Spanish Mustangs


Spanish Mustangs - The Expansion

In 1519 Cortes arrives at Vera Cruz, in North America. With him came the first 16 horses, eleven stallions and 5 mares. These Spanish horses found the vast American ranges similar in climate and soil to their native arid homeland. These ranges were as virgin in fertility, plenty of wild grasses and miles and miles for them to run free and wild.

Both the Spanish horses and the Spanish Long horned cattle found new predators; but none that stopped the growth of the herds. Twenty years after Cortes arrived, Coronado had no problem assembling 1,500 head of Spanish horses and mules for his expedition into New Mexico. The Spanish generals established haciendas for raising livestock throughout their domain and Queen Isabella maintained a desire to populate the New World with some of the best stock of Spain. The Spanish had a rich history of horsemanship and breeding. Spanish Horses brought by Columbus were now making their way into the North American West. Antonio de Mendoza, the first viceroy of New Spain, had eleven or more Haciendas built during his years in office, 1535-1550, horses were raised on all of them. Oaxaca, Chiapas, Honduras and Nicaragua became extensive horse-breeding centers.

The first and most important center of distribution of the Spanish horses, into what is now the United States, was the settlement begun by Onate on the upper Rio Grande in 1598. This was Santa Fe, which later became the capital of New Mexico. At the time there were about 100 mares and foals, in addition to 700 riding horses and mules. By 1630, these numbers had sizeable increased. Although the horse population among the Spanish settlements went up and down the population of horses among the Indians, during this time, went steadily upwards. In 1660, the pueblo uprising forced the Spanish to abandon New Mexico and leave their livestock and breeding horses behind. There were replacement horses coming up to New Mexico from the south both before and after the pueblo uprising. Thus, it is New Mexico that becomes the initial base for the supply of Spanish horses for the Indian tribes of the region and to the north.

Spanish horses of New California multiplied astoundingly but had little effect upon the horse life of the Western plains. By 1769, when the first Californian settlements were noticed, Indians, both above and below the Missouri River had horses. It was the mountains and the deserts to the east, in and out of California, that barred the spread of their horse population eastward. (Eds. Note: Maps during this period of time show California as including AZ, Ut, Col and NM).

One of the reasons for the huge rise in the horse populations, even with the raiding by the Indians is that the original horse stock could breed. The Caballeros preferred riding stallions to mares and the stallions were rarely gelded plus most expeditions had both mares and stallions.
In 1690, the French came to Texas, the Spanish formed expeditions into the region. They saw no horses when they arrived. By 1719, The Pawnees had atleast 300 horses. All the horses wore Spanish brands, some were imported and some were American Mustangs. A hundred years later Stephen H. Long, a military scout, reported seeing the Pawnee warriors with 6,000 to 8,000 horses.

It should be noted that some American Indians captured the horses for food and not to ride. In 1598, some Indians were still hunting buffalo on foot. Once the Indian were taught what the horses could do for them, the Indians used them as riding mounts, enabling them to hunt efficiently.

It is the Apaches that become the first Indians to acquire horses in the western United States. It is reported that the Comanche raiders used had horses first. Theirs were stolen or traded Spanish crossed with Arabians. Soon horses were the most wanted things that the Spaniards had for trade or to steal. The Spanish traded horses for buffalo robes. By 1680 Indians on the Pecos (Texas) were using horses to pay for their brides.

Once the American Indians realized the importance of horsemanship and viewed the horse as an asset, rather than a meal, the expansion of the Spanish horse throughout the West spread quickly, beginning of the age of the Spanish horse and bringing about the Spanish Mustang herds on the plains of the United States.

It is interesting to think about the most exciting and memorable parts of Western American history: The conquistadors, of the Spanish, The Age of the Horse, for the American Indians and the cowboy era of the west for the European Settlers.
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Comanche Indian and their horses, the ta’ hayh
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Most everyone knows about Comanche and their horses. Comanches were the most famous equestrians on the continent, and, according to earliest European observers, the greatest horsemen in the world. Virtual acrobats, they were. Comanches had first observed the military personnel of Spain, as the armies ventured into the southwest plains. But, once the Comanche saw the horse, he took it over from there. Word has it that the Comanche initially availed themselves of mesteños (mustangs), or the wild strays of the original Spanish settlements. These were a breed of Arabian and something else. These were smaller animals, but well able to endure the dry plains–much more efficiently than the large Justin Morgans of the later US military. The German traveler Heinrich Baldwin Mollhausen wrote in 1853 that, the minute the Comanche was on horseback, he was transformed into an independent, superior being. At least that’s how it appeared. In 1879, Homer Thrall wrote that the Comanche was the Thessalian Centaur, half man, half horse. The Comanche and the horse became one entity, so deft, so coordinated, so accurate they were in all their movements. Mollhausen said that they performed “most incredible feats.” Comanche did things that no other tribes did, in the hunt, in battle, and perhaps just for the glory of it. The horse changed the Comanche from an isolated, hardly known recluse people of the Southern Rockies into the most powerful, famous people of the Southern plains–all in a generation, or so it seemed to observers. The Spanish recorded the first appearance of Comanche (with some Ute) in 1705, but some Comanche already had taken their horses on the the plains to hunt buffalo. Comanche early mastered the art of breeding, and that alone was enough to distinguish them from all other tribes. There came a point when the Comanche were known all over the plains as the source of the best mounts available. What is not so well known is that Comanche women were fanciful on horseback as well. Retired army Captain Randolph Marcy wrote a Mrs. Alice Crane (October 26, 1896) about his memory of Comanche women on horseback. They were every bit as skillful as men, he says. (That’s saying an awfully lot!) And they did more than just ride. They could perform, too. He recalled being very impressed with two young Comanche women who went out and lassoed wild antelope “with unerring precision.” This they did, from horseback, riding astride, not side saddle, as was the English, “lady’s” style. (And by the mid 19th century, Apache women had become accustomed to riding as well. Captain Joseph Sladen thought Apache women on horseback, with their long hair dangling down their backs, were gorgeous. “I have seldom seen a prettier picture than that of one of these young women sitting astride a horse and riding like the wind.” Of course, in 1872, Sladen had spent several weeks living with the Apache, whom he found lovable and Anglos “stoical” in comparison.) In July, 1863, Lieutenant C. A. Woodward wrote of his encounter with a Comanche chief’s daughter. He wrote that she was “one of the most comely Indian maidens of the wild tribes I have met, beautifully dress in bright colors, and sat astride on her horse “as only the queens of the forest can do.” (See, Benjamin Grierson Papers, Newberry Library, Chicago.) Comanche were completely unapproachable and undefeatable on horseback, or so it seemed. This is why, in the end, when one Colonel Ranald S. MacKenzie went out on the Staked Plains (Illano Estacado) of the Texas panhandle, and found the last of the free Quahada hiding out in the Palo Duro Canyon, he opted to avoid a battle, and instead, ended up slaughtering some 1,500 Comanche horses. It happened like this. The Comanche (led by Quanah Parker, no less) knew MacKenzie’s cavalry was coming. The Comanche escaped pronto, single file, on foot, up the straight and narrow paths of the canyon. However, in their haste, they had to leave all their horses. When MacKenzie came down into the canyon, he found only the horses. He herded them out, and, a few miles south of the canyon, slaughtered them all, knowing the Comanche would be helpless, hopeless and humiliated without their mounts. And thus, within months, Quanah and the last of the “Antelope” Comanche turned themselves in at Fort Still, in April, 1875. There was no more buffalo or antelope to hunt, and no horses to hunt on. That was the end of the Comanche, or, their unprecedented hunting empire. Like Mongolians, they came as the wind and left as the wind. Also, like Mongolians, Comanches today still maintain a certain separateness, a kind of self-contentment unknown to most people. The world’s approbation is not something of interest to the people. Posted by David Yeagley · David Yeagley is the great-great-grandson of Comanche leader Bad Eagle.

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