Panton, Leslie and Company

A circa 1890s photo of the William Panton Mansion, former headquarters of Panton, Leslie and Company

Panton, Leslie and Company was a trading company headquartered in Pensacola that held an effective monopoly on Native American commerce during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries (Pensacola's third Spanish period). It was established in 1783 by William Panton and John Leslie, Scottish merchants who were forced to leave Georgia during the American Revolution. Panton and John Forbes relocated to Pensacola in 1785 and partnered with Creek chief Alexander McGillivray, who facilitated much of the trade.