CHAPTER XXII 

 AMERICAN HORSES 



At the time of the Spanish conquest there were no 

 horses, either wild or domesticated in any part of 

 America. This seems astonishing considering the pre- 

 dominance of the prehistoric horse, especially since the 

 soil and climate are very favorable to the horse, as is 

 evidenced by the thousands now roaming the plains of 

 both North and South America. 



In this connection it should be stated that worthy evi- 

 dence exists which some authorities state favors the as- 

 sumption that herds of wild horses roamed over the 

 pampas of South America, before latter-day communica- 

 tion had begun between Europe and the New World. 

 In 1527, when Cabot discovered the east coast of South 

 America, it is stated that he found drawings representing 

 the horse, and in his description of the upper reaches of 

 the La Plata river, the horse is given with other animals 

 which are known to have existed in that region. It is 

 possible, therefore, that native horses ranged the plains 

 now included in the territory of Argentine Republic and 

 of Paraguay. Possibly these wild horses entered into the 

 ancestry of the present stock. This is problematical, for 

 certain it is the Indians of -North America knew nothing 

 of the horse previous to his acquaintance with the white 

 man. 



Early importations of horses to America. — There are 

 but few records of early importations of horses to 

 America, although no doubt many found their way to the 

 New World along with the first settlers. The first im- 

 portation was made by Columbus in 1493, but these all 

 perished. The next importation of which we have record 

 was in 1519, when Cortez landed 16 horses in Mexico. 



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