CHAPTER III
THE EARLY DAYS OF THE HORSE IN AMERICA
Why the horse, the fossil remains of which are found so abundantly in the middle West of this country that these places are known in the Scientific world as "Equus Beds," became extinct, there being no horses here at the time of the Spanish Conquest, is a mystery.
It is the more remarkable, for when the horse was introduced here and ran wild in South America and Texas, he increased and multiplied rapidly, showing that the climate, food, and general conditions were exceptionally well adapted to him.
Various animals have been used as beasts of burden, and even as cavalry, all over the world. In the old days of Cape Town, the Hottentots broke their oxen to the saddle and used them even for cavalry purposes in time of war.
In a report of the Treasurer-general of Peru, written in 1544, it is stated that the Spaniards even in those days used the large sheep or llama of that country both as beasts of burden and to ride.
The first importation of horses into the new world, credited by authentic history, was made by Columbus in 1493, when he landed in what is now known as San Domingo with seventeen vessels.
When Cortes landed at what is now known as Vera Cruz, having sailed thither from Cuba, he had with him the first horses that any man had ever seen in the Western hemisphere, and this was in 1519. The Indians thought these visitors were from the sun, and that the horses were fabulous creatures of incomparable prowess, and brought offerings of bread and flesh to them.