The British army consumed 230,000 gallons, 23 gallons per soldier a year,and the Canadians consumed 300,000 gallons.The Indians, in contrast,consumed only 150,000 gallons annually, about 10 gallons each for 15,000warriors.However, while the others drank frequently, the Indians drankheavily but only while they were at the trading posts.The British army issued a gill of rum (one fourth of a pint, or four fluidounces, enough to make a man drunk) daily to each soldier (11.5 gallonsper year), and 10,000 soldiers would consume 115,000 gallons per year.Thesoldiers bought additional rum equal to their ration from the local traders,for a total of 230,000 gallons.About 250,000 gallons of rum were exported to Canada for 65,000Canadians (including 15,000 adult males) and the fur traders.Baynton andWharton sent 167 hogsheads (10,521 gallons) of rum and other spirits toCanada on the brig Lark on April 13, 1764.Included in the cost of the shipmentwas £99 paid to Joseph Coleman for 521 twenty-gallon kegs and the chargefor filling them.The rum for the Indians was usually carried by canoe in suchtwenty-gallon kegs, which weighed 160 pounds.Therefore, this shipment wasintended for the Indians rather than the French inhabitants of Quebec.Thecargo was valued at £2,150 Pennsylvania (nearly $250,000) including ex-penses.Baynton and Wharton and its partners were in a large-scale liquorbusiness intended for the Indians despite the British army s prohibition. The Indians 29"Despite the 1761 orders concerning the sale of rum to Indians tradersand settlers were both giving and selling them rum in order to attractbusiness.An unscrupulous trader would give an Indian some rum to encour-age him to buy goods and more rum.Once the Indians had sold all their fursto purchase rum, they would sell their clothing and weapons for more.OnAugust 3, 1761, one Indian family obtained rum in Fort Pitt, for example,by pawning their clothes, wampum, and everything else they had.The resultsof heavy drinking at Fort Pitt were tragic.One Mohawk Indian killed anotherduring a drunken spree.In 1761 Albany-based traders at Oswego and Niagara traded mostly rum.The Indians received few other goods.In November 1761 the Seneca chiefscame to Niagara and asked for ammunition, clothing, and provisions.Thearmy provided some and advised the chiefs to use the few skins they hadleft to buy more supplies from the traders.Outside the military posts the traders lived at high risk because the Indiansmight kill them and take their rum.So the traders in the villages limitedthe supply of rum.The traders survived because some Indians would protectthem to ensure their return the next year with a new load of merchandiseand rum.The British army tried to enforce the ban on rum.At Fort Bedford,halfway from Carlisle to Fort Pitt, the army seized a shipment of 100 kegsof liquor (at least 800 gallons if the kegs were the small, 8-gallon sizeused on packhorses).The Indians learned of the seizure and attempted tosteal it.During the robbery the Indians shot several drunken laborers, andthe army arrested the traders for illegal trading.In June 1761, when thearmy seized more liquor, they had trouble removing the Indians fromthe surrounding area.Rum continued to be a problem in 1762.The New York traders statedthat they should have the same right as the Canadians to trade rum, butAmherst insisted on continuing the ban on its sale.The Indians supportedthe limitation of rum according to a petition signed by twelve Niagara traders.They realized that too much rum would destroy the trade and therefore askedthat the quantity of rum carried by a trader be limited to a reasonableamount compared with his other goods.The traders attitude was based onthe conviction that the tribes would not come to Niagara if there were norum, and the traders would be bankrupted.The petition suggested that a reasonable amount would be two gallonsfor each Indian who came a long distance, and the post commander wouldsupervise the distribution.But the policy was not changed.In April 1762the British army took all of the rum in Fort Niagara, a total of 2,600 gallonsheld by ten traders, to its storage area.The average French trading canoe 30 People of the American Frontier"carried only 120 gallons, so the total seized was equal to the amount normallycarried by about twenty canoes.Johnson agreed with Amherst thatonly total prohibition would be effective because eager Indians would travelany distance and pay any price for liquor
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