The Chesapeake Bay Retriever is one of the few breeds that can claim to be born in the USA. The breed is thought to descend from two Newfoundland dogs named Sailor and Canton who were traveling aboard a ship bound for England in 1807. The ship ran aground, but the crew and the two dogs Sailor, a dingy red male, and Canton, a black female, were rescued. Sailor found a home with John Mercer of West River and Canton with Dr. James Stewart of Sparrow’s Point.