Competition between the two powers escalated over dominance in the trade, with the United States eventually gaining the upper hand. The flourishing company of Bryant and Sturgis itself grew to become the most influential private business venture, facilitated by its associate William Gale, taking in four fifths of all hides from California. The influence of Bryant and Sturgis proved so pervasive that locals equated the company’s city of headquarters, Boston, with the entire United States. Thus, American influence in the region can be traced back as far as the 1820s.