The western cowboy perched on his trusty horse is an icon of the old west, especially when we think of the many important cattle ranching families like the Cartwrights with a 65,000 acre spread northeast of Cave Creek at Seven Springs. The horse and cattle were introduced to the New World by the Spanish starting
with Christopher Columbus’ second voyage in 1493 when he landed in today’s
Dominican Republic (with seventeen boats this time). By 1519, Hernan Cortez
brought cattle and horses to North America, specifically Veracruz, Mexico. From there, horses spread all over North and South America. The history of each animal is intriguing.
Because of the Spanish introduction of the horse, one might think horse-history
began in Europe, or perhaps Eurasia where the horse was first domesticated
about 5,500 years ago, but horse-history didn’t start there. The history of the
horse actually began in North America about fifty-six million years ago (when they were the size of small dogs) and ended with their North American extinction, between 10,000 and as late as 7,600 years ago.
At one time scientists believed horses became extinct before the arrival of early humans when Paleoindians (Siberians) were using a land-bridge called Beringia (one of several probable entry routes), crossed from today’s Siberia (Russia) into today’s Alaska, eventually dispersing into the Americas (this land-bridge manifested due to lower sea-levels, about 400 feet lower, during the last Ice Age, as water was trapped in glaciers). Contradicting the above, DNA evidence, reported from the University of Calgary, indicates the early horse and humans could have lived together for up to 6,000 years, although horses were hunted for food at that time. So how did horses survive after becoming extinct in North America and eventually ending up in Europe? Interestingly, as Paleoindians were entering North America, horses were leaving North America, using the same land- bridge ensuring their survival until the Spanish brought them back many centuries later.
The Criollo Cattle brought by Columbus to the New World were hardy and
durable, they could tolerate extreme heat, cold, and drought. DNA tests show Criollo Cattle became the foundation for Texas Longhorns.
The modern cow resulted from the domestication of a large wild bovine, the
auroch. The domestication of this wild ox started about 10,000 years ago in
today’s Turkey or Pakistan. The wild auroch was fierce and about twice the size of cattle today. Late Paleolithic (Stone Age) people started selecting the smallest and most docile aurochs for breeding, modern day size and docility resulted. In 1627, the last auroch became extinct in the Jaktorow Forest in Poland. In addition to the horse and cattle, the Spanish introduced sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, mules, and donkeys to the Americas.
It’s also important to remember, measles, influenza, mumps, typhus, whooping cough, bubonic plague, yellow fever, and the most damaging disease- smallpox, were brought to the New World by the Spanish. A study by scientists at University College London made the following statement, “Settlers [the Spanish Conquistadors] killed off huge numbers of people in conflicts and also by spreading disease, which reduced the indigenous population by 90% in the
century following Christopher Columbus….” This number is around fifty-six million dead.
