Arrival of The Horse
The horse was originally introduced to North America about 40 million years ago, and reintroduced in 1519 by Hernando Cortez, when they were brought into the Southwest. By 1650, the First Nations of the American Southwest had adopted the horse as a part of their culture. By 1720-30, the horse had reached the Northwestern Plains and Plateau, on both sides of the Rocky Mountains. By 1750, the horse was seen in South Dakota and by 1770, among the Eastern Sioux. Twenty years later, the horse had replaced the dog as the major goods carrier, though both were used together until modern times.
Artifacts courtesy of the Glenbow Museum Collection,
Calgary, Alberta
Possession of the horse expanded the domain of the Plains Indians. It fostered a fast new discipline for hunting the buffalo, and encouraged trade trips. Encampments could be further apart, and much greater distances could be covered. The new skill of horseback riding led to the new battle and raiding tactics, and was a new test of the physical prowess, one of the measures of bravery. With the aid of the horse, inter-tribal warfare also grew at this time.
Introduction of the horse also meant that more goods could be carried for longer distances and at a faster pace than that of the dog. The dog travois, a simple, convenient method of transport gave way to a much larger and sturdier travois led by the horse. The travois consisted of two poles fastened at one end to either side of a dog or horse harness, with a hide strung in-between and the other ends of the poles simply dragging along the ground. Larger and heavier loads could be easily and quickly transported.
Artifacts courtesy of the Glenbow
Museum Collection, Calgary, Alberta
The use of a saddle became more of an individual preference than a necessity. Many hunters preferred to ride bareback because of the danger of entanglement when a saddled horse was gored in battle or stumbled. A pad saddle might be used on its own without the horn or stirrup and instead of a bridle or bit, a single piece of rawhide, was sometimes used to reign in the horse. A woman’s saddle differed from the men’s quite significantly. It was made of wood and covered in rawhide, but had a high back, which was covered in a buffalo robe, so it could be folded back over her head in the cold. This type of saddle was sometimes known as the “prairie chicken snare saddle.”
Horse gear such as the crupper and horse collar, were elaborate and highly decorated with embroidery and beadwork. The crupper was attached to the back of a saddle and looped under the horse’s tail. The horse collar was used as part of the festival “trappings” on a woman’s horse. Of the Plains Indians, Crow horse equipment was considered to be the most elaborately beaded, reaching its height of “showiness” between 1880 and 1910.
