PILOT 259 



Prive" on the St. Lawrence River, at or near Vercheres. Our next trip was in 

 1889 by cars to Montreal. Here we heard again of the fast pacers and trot- 

 ters bred by Messrs. Dansereau and Prive\ This time, after visiting Caugh- 

 nawaga, we went down the river and visited Vercheres. From the notes that 

 we took on this trip we quote : 



Joseph Sky, otherwise called Chief Joe, Caughnawaga, born 1817, a 

 French and Indian half-breed, said : " They used to trot horses on the ice 

 and on the track here when I was eighteen years old ; not much pacing ; 

 they used to run horses some". 



James Dionne, Caughnawaga, trainer and driver, born 1817, said : " My 

 father had a pacing gelding in 1840. There were some pacers then, the same 

 as now. The Vercheres horses were called Black Hawks, and F. H. Prive" told 

 me that there were Black Hawks at Vercheres nearly one hundred years ago ". 



Walter I. Prendergast, Cote des Neiges, Province of Quebec, said : 

 "I owned Live Oak about 1845 ; bred by Mr. Prive, twenty-four miles 

 below Montreal. They had there at that time about the best breed of horses 

 we had in Canada. The Commis breed of horses were under size, but very 

 speedy, a good many of them black and chestnut. They were very pretty, 

 handsome ponies and excellent horses. Many of the best of our horses have 

 been raised about Vercheres ; great place for pacers ; more trotters than 

 pacers, but I think there were more pacers formerly than now, though a 

 majority of horses in my youth were trotters. What we called pure Cana- 

 dian showed no thoroughbred points. They have short necks, are heavy 

 about the jowl, very thick-set, have stout, heavy limbs, heavy manes and 

 tails, some very hairy on their legs ; they are usually speedy and the majority 

 trot ; occasionally a pacer. Bellaire was a chestnut horse, fifteen hands 

 high, owned some forty years ago by James Spaulding at Mile End, near 

 Montreal. The Bellaires were a good deal like the Morgans ; had a good 

 deal of style. In the real Canadian both the neck and head lack blood ". 



F. Des Marches of Cote des Neiges, born 1824, said: "Bellaire was 

 a thick, pony-built horse of fifteen hands, and looked like a blood horse. 

 When I was a very little boy there was a black pacing stallion here 

 that paced very fast. He was sold and went to the States. A good-looking 

 horse with good head and neck, no white. Dansereau and Priv of Ver- 

 cheres, had the best horses when I was young ". 



Joseph Charlebois, for many years a horse-dealer of Montreal, said : 

 " Vercheres was the first place that speed came from in Canada. The Com- 

 mis horse came from there. He was foaled about 1830 and owned by 

 Boulanger of Vercheres and sold to a brother in Montreal. It was said Black 

 Hawk in Vermont came from Vercheres. The Commises were of the Danse- 

 reau breed. At first they were all black ; afterwards roan, sorrel and chest- 

 nut. They were mostly small horses with high crests, heavy mane and tail, 

 clean legs ; a little sloping behind. If we had had no Commises here, there would 

 be no fast trotters in Kentucky. They came here to get this Dansereau 

 blood. I sold a very handsome white stallion, nineteen years old, fifteen 

 hands, that went to Kentucky ; very fast, but lame. He was of the Commis 



