THE IMPORTING RECORD TO 1870 157 



the imported blood will never be explained, but that 

 not a single imported stallion had up to 1870 ever 

 been taken for service within the boundaries of the 

 state is proved beyond a doubt by the records. How 

 such a priceless boon came to be overlooked entirely 

 in the main line of western travel must remain an 

 unsolved mystery. 



Illinois seems to have been shaped by destiny to 

 be the center of the American draft horse, breeding 

 industry. As already stated, the existence of the 

 big mares carrying the blood of Samson contributed 

 to the early success on the broad prairies of Taze- 

 well and adjacent counties, and there is a tradition 

 that even as early as 1835 grades of another draft 

 breed had been used to better the work stock of that 

 region. Moreover, Illinois with its deep rich soil and 

 its wonderful grazing was from the very first an 

 ideal horse-breeding ground. 



As early as 1820 or thereabouts the Dillons, Hodg- 

 sons, and other well known old Illinois families had 

 achieved fame as horse breeders in the localities back 

 east from which they originally hailed. About that 

 year several of these families sent scouts west with 

 instructions to look up a new location, the repre- 

 sentatives of the Dillons and the Hodgsons Ibeing 

 charged specifically to locate lands where horse 

 breeding could be made a specialty. They came on 

 horseback and the practical judgment of these hardy 

 pioneers is well demonstrated by their original 

 choices of location along the Illinois River in Taze- 

 well and La Salle counties. They brought good 



