Great American Horse Stories Read online

  Great

  American

  Horse

  Stories

  Great

  American

  Horse

  Stories

  edited by

  Sharon B. Smith

  guilford

  connecticut

  An imprint of Globe Pequot

  Distributed by NATIONAL BOOK NETWORK

  Copyright © 2017 by Rowman & Littlefield

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

  British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  ISBN 978-1-4930-2987-7 (paperback)

  ISBN 978-1-4930-2988-4 (e-book)

  The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

  Printed in the United States of America

  EDITOR’S NOTE

  Several of these stories include minor changes in punctuation to improve readability for modern readers. There are no alterations in the sometimes-dated vocabulary chosen by the authors, with the exception of some of the dialogue in Bret Harte’s “Chu Chu.” Harte’s use of Spanish dialect is excessive even for the 1890s. I have changed the most extreme examples to standard English to avoid distractions for today’s readers.

  Contents

  EDITOR’S NOTE

  Contents

  Introduction

  Part I: The Horse Returns to America

  1. Memoirs of Conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo

  Part II: Native American Horses

  2. The Dun Horse

  3. The Woman Who Became a Horse

  4. The Comanches’ Manner of Capturing Wild Horses

  Part III: Western Horses

  5. The Camp of the Wild Horse

  6. Chu Chu

  7. A Chestnut Pony

  8. Wildfire

  Part IV: Military Horses

  9. His Love for His Old Gray Horse

  10. How Miss Lake’s Circus Horses Were Restored

  11. A Ride with a Mad Horse in a Freight-Car

  12. How Comanche Came Into Camp

  13. A Horse’s Tale

  14. The American Cavalry Horse

  Part V: Working Horses

  15. Anecdotes of American Horses

  16. The Cumbersome Horse

  17. A Drummer’s Horse

  18. White Dandy: Master and I—a Horse’s Story

  Part VI: Racehorses

  19. The Great Match Race between Eclipse and Sir Henry

  20. The Story of a Jockey

  21. World Record Is Set by Man o’ War

  Part VII: Legendary Horses

  22. How I Bought and Trained Captain

  23. In Which True Becomes Justin Morgan

  24. White Horse Winter

  Sources

  Introduction

  The histories of North America and the horse are so interwoven that it’s impossible to imagine one without the other. The earliest ancestors of equines, little fox-sized, single-toed animals, first appeared in the Americas fifty million years ago. They evolved into fully modern horses before traveling west over the land bridge between Alaska and Asia around the same time fully modern humans were traveling in the other direction. This happened about 13,000 years ago.

  Horses and humans didn’t meet again in North America until Spanish conquistadores arrived with riding and packhorses in the early sixteenth century. At that moment, the special relationship between American horses and humans began. Within a few decades, Native Americans began acquiring horses of their own, utterly transforming the culture of the Indians of the Great Plains and the American Southwest. In the early seventeenth century, French and English settlers in the east began transporting horses from northern Europe.

  The rapid European expansion to the West would have been impossible without horses. On the other hand, settlement would have been considerably easier for European Americans if the Indians hadn’t already obtained horses of their own. The clash of cultures on the American frontier led to some of the most captivating tales in world folklore.

  The earliest stories were unwritten anecdotes and fables, told around Native campfires across the continent—legends of shape-shifting wild horses, of creatures half-man and half-horse, of white stallions who couldn’t be captured. The settlers had horse stories of their own, often related and intertwined with the Native legends. Settlers—and the cowboys who evolved from them—had their own yarns of extraordinary wild stallions, of horses who were loved companions as well as workers, of horses who were the objects of greed and competition.

  The legends of western horses found their way east just as the short story joined the novel as the most popular forms of fiction in North America. Most of the best writers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries wrote about horses, including Bret Harte and Zane Grey, and their stories found an enthusiastic and massive audience. Some writers specialized in sagas that capitalized on the allure of the West, although most later expanded into other facets of the relationship between horses and Americans.

  They produced exciting adventure stories, informative historical fiction, and even ghost stories. The great authors enjoyed writing about horses and their audiences certainly enjoyed reading about them.

  Journalism was also important during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the horse was a frequent subject in nonfiction as well. The growth of professional sports and the importance of horse racing ensured extensive coverage in the thousands of newspapers and magazines published in the Americas. During most of that era, racing drew more spectators and earned more coverage than any other sport. The illustrious horses and celebrated races were talked about in private parlors, on street corners, and in country stores, thanks to newspaper stories and magazine articles. Nearly everyone knew about the great sectional match races that took place during the years before the Civil War. They knew about the champion horses and their accomplishments. Jockeys were often household names.

  This collection includes samples from these histories, memoirs, novels, short stories, and journalism. In each case a horse is either the center of the story or is a significant supporting player. While to us, horses mostly provide pleasurable entertainment, at the time the stories first appeared, they were a vital part of daily life. These stories provide us not just diversion but an understanding of our American past.

  I

  The Horse Returns to America

  1

  Memoirs of Conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo

  by Bernal Díaz del Castillo; translated by John Ingram Lockhart (1844)

  Although North America was home to its ancestors, the horse had evolved, migrated, and become extinct in its homeland by the time the Spanish conquistadores arrived in the late fifteenth century. Columbus was the first to return the horse to the Americas when he landed at the Caribbean island of Marie-Galante in 1493 on his second voyage to the New World. The first identifiable Spanish horses to set foot on the North American continent were the fifteen mounts of the soldiers of Hernan Cortes, who arrived to conquer Mexico in February 1519. Historian and soldier Bernal Díaz del Castillo, who came along for the c
onquest, leaves us descriptions of the individual horses in his history of the expedition.

  Chapter 23

  For memory’s sake I will here likewise describe the horses and mares which we took with us on our expedition. Cortes had a dark chestnut stallion, which died afterwards at St. Juan de Ulua. Pedro de Alvarado and Hernando Lopez d’Avila had jointly an excellent brown mare, which had been broken in for the field of battle as well as for tournaments.

  After our arrival in New Spain, Alvarado bought Lopez’s share, or perhaps took forcible possession of it. Alonso Hernandez Puertocarrero had a gray-colored mare, which Cortes had purchased for him with the golden borders of his state robe; it was capitally trained for the field of battle. Juan Velasquez de Leon’s mare was of the same color, a noble and powerful animal, full of fire and eager for battle: we commonly termed it the “short tail.”

  Christobal de Oli had a dark brown fine-spirited horse. Francisco de Montejo and Alonso de Avila had between them a sorrel-colored horse, but of little use in battle. Francisco de Morla had likewise a dark chestnut stallion, one full of fire and wonderfully swift. The light-colored horse of Juan de Escalante was not worth much. The gray-colored mare of Diego de Ordas, which would never foal, was neither very swift. Gonzalo Dominiguez had a small dark-brown nag, a very swift and noble animal.

  Also the brown-colored horse of Pedro Gonzalez de Truxillo was a swift animal. Moron, who was a native of Vaimo, had a small horse, which was pretty well trained. Vaena, of Trinidad, had a darkish-colored horse, though a bad leaper. The light-colored chestnut galloway of De Lares was, on the other hand, a splendid animal and a capital runner.

  Ortiz, the musician, and a certain Bartolome Garcia, who had applied himself to the art of mining, had between them a very good dark-colored horse, which they named the Arriero (mule driver), and was one of the best animals of the whole corps. Juan Sedeño, of the Havana, had a fine chestnut mare, which foaled on board. This Sedeño was considered to be the most wealthy man amongst us; for he had a ship of his own, a horse, a few Negroes to attend upon him, and his own lading of cassava and cured bacon. Just about this time horses and Negroes were only to be purchased for very high prices, which accounts for the small number of the former we had with us on this expedition.

  Later Diaz explains how the conquistadores used their horses. On March 12, 1519, Cortes and his retinue anchored off the Yucatán Peninsula. The following day warriors from the village of Potonchán attacked the handful of dismounted soldiers who had disembarked. The Spaniards managed to fight off the attackers and capture the town. Diaz picks up the story.

  Chapter 33

  Cortes being now certain that the Indians would renew the attack, immediately ordered all our horses to be brought on shore, and every one, our wounded not excepted, to hold himself in readiness. When our horses, which had been such a length of time at sea, now stepped on firm ground again, they appeared very awkward and full of fear; however, the day following, they had regained their usual liveliness and agility. There were also six or seven of our men, all young and otherwise strong fellows, who were attacked with such severe pains in the groins that they could not walk without support. No one could guess the cause of this; it was only said they had lived too freely at Cuba, and that the pain was occasioned by the heat, and the weight of their arms; Cortes, therefore, ordered them again on board. The cavaliers, who were to fight on horseback, were commanded to hang bells around their horses’ necks, and Cortes impressed on their minds not to rush at the Indians with their lances before they had been dispersed, and then even to aim at their faces only. The following men were selected to fight on horseback:

  Christobal de Oli, Pedro de Alvarado, Alonso Hernandez Puertocarrero, and Juan de Escalante. Francisco de Montejo and Alonso de Avila were to use the horses of Ortiz the musician, and of a certain Bartolome Garcia, though neither was worth much. Further, there were Velasquez de Leon, Francisco de Morla, and one of the Lares (for there was another excellent horseman among us of that name), and Gonzalo Dominiguez, both superior horsemen; lastly, there were Moron de Bayamo and Pedro de Truxillo. Then comes Cortes, who placed himself at their head. Mesa had charge of the artillery, while the rest of our men were commanded by Diego de Ordas, who, though he knew nothing of the cavalry service, excelled as a crossbow man and musketeer.

  The morning following, which was the day of annunciation to the holy Virgin, we attended mass very early, and arranged ourselves under our ensign Antonio de Villareal. We now put ourselves in motion, and marched towards some extensive bean fields, where Francisco de Lugo and Pedro de Alvarado had fought the previous battle.

  There was a village in this neighborhood called Cintla, belonging to the Tabascans, which lay about four miles from our headquarters. Cortes, on account of the bogs, which our horses could not pass, was obliged to take a circuitous route. Our other troops, however, under Diego de Ordas, came up with the Indians near Cintla, where they had arranged themselves on the plain: if they felt equal ardor for the combat as we did, they could now satisfy themselves, for this was a battle in every sense of the word which we here fought, fearful in the extreme, as will be seen.

  What followed was the Battle of Cintla. In the midst of close combat between dismounted Spaniards and a full force of Mayans, the natives appeared repeatedly to be gaining the upper hand.

  Chapter 34

  In one of these moments Cortes came galloping up with the horse. Our enemies being still busily engaged with us did not immediately observe this, so that our cavalry easily dashed in among them from behind. The nature of the ground was quite favorable for its maneuvers and as it consisted of strong active fellows, most of the horses being, moreover, powerful and fiery animals, our small body of cavalry in every way made the best use of their weapons. When we, who were already hotly engaged with the enemy, espied our cavalry, we fought with renewed energy, while the latter, by attacking them in the rear at the same time, now obliged them to face about. The Indians, who had never seen any horses before, could not think otherwise than that horse and rider were one body. Quite astounded at this to them so novel a sight, they quitted the plain and retreated to a rising ground.

  The Spanish victory at Cintla was an important step to the conquest of the Aztec Empire. That happened eleven months later.

  II

  Native American Horses

  2

  The Dun Horse

  by George Bird Grinnell

  As the founder of the National Audubon Society, naturalist George Bird Grinnell may be best known for his love of American birds. But his admiration for Native American culture was equally important to him. He devoted much of his life to gathering the histories and legends of several tribes of the Great Plains, including the Pawnee, who honored him with the name “White Wolf.” Grinnell’s 1899 compilation of the Pawnee legends included the story of a dun pony who saved his master from ridicule and starvation and then assured him a future of prosperity and respect.

  Many years ago there lived in the Pawnee tribe an old woman and her grandson, a boy about sixteen years old. These people had no relations and were very poor. They were so poor that they were despised by the rest of the tribe. They had nothing of their own; and always, after the village started to move the camp from one place to another, these two would stay behind the rest, to look over the old camp and pick up anything that the other Indians had thrown away as worn out or useless. In this way they would sometimes get pieces of robes, worn out moccasins with holes in them, and bits of meat.

  Now, it happened one day, after the tribe had moved away from the camp, that this old woman and her boy were following along the trail behind the rest, when they came to a miserable old worn-out dun horse, which they supposed had been abandoned by some Indians. He was thin and exhausted, was blind of one eye, had a bad sore back, and one of his forelegs was very much swollen. In fact, he was so worthless that none of the Pawnees had been willing to t
ake the trouble to try to drive him along with them. But when the old woman and her boy came along, the boy said, “Come now, we will take this old horse, for we can make him carry our pack.” So the old woman put her pack on the horse, and drove him along, but he limped and could only go very slowly.

  The tribe moved up on the North Platte until they came to Court House Rock. The two poor Indians followed them and camped with the others. One day while they were here, the young men who had been sent out to look for buffalo came hurrying into camp and told the chiefs that a large herd of buffalo were near and that among them was a spotted calf.

  The Head Chief of the Pawnees had a very beautiful daughter, and when he heard about the spotted calf, he ordered his old crier to go about through the village and call out that the man who killed the spotted calf should have his daughter for his wife. For a spotted robe is ti-war’-uks-ti—big medicine.

  The buffalo were feeding about four miles from the village, and the chiefs decided that the charge should be made from there. In this way, the man who had the fastest horse would be the most likely to kill the calf. Then all the warriors and the young men picked out their best and fastest horses, and made ready to start. Among those who prepared for the charge was the poor boy on the old dun horse. But when they saw him, all the rich young braves on their fast horses pointed at him and said, “Oh, see; there is the horse that is going to catch the spotted calf”; and they laughed at him, so that the poor boy was ashamed, and rode off to one side of the crowd, where he could not hear their jokes and laughter.

  When he had ridden off some little way the horse stopped and turned his head round, and spoke to the boy. He said, “Take me down the creek, and plaster me all over with mud. Cover my head and neck and body and legs.” When the boy heard the horse speak, he was afraid; but he did as he was told. Then the horse said, “Now mount, but do not ride back to the warriors, who laugh at you because you have such a poor horse. Stay right here until the word is given to charge.” So the boy stayed there.