178 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



and th? capacious wagons wliicli tlie Concstoga fanners then had in use, and 

 the heavy teams of large, fat, sleek horses attaclied thereto, were the best 

 means of transportation which the times and circumstances of the country then 

 aftorded. These Avagons and teams attracted attention and commanded admi- 

 ration wherever they appeared ; and hence tlie origin, as I conceive, of the 

 horse and wagon to which the appellation of " Concstoga" has been attached. 

 The fanners of those days seemed fully to appreciate the importance of these 

 teams, and evinced considerable taste and no little pride in their style of fitting 

 them out. The harness was constructed of the best materials, with an eye to 

 show as well as utility. In the harness and trimmings of these teams they 

 frequently indulged in expenses that approached to extravagance. In addition 

 to what Mas indispensably necessary, articles that by some were deemed mere 

 decorations were sometimes appended, and served to increase the admiration 

 which the noble animals to which they were attached so universally attracted- 

 It was, indeed, an animating sight to sec five or six highly fed horses, half 

 covered with heavy bear-skins, or decorated with gaudily fringed housings, 

 surmounted with a set of finely toned bells, their bridles adorned with loops 

 of red trimming, and moving over the ground with a brisk elastic step, snort- 

 ing disdainfully at surrounding objects, as if hall conscious of their superior 

 appearance, and participating in the pride that swelled the bosom of their mas- 

 ter and driver. 



The Concstoga horse, then, thougli his origin cannot be traced to any dis- 

 tinct species or breed, though his pedigree is not recorded in any stud-book, 

 or his exploits blazoned forth on the pages of a turf-register, is still not a 

 myth — irot the creature of a fervid imagination or a disordered fancy — but a 

 veritable, strong, active animal, pre-eminently useful in his day and generation, 

 brought to perfection by judicious breeding, kind treatment, and careful man- 

 agement ; and the term Concstoga is used as denoting superiority in the class of 

 draught horses. 



Subsequent to the period above refcncd to, as the improvements in the 

 country advanced, and the population became dense and prosperous, a spirit 

 of enlerprise was fostered and excited that culminated at that time in the con- 

 struction of a continuous line of turnpike road from the city of Philadelphia, 

 on the eastern margin of the State of Pennsylvania, to the city of Pittsburg, 

 near the western border of the same State. This great improvement, con- 

 structed to facilitate the constant and rapidly increasing trade to the western 

 States, introduced innovations that imposed new and additional duties on that 

 useful quadruped which forms the subject of this essay. A line of stage- 

 coaches was established, running between the above-named cities, which 

 brought into requisition a class of horses widely difierent from those above de- 

 scribed. A lighter animal, combining strength with more agility, was required 

 for the transportation of passengers and forwarding the mail, which, in conse- 

 quence of the vast increase of business, had become an object of public solici- 

 tude. These innovations directed the attention of the Concstoga farmers, as 

 well as of all others engaged in the breeding of horses, to the peculiar qualities 

 of the English race horse, Avhose slender form and tapering limbs seemed well 

 calculated for light and active employment. Stallions were imported from 

 England, and by a crossing of those with the native breed of the country, or 

 rather with the stock then existing in the country, an animal better suited to 

 the exigency of the times was produced ; while at the same time the heavy 

 draught horses to transport the weightier and more cumbersome articles of com- 

 merce were constantly in demand. At a later period in the history of our coun- 

 try, when the construction of railroads and canals subserved the purposes of 

 transportation both of passengers and freight, the services of the class of ani- 

 mals hereinbefore described were to a great extent dispensed with; long jour- 

 neys with heavy teams were no longer necessary, and less pains were taken to 

 propagate a class of horses for which there was no pressing demand. 



