Iroquois prosperous settlements in the 19th century, supporting themselves via farming and the sale of sleds, snowshoes, boats, and baskets. In 1884, about 100 Canadian Iroquois were hired by the British government to serve as river pilots and boatmen for the relief expedition for the besieged General Charles Gordon in Khartoum in the Sudan, taking the force commanded by Field Marshal Wolsely up the Nile from Cairo to Khartoum. On their way back to Canada, the Canadian Iroquois river pilots and boatmen stopped in London, where they were personally thanked by Queen Victoria for their services to Queen and Country. In
Iroquois Motor Car Company being "put to work continually." The company was working on putting a four-cylinder, 15-horsepower touring car with direct or chain drive, known as the "Iroquois", into market. They had also begun producing their own automobile bodies. For a few months, there was discussion of Century Motor Vehicle Company merging with J. S. Leggett's, Iroquois Motor Car Company who manufactured the body for Century, however, that did not occur because Century had too many liabilities. By December, 1904, the company raised $450,000 in capital, primarily from one shareholder, Charles A. Fox. The name changed again to the Iroquois Motor Car Company