THE INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE HORSE


The Legacy of the Horse

Chapter Four

A Chronological History of Humans and Their Relationship With the Horse


Table of Contents

1718 - 1876
Stage Travel in America - Polo in America






P ONY EXPRESS, 1860 TO 1862

Rapid Western growth demanded a fast and reliable postal system. In 1860, the Pony Express was created to carry letters over a route of 1,966 miles between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California. The average total trip took 10 days. The riders carried only saddlebags containing mail and sidearms to fight off the Indians. A one-half ounce letter cost $5 to send by the Pony Express, and a mailbag would therefore be worth $3,200 in postal fees. At relay stations located every 25 miles, the rider picked up a fresh horse. The Pony Express horses were mostly tough Mustangs, some with a "dash" of Thoroughbred or Morgan in their blood. After only two years, the Pony Express was replaced by the telegraph and the railroad. In spite of its brief existence, the Pony Express played a flamboyant and significant role in the opening of the American West.




THE OVERLAND STAGE

Before the Union Pacific Railroad deeply penetrated the West in 1869, travelers to the West went by stagecoach. The journey from St. Louis to San Francisco required 25 days by coach, but few people had the stamina to travel continuously. (At that time, the trip by railroad from New York to St. Louis required only 2 days.) The rough territory demanded strong stagecoaches, many of which were the sturdy "Concord" coaches built by the Abbot-Downing company in New Hampshire. The typical stage coach was pulled by four to six horses, which were changed every ten miles. A stagecoach could cover up to 125 miles in one day.

Perhaps the best description of stagecoach travel was written in 1872 by Mark Twain in his book, "Roughing It:"




NATIVE A MERICANS AND THE HORSE

1680 - Western Indians Begin to Acquire the "Big Dog"

One of the first laws passed by the Spanish conquerors prohibited any Indian from riding a horse. In 1541, Viceroy Mendoza put allied Aztec chieftains on horses to better lead their tribesmen in the Mixton War of Central Mexico. This appears to have been the first time that horses were officially given to the Indians. Indians were seen to rub themselves with horse sweat, so that they might acquire the magic of the "big dog." The Indians, especially the Apaches, acquired a taste for roasted horse meat. After 1680, the Pueblo Indians forced the Spanish out of New Mexico. Many horses were left behind. The Pueblo learned to ride well but didn't live by the horse. They mainly valued the horse as food and as an item to trade with the Plains Indians for jerked buffalo meat and robes. Horses and horsemanship gradually spread from tribe to tribe until the Plains Indians became the great mounted buffalo hunters of the American West.

Plains Indian Horsemen
The alliance of the American Indians and the Spanish horse gave the Indians great mobility and changed their way of life. Tribes of horses were dominant over other tribes who relied on moving camp on foot. The plains Indians were great mounted buffalo hunters. The traded jerked meat and buffalo hides for glass beads, metal tools, cloth and guns.




THE O BSERVATIONS OF ARTIST GEORGE CATLIN

George Catlin (1796-1872) was an American painter and student of Indian life. Much of our present-day knowledge about the habits and customs of American Indians comes from Catlin's journals and paintings. He records much about wild horses and their alliance with the Indians:

"The tract of country over which wepassed, between the False Washita and this place, is stocked, not only with buffaloes, but with numerous bands of wild horses...There is no other animal on the prairies so wild and so sagacious as the horse...We saw all the colours...Some were milk white, some jet black - others were sorrel, and bay, and cream colour - many were of an iron grey; and others were pied, containing a variety of colours on the same animal. Their manes were very profuse and hanging in the wildest confusion over their necks and faces - and their long tails swept the ground...The wild horse of these regions is small, but a very powerful animal...and undoubtedly, have sprung from a stock introduced by the Spaniards, at the time of the invasion of Mexico; which having strayed off upon the prairies, have run wild, and stocked the plains from this to Lake Winnepeg, two thousand miles to the North. This useful animal has been of great service to the Indians living on these vast plains, enabling them to take their game more easily, to carry their burdens, and no doubt, render them better and handier service than if they were of a larger and heavier breed. Vast numbers of them are also killed for food by the Indians, at seasons when buffaloes and other game are scarce. "

Breaking Down a Wild Horse
Catlin also described the Indian's method of breaking wild horses:

"The Indian, when he starts for a wild horse, mounts one of the fleetest he can get, and coiling his laso on his arm, starts off under the ":full whip,"till he can enter the band, when he soon gets it over the neck of one of the number; when he instantly dismounts, leaving his own horse, and runs as fast as he can. Letting the laso pass out gradually and carefully through his hands, until the horse falls for want of breath, and lies helpless on the ground; at which time the Indian advances slowly towards the horses's head keeping his laso tight upon its neck, until he fastens a pair of hobbles on the animal's two forefeet, and also loosens the laso (giving the horse a chance to breathe) and gives it a noose around the under jaw, by which he gets greater power over the affrightened animal, which is rearing and plunging when it gets breath; and by which, as he advances, hand over hand, towards the horse's nose, he is able to hold it down and prevent it from throwing itself over on its back, at the hazard of its limbs. By this means, his hand on the animal's nose, and over its eyes; and at length to breathe in its nostrils, when it soon becomes docile and conquered; so that he has little else to do than to remove the hobbles from its feet, and lead or ride it into camp."

Horse and Hunter
Catlin noted....

"The chief hunting amusement of the Indians in these parts consists in the chase of the buffalo, which is almost invariably done on horseback, with bow and lance. In this exercise which is highly prized by them, as one of their most valued amusements, as well as for the principal mode of procuring meat for their subsistence, they become exceedingly expert; and are able to slay these huge animals with apparent ease...The Indian...mounted on his little wild horse, which has been through some years of training, dashes off at full speed amongst the herds of buffaloes, elks, or even antelopes, and deals his deadly arrows to their hearts from his horse's back."

Moving Camp by Horses, Dogs, and Women
Catlin observed that the adoption of the horse as a beast of burden, eased the pack carrying duties of women and dogs. The heaviest load, the buffalo lodges, were now carried by the horses, giving the tribe added mobility.

"...The poles of a lodge are divided into two bunches, and the little ends of each bunch fastened upon the shoulders or withers of a horse, leaving the butt ends to drag behind on the ground on either side. Just behind the horse, a brace or pole is tied across, which keeps the poles in their respective places; and then upon that and the poles behind the horse is placed the lodged or tent, which is rolled up, and also numerous other articles of household and domestic furniture, and on the top of all, two, three and even (sometimes) four women and children! Each one of these horses has a conductress, who sometimes walks before and leads it, with a tremendous pack upon her own back..."

War Games on Horseback
Like all great cavalries, Catlin noted that the Comanche's games served as training for their more serious duties as warriors.

"The Comanches... have many games, and in pleasant weather seem to be continually practicing... The exercises of these people...is chiefly done on horseback; and it stands to reason that such a people, who have been practicing from their childhood, should become exceedingly expert in this wholesome and beautiful exercise. Amongst their feats of riding, there is one that has astonished me more than anything...in my life:a stratagem of war, learned and practiced by every young man in the tribe; by which he is able to drop his body upon the side of his horse at the instant he is passing, effectually screened from his enemies; weapons as he lays in horizontal position behind the body of his horse, with his heel hanging over the horse's back; by which he has the power of throwing himself up again, and changing to the other side of the horse if necessary. In this wonderful condition, he will hand whilst his horse is at fullest speed, carrying with him his bow and his shield, and also his long lance of fourteen feet in length, all or either of which he will wield upon his enemy as he passes; rising and throwing his arrows over the horse's back, or with equal ease and equal success under the horse's neck."

Indian Jockeys
Catlin continued...."In their ball-plays, and some other games, they (Comanches) are far behind the Sioux and others of the Northern tribes; but, in racing horses and riding, they are not equalled by any other Indians on the Continent. Racing horses, it would seem, is a constant and almost incessant exercise, and their principal mode of gambling; and perhaps, a more finished set of jockeys are not to be found."




INDIANS AND HORSES AT WAR

Horses were a basis of wealth and were often the object, as well as the means, of war between alien tribes. The Indians' own pictographs often featured their most prized possession and companion - the horse.



Custer's Last Stand - June 25, 1876

All Were Killed Save One Tough Pony
One of the most storied events in the history of the American West was the famous Battle of the Little Big Horn, otherwise known as "Custer's Last Stand." George Armstrong Custer, whose earlier cavalry career included the interception of the General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox, was assigned as Commander of the 7th Cavalry at Fort Riley, Kansas. When ordered to move a band of Indians toward a large American cavalry force, the ambitious and often arrogant Custer became over-zealous, and as they reached the Sioux encampment, he divided his regiment and decided to fight. Custer's force was entirely annihilated within a short time. The other regiment force was rescued by supporting cavalry four days later, and the search for survivors of Custer's troops began. Not one man was found alive and only one horse survived - Comanche.

Comanche, The Only Survivor
After the Battle of the Little Big Horn, a horse was found in a thicket with seven arrows in his body. The horse, named Comanche, was a gelding ridden by Captain Keogh, one of Custer's officers. The horse's wounds were treated and he was carefully loaded onto a riverboat. Comanche was sent back to Fort Lincoln in the Dakota Territory, where he was given great attention until he recovered. As an honor, Comanche was given the freedom of the fort's grounds. The Seventh Cavalry's commanding officer insisted that Comanche be saddled for all engagements and official occasions, but he could never be ridden again. Comanche became a national celebrity. On his death, his obituary appeared in newspapers throughout the country. Comanche was taxidermied after his death, and is now exhibited at the Museum of Kansas University.



The Nez Perce Spotted Horses

1877 - Few Tribes Could Rival the Nez Perce Indians in the Art of Selective Breeding
The Nez Perce inhabited the mountainous plateau region at the intersection of what are now the states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Here, in the region of the Palouse River, the steep mountains and box canyons provided natural enclosures in which horses could be contained or separated for selective breeding. The trademark of the Nez Perce horses was their spots. These horses, named Appaloosas after the river near which they were bred, were renowned among western Indians for their speed and endurance.

The Peaceful Life of the Nez Perce was Ended When Settlers and Miners Intruded on Their Lands
Treaties were made and broken, until Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce led his people and 3,000 horses on a 1,600 mile evacuation to Canada in 1877. All along the way, the Indians fought off pursuing cavalry. In one battle alone, the Indians lost 900 of their spotted horses. Just below the Canadian border, Chief Joseph surrendered to the cavalry as he heroically declared, "I will fight no more forever." His tribe was decimated, wounded, and starving. The remaining of the tribe were exiled to Oklahoma, and Chief Joseph was imprisoned in Fort Leavenworth. The remaining 1,100 horses were dispersed. The purity and survival of the Appaloosa was threatened until the breed was revived in the 1900s.

The Appaloosa
Prehistoric men drew spotted horses on cave walls. Three-thousand-year-old Chinese paintings show colorful spotted horses. But the Appaloosa is a spotted horse native to the American West. It is descended from the horses selectively bred by the Nez Perce Indians who lived near the Palouse River in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The Nez Perce took great pride in their horses' appearance and abilities. Any stallion which was not of superior quality was gelded. This, combined with careful breeding, led to a pure and magnificent breed. When Lewis and Clark encountered the Nez Perce, Lewis was struck by the quality of their horses. he described their horses as "an excellent race; they are lofty, elegantly formed, active, and durable...and would make a figure in any country."

In the twentieth century, attempts began to restore the Appaloosa's purity which had been diluted through crossbreeding. In 1938, the Appaloosa Horse Club was created to regulate the breed by stipulating its characteristics. The most outstanding feature is the "spotted" coloring. The varied patterns and colors are the blanket, leopard, snowflake, and marbleized roan. The average Appaloosa stands between 14.2 and 15.3 hands. Horses less than 14 hands at maturity can not be registered. The Appaloosa weighs between 800 and 1,000 pounds, and has strong legs and quarters. The Appaloosa horse is increasingly popular and is used for stock work, show, and even show jumping.




1876 - FIRST AMERICAN POLO

Although polo and hunting are perhaps the oldest horse sports, polo was not played in the Western Hemisphere until the 1800s. British officials stationed in Calcutta, India, first formed a polo club in 1860. The game was imported to England by cavalry officers in 1871. James Gordon Bennett brought the sport to America by 1876. Polo was first played indoors in a New York City riding arena. The immediate popularity of the sport led Harvard University to form an inter-collegiate polo team in 1885. In 1886, the British and Americans began playing international polo matches on a regular basis. By 1892 there were 13 U.S. polo clubs, most of which were in the East.




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