Pope Manufacturing Company was founded by Albert Augustus Pope

Albert Augustus Pope

Albert Augustus Pope was a Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel who founded the Pope Manufacturing Company in 1877. -Birth:...

 in Hartford, Connecticut

Hartford, Connecticut

Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...

. The company began with the introduction of the "Columbia High Wheeler" bicycle in 1878.
After the introduction of the high wheeler, Pope bought Pierre Lallement

Pierre Lallement

Pierre Lallement is considered by some to be the inventor of the bicycle.-Early years:Lallement was born on October 25, 1843 in Pont-à-Mousson near Nancy, France....

's original patent

Patent

A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....

 for the bicycle, and aggressively bought all other bicycle patents he could find, amassing a fortune by restricting the types of bicycles other American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 manufacturers could make and charging them royalties

Royalties

Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...

.