148 THE OKA^GE COUNTY 



not very fast, and that Rysdyk's Hambletonian and Mam- 

 brino Pilot are the best two trotting foal-getters in the 

 world. The bay stallions St. Lawrence, the sire of several 

 fast trotters, was a Canadian, and one of the best of his 

 breed. He died at Kalamazoo in 1858. There is one other 

 horse deserving especial notice as a progenitor of trotters, 

 in whose veins no blood of Messenger can be found, though 

 his pedigree is too obscure to warrant the assertion that 

 none existed there. Black Hawk, often called Vermont Black 

 Hawk to distinguish him from the equally celebrated Long 

 Island Black Hawk, and also called Hill's Black Hawk, was 

 of Morgan stock on his sire's side; being a son of Sherman, 

 one of the best sons of Justin Morgan, the founder of the 

 Morgan family. The dam of Black Hawk was raised in New 

 Brunswick, and nothing is known of her pedigree. Black 

 Hawk was foaled in 1833 at Greenland, N. H. At four years 

 old he was sold to Lowell, Mass., where he was used as a car- 

 riage horse for seven years. He then became the property of 

 David Hill, of Bridport, Vt., where he acquired great fame; 

 begetting more high-priced colts than any other horse of his 

 day. He had remarkable power in propagating his own 

 characteristics, and his stock were uniformly stylish, spirited 

 harness-horses, many of them fast, and some of them among 

 the fastest. Another history of his pedigree makes him the 

 son of a Canadian named Paddy; and still another declares 

 him a veritable native of Canada; though not a pure Cannuck. 



Black Hawk's colts were never gray, as many of them 

 would have been if his dam was that color, but many of them 

 were chestnuts with white feet and faces, which was the color 

 of Sherman and of Sherman's dam. This fact pretty clearly 

 shows that neither the " Paddy" story nor the Canadian ped- 

 igree are correct, but that Black Hawk was truly a Morgan. 

 He was a little under 15 hands, and weighed about lOOOlbs. 

 In 1842 he won $1000 by trotting five miles over the Cam- 

 bridge Park Course in 16in. In 1843 he won a race of two- 

 mile heats with ease in 5m. 43s. and 5m. 48s., and several times 

 trotted single miles in 2m. 42s. He was the sire of Ethan Allen, 

 Black Ralph, Lancet, Belle of Saratoga, Black Hawk Maid, 

 Flying Cloud, and many others of good repute for speed. 

 His colts were in great demand, particularly in the West and 

 South, where hundreds were sold at very high prices. As 

 many of his sons were, and still are, kept as stallions, his 

 descendants are very numerous; and he undoubtedly has 

 done much to improve the stock of American horses. 



Pacing is not considered a good harness gait, but some 



