114 THE BREEDS OF LIVE-STOCK 



importation of one stallion and six mares into Virginia 

 from England. Dutch horses arrived at New Netherlands 

 in 1625, and in 1629 the first horses (Thoroughbreds) to in- 

 habit New England arrived at Boston from England. As 

 early as 1678, there ranged over parts of the Mississippi 

 valley vast bands of wild horses, the descendants of those 

 escaped or liberated from early conquests and expeditions. 



In view of the character of the early settlers of Virginia, 

 New York and New England, respectively, it is not strange 

 that the cradle of the Thoroughbred in America should 

 have been in Virginia. Horse-racing was not consistent 

 with the Puritan traditions of New Englanders, and the 

 Dutchman's horse in New York was essentially a beast of 

 burden. It remained, therefore, for the cavaliers of 

 Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland to become sponsors 

 for this horse, which was later to play such an important 

 part in American sporting and industrial progress. 



The first race horse imported to America is thought to 

 have been Bulle Rock, son of the Darley Arabian, brought 

 into Virginia in 1730. The first racing organization of 

 which we have record was formed in 1760 at Charleston, 

 South Carolina. Subsequently there were brought over 

 many of England's best horses, the most notable of which 

 was Diomed, winner of the first English Derby. This 

 horse, imported when twenty-one years old, in 1798, by 

 Colonel Hoomes, much against the advice of his counselors, 

 is regarded as the real progenitor of the American race 

 horse. In a regular line of descent from him come Sir 

 Archy, the first truly American Thoroughbred ; Boston, 

 his grandson, conceded to have been the greatest American 

 race horse; and, in turn, his son, Lexington, a scarcely 

 less remarkable performer than Boston, and a most in- 

 fluential sire, especially through the female line, in the 



