Two laws were enacted between 1661 and 1691.  the first one prohibited any citizen, unless commissioned by the governor, to trade with Native American indians. The penalties were steep for doing so as you can read below.  The law passed in 1691 (second law below) by the house of burgesses repealed the restrictions on trade, thus opening up free and open trade between the colonists and virginia indian tribes. 

Laws of Virginia

March 1661-2- 14th Charles II.

Act VIII.

None to trade with the Indians by the commission.

(the actual spelling of the law follows)

Whereas the frequent entercourse of diverse ill minded, idle, and unskillful people the the Indians filleth the people with rumours, disturbs the peace of the country, supplyeth the Indians with guns and amunition and renders the trade (the chiefe support of our neighbours) and the government farr more dangerous then fruitfull:  Bee itt therefore enacted that no person hereafter shall trade with the Indians for any bever, otter, or any other furres unlesse he first obteine a commission from the governor who is desyred to grant the same to none but persons of knowne integrity, And bi it further enacted that every person hereafter tradeing without such commissions first obteyned shall forfeit for the first offence five hundred pounds of tobaccoe for the second one thousand pounds of tobaccoe forr the third offenced fifteene hundred pounds of tobaccoe and forfeit besides all his tradeing goods

Laws of Virginia

April 1691−3 William & Mary                   

ACT IX.

An act for a free trade with Indians. House of Burgesses, State of Virginia

(the actual spelling of the law follows)

      BEE it enacted by their majesties leiutenant governour, councill and burgesses of this present generall assembly, and the authority thereof, and it is hereby enacted, That all former clauses of former acts of assembly limiting, restraineing, and prohibitting trade with Indians be, and stand hereby repealed, and they are hereby repealed, and that from henceforth there be a free and open trade for all persons at all times, and at all (a) places with all indians whatsoever.

it was reported that trading with the local american indians began in a town called leaseland in 1698.  leaseland would later be renamed fredericksburg after the eldest son of king george II, Prince Frederick, prince of wales, who later became the father of king george III - king of britain during the american revolution. This fact is often misquoted in fredericksburg history.

it has been widely reported that english colonist dogs were in such demand that the local american indians traded gold, furs and handmade items for them. it is largely believed that the name “dog mart” came from this primary target of trade, so the rumors may be fact. we may never really know.

Apparently, trading continued unabated up until the revolutionary war. There are no indications in the literature that trading started up again until 1927 when the Fredericksburg Chamber of commerce decided to resurrect a bit of colonial history to stir up tourism. As the Fredericksburg dog mart grew in popularity, media from the region began to pay more and more attention to the event. this included a large boost from the Columbia network out of washington, D.c. As popularity grew, the “dog mart” became more of a dog show as less and less emphasis was placed on selling dogs. hunting dogs from the area became the big focus and it was not uncommon to see truck loads of hunters show up on dog mart day with live raccoons and foxes to display alongside their prized hunting dogs. also, the addition of the “dog parade” became a huge hit and great fodder for news coverage of the day.

One fact is for certain, it appears that a lot of the popularity of the dog mart in the 1900’s was due to patawomeck, mattaponi and pamunky indian participation.  crowds grew steadily with native american participation and waned significantly when they did not attend. 

in the 1950’s, time and national geographic magazines did big nationally publicized stories on the dog mart and people came from far and wide to attend. attendance estimates ranged from an amazing 12,000 to 15,000 people in those days. this during a time when fredericksburg and the area counties barely contained those numbers of people. 

The izaak walton league stepped up to run the dog mart in 1948 and have done so ever since. the event was moved to spotsylvania county for over 30 years in the 1970’s where the crowds slowly dissipated over the years. the move back into fredericksburg should greatly invigorate the event and bring it back to the prominence it once enjoyed.