1 82 THE MORGAN HORSE 



impression at this distant day of how he looked and appeared. I am 

 strong in the belief that he was of Morgan blood, foaled about the 

 year 1816 and sired by the celebrated old Justin Morgan horse". 



We have given the substance of all the evidence which we have 

 been able to get relative to the history of Red Robin. It is proba- 

 ble that he was foaled in 1816, and that he came into the hands of 

 Moses Bates before 1820. Possibly Moses Bates bred him. It is 

 more probable that Amos Gill was the breeder. At best, his breeder 

 and breeding are purely matter of conjecture ; but the opinion of Mr. 

 Bisbee, who knew him well, that he was by the Justin Morgan, is very 

 probably correct. It certainly is sustained by the character and ap- 

 pearance of the horse, and by the fact that the original Morgan horse 

 stood near where he was begotten, and not improbably included in 

 his circuit the town of Springfield itself, in 1815, the year that Robin 

 is supposed to have been bred. 



Ethan Allen was capable of great bursts of speed. Darius Tall- 

 man, the eminent New York horseman, says: "He could outspeed 

 at the score even Flora Temple herself". 



Gen. U. S. Grant, when making his tour, in 1874, after enjoying 

 a ride behind Ethan Allen, commissioned Mr. Akers to buy two 

 brood mares and breed them to him. 



One of the most graphic sketches of Ethan Allen ever written was 

 by John H. Wallace, then editor of the "American Trotting Register", 

 and published in " Wallace's Monthly" of April, 1877. The parts 

 of the article describing the horse and his most famous victory are 

 here given entire : 



"On the 2 ist of June, 1867, on the Fashion course, it was my 

 good fortune to witness the crowning event of his life. Some three 

 weeks before, Ethan, with a running mate, had beaten Brown George 

 and running mate in very fast time, scoring one heat in 2:19. This 

 made horsemen open their eyes, and there at once arose a difference 

 of opinion about the advantage to the trotter of having a runner hitched 

 with him, to pull the weight. This resulted in a match for twenty-five 

 hundred dollars a side, to trot Ethan and running mate against Dexter, 

 who was then considered invincible. As the day approached, the bet- 

 ting was about even; but the evening before the race, word came from 

 the course that Ethan's running mate had fallen lame, and could not 

 go, but they would try to get Brown George's running mate, then in 

 Connecticut, to take the place of the lame runner. As the horses 

 were strangers to each other, it was justly concluded the change gave 

 Dexter a great advantage, and the betting at once changed from 



