Wild Mustangs Essay, Research Paper

Wild mustangs have captured the ideas and imaginativeness of about everyone at some point in clip. From images of wild Equus caballuss silhouetted against the sundown, to visions of the Wild West and the Cowboys and Indians that rode the wild mustangs and ponies. But how much of these narratives are true and what portion is pure imaginativeness?

My gramps was a husbandman for many old ages in southern Nevada, and although he was ne’er a & # 8220 ; mustanger & # 8221 ; he used to state me some really exciting narratives when we would travel back to the farm for a visit. I remember as a kid looking out across the skyline, and thought, if I looked hard plenty, possibly, merely possibly, I would catch a glance of the wild Equus caballuss that ran through those parts. And as a kid with a great imaginativeness, I was certain that I saw them -just beyond the skyline! My gramps has long since sold the farm, moved to town, and passed off. But the narratives that he told me and the images that I made in my caput remain every bit clear as twenty-four hours and they are what brought me to my subject. I wanted to cognize where the wild mustangs came from, and what has happened to them.

One of the first reported sightings of a wild Equus caballus in Nevada was by John Bidwell in the narration he wrote as a member of the first emigre train to California in 1841. The train had been following the Humboldt River and at a halt he writes, & # 8220 ; we saw a lone Equus caballus, an indicant that trappers had some clip been in the locality. We tried to catch him but failed ; he had been at that place long plenty to go really wild. & # 8221 ; ( Amaral 15 ) Another early siting was made by Dan De Quille, who was on a prospecting trip as a newsman for the Territorial Enterprise that was published in Virginia City. He reported that his party saw seven wild Equus caballuss feeding in the vale of the Stillwater Range, E of Fallon. De Quille surmised that the horsed were & # 8220 ; American Equus caballuss strayed from the droves brought across the fields by emigrants. & # 8221 ; ( Amaral 15 )

Are the wild mustangs that have been fantasized about for so many coevalss truly merely & # 8220 ; stray & # 8221 ; or ferine Equus caballuss? Well, as I was a small defeated to detect, yes they are, but they have a really interesting history.

The modern Equus caballus that is found in America was introduced by manner of Europe, non merely by the Spanish but besides by the colonists along the Atlantic seaside. Horses were among the first animate beings brought by these people to America. The Spanish brought Equus caballuss to America every bit early as 1514, when the Spanish first arrived in Mexico. Over clip the Equus caballuss spread northerly into the American West. Other Equus caballuss besides migrated west from the eastern seaside. These are the same Equus caballuss that were acquired by the Indians through both trade and larceny. This history makes the Equus caballuss know in the West non a wild mustang but ferine Equus caballus, a Equus caballus that once had been domesticated, or its descendent. These Equus caballuss may hold developed some markers and senses that characterized its ascendants populating in the wild, but it was still the modern Equus. ( Wyman ) The debut of the Equus caballus to America by the Europeans was non the first clip Equus caballuss had roamed the Americas.

The true wild Equus caballus is a distant ascendant of the domesticated and ferine Equus caballus of our epoch, and was autochthonal to the American continent. In those old ages so long ago, when subtropical forests and exuberant flora provided a hospitable environment, and after the dinosaurs had been gone, the first Equus caballus was about the size of a fox. Its forefoot had four toes and the dorsum had three. Scientists have found 1000s of crushed skulls and skeleton fragments of this bantam animate being, called Eohippus. ( Haines 5 ) Another distinguishable type of the early Equus caballus was a three-toed animal the size of a sheep. These animate beings developed and adapted over clip. The last believed phase in this development of the Equus caballus shows the size of the skeleton to run from the smallest Zetland pony to a big bill of exchange Equus caballus. There is a skeleton mounted in the Yale Museum that stands 15 custodies high and is said to hold & # 8220 ; somewhat the proportions of a western bronco, but with a really big caput and with dentitions greater than the modern camion Equus caballus & # 8230 ; & # 8221 ; ( Wyman 20 ) . This one-toed animate being roamed non merely the North and South American continents but besides Europe and Asia. Evolutionary information shows the gradual alteration in castanetss, dentitions, and the skeleton of the Equus caballus, every bit good as the development of particular parts of the organic structure impacting its ability to run and eat. It is unknown why the Equus caballus disappeared in North and South America but non in Asia. There are several theories, but none seem to keep as it is apparent from the astonishing manner in which the few imported Equus caballuss multiplied and spread, that the environment was right. We therefor look to other grounds of extinction such as insect-transmitted disease. It is likely that we would be without Equus caballuss at all had there non been a migration of the prehistoric Equus caballus to Africa and Asia, where the line continued to develop into the modern Equus and besides the zebra and the buttocks.

There seems to be no understanding as to the hereditary place of the Equus caballus. Claims have been made that the Tarpan or the Equus Przhevalski, found on the Gobi Desert in recent old ages, is the true primogenitor of the modern Equus caballus. This animate being was found by the Russian ground forces officer, Przhevalski, and brought to the United States and England to be studied. These Equus caballuss can still be found and caught in the steppe state of Asia, but there is no grounds that they can be domesticated.

Modern Equus caballuss are presumed to hold their beginning in several wild species, and non merely the Tarpan entirely. Regardless of their definite beginning, and line of decent, they thrived and spread from Asia to Europe. In Europe the development of the Equus caballus is that of its incorporation into civilisation. This incorporation finally led to the return of the Equus caballus to North America.

As stated before, the Spanish were the first to convey the Equus caballus to America. In fact, Columbus deserves the recognition for being the really first to present the Equus caballus to the New World. On his 2nd trip to the West Indies, Columbus brought a few Equus caballuss to set up spreads in Santo Domingo. Apparently Columbus had a steadfast belief in ranching, as for several old ages, every ship so carried Equus caballuss to the New World and it is likely that by 1500 a just beginning in ranching had been made.

Though the Spanish were the first to present the Equus caballus to America, the English colonists besides brought their ain Equus caballuss. In 1609 there is a missive from Virginia to England that shows that the first Equus caballuss had been introduced at that place. On July 1, 1630, John Winthrop noted in his diary that of the two ships that arrived that twenty-four hours, that & # 8220 ; their riders were wholly in good wellness, but most of their cowss were dead ; wherof a female horse and a Equus caballus of mine. & # 8221 ; ( Wyman 30 )

Once the Equus caballuss had been reintroduced to America, it took really small for the population of the Equus caballuss to take off. By the clip of the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1803, Equus caballuss existed in big Numberss throughout the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains. In the decennaries that followed, & # 8220 ; as one enthusiastic author of the 1930s put it, horses & # 8216 ; captured the West & # 8217 ; in one of the universes most & # 8216 ; momentous & # 8217 ; development. & # 8221 ; ( Paskett x )

In the old ages after the Civil War, wild Equus caballuss ranged in big figure throughout the West. They became both a resource and a nuisance to the progressing white colonists. They were seen non every bit merely a symbol of the American West, but as a rival of domestic farm animal for provender. Wild Equus caballus Numberss surged foremost on the Plains, as the American bison were exterminated, and so reduced as farm animal and homestead frontiers advanced. Horses had been killed for their fells or for population control every bit early as Spanish times. & # 8220 ; Now a generation-long pursuit ensued as cowboying Americans bit by bit forced wild Equus caballuss into more distant localities. & # 8221 ; ( Paskett x )

Nevada became one of those & # 8220 ; more distant vicinities & # 8221 ; for a figure of grounds. First, the ecology of the Great Basin country, of which most of Nevada is the bosom, was really ask foring to the Equus caballuss. Nevada was one of the last countries of the West to be explored and settled. And the Indians in this part lacked the societal organisation of those on the Great Plains. In his book, Anthony Amaral said that it would be more likely that the Indians in this part would devour a Equus caballus they found than that they would set it to utilize. ( 17 ) The combination of these factors made Nevada a premier country for the wild Equus caballuss to populate and Nevada & # 8217 ; s Equus caballuss became the prototype of what people called the & # 8220 ; American Equus caballus & # 8221 ; .

Now, what do I intend by & # 8220 ; American Equus caballus & # 8221 ; ? Well, there were truly three sorts of wild Equus caballuss: Spanish Equus caballuss of good quality ( from Mexico, California, and Texas ) , Indian ponies, and American Equus caballuss, which were the most common in Nevada. Because Nevada didn & # 8217 ; t pull the Spanish colony, it didn & # 8217 ; Ts have a big figure of Spanish Equus caballuss nor was at that place many Indian ponies as the Indians in the part did non utilize Equus caballuss. That left the country unfastened for the American Equus caballus. A Equus caballus that was a merchandise of the multiple maps desired of a Equus caballus on an eastern or midwestern farm. The American Equus caballus was a mixture of European strains, preponderantly inhuman bill of exchange types and because of heavy importing of the bill of exchange Equus caballus ; size became the chief hallmark of the American Equus caballus.

The form of ranching in Nevada besides contributed to the wild Equus caballus population. It was the epoch of the unfastened scope. There was 1000s of square stat mis of flatlands and mountains, canons and vales covered with a assortment of grasses, and most significantly, no fencings. The attitude of early ranching in Nevada looked at raising hay as & # 8220 ; detrimental to the cowss & # 8217 ; s enterprise to run and happen its feed. & # 8221 ;

( Amaral 23 ) For case, in 1880, merely 520 estates of hay were cut in the full province. Horses and cowss merely roamed and many were ne’er claimed in the one-year roundups. Ranchers even turned Equus caballuss out during periods of drouth, when they had small of no provender. The Equus caballuss would so run for provender, and finally fall in together to organize sets.

Equally long as Equus caballuss were slackly ranged they were changeless attractive forces to the wild herds. A rancher named Wilkinson turned out 15 hundred female horses on Diamond A Range of Elko county to run for the winter. When he and his crew returned that spring to roll up them, they found that many had joined the wild herds and were virtually impossible to catch. Merely a few were really reclaimed. ( Young 17 )

Horses were continually being added to the wild herds it seemed. During economic slacks, Equus caballus ranchers turned out their stock to be gathered at a hereafter day of the month. Merely many of those Equus caballuss ran natural state for the remainder of their lives. When mining cantonments folded or little ranchers went bust, the Equus caballuss that were non needed were merely turned free. Numbers of wild Equus caballuss were largest in Nevada, probably over a 100 thousand by 1900. There were plenty of them to justify statute law in the 1890s to dispose of wild Equus caballuss which ranchers considered marauders of decreasing grass on the scope.

With wild Equus caballus Numberss steadily mounting and the quality of the rangeland steadily decreasing, ranchers in Nevada followed the remainder of the West and launched what seemed to be an all out war against the wild Equus caballuss. A new signifier of cowpunchers arose for this clip, a group of difficult siting equestrians called mustangers who made their life capturing mustangs.

Charles & # 8220 ; Pete & # 8221 ; Barnum was a well-known early mustanger. He came to Nevada from South Dakota in 1903 and joined the roundup. He was a bright cat, and noticed that the methods of capturing the Equus caballuss presently used were uneconomical. One such method was called & # 8220 ; wrinkling & # 8221 ; , where a rifleman would try to crop the spinal nervus along the top of the cervix in an effort to stupefy the Equus caballus long plenty for the huntsman to bind it up. Obviously more Equus caballuss were killed than captured by this method. Another technique used was to & # 8220 ; walk down & # 8221 ; a herd. For this method two or more riders working in relays and would follow a set until the Equus caballuss became excessively tired or footsore to defy. As it can be imagined this was a really inefficient method as it was a waste of clip, ( it normally took eight to ten yearss to have on out a herd ) and this method excessively, frequently resulted in the hurt or even decease of a Equus caballus.

Barnum began to look for alternate methods. He had noticed that the Equus caballuss would non try to leap through or over anything that they could non see through. This gave him an thought. Cow pens had been used before, but they took several yearss to put up, and the building would frequently do the Equus caballuss in the country nervous and drive them off. Taking these elements into consideration, Barnum came up with his canvas cow pens. Not merely were they safer for the animate beings, but they were lightweight, easy to transport and could be set up in merely a few hours. He became rather successful at this concern and retired at the age of thirty-eight in 1914. ( Young 24 )

Advancement, nevertheless, is inevitable and it was non long before aeroplanes joined the industry. Archie Meyers attempted the first aerial roundup in 1930 in Oregon and failed. But one Floyd Hanson flew the mountains of western Nevada from 1936 to 1938 and was successful. With his & # 8220 ; Sirens howling he would trail the Equus caballuss, winging so low that the plane & # 8217 ; s wheels would about touch the dorsums of the horses. & # 8221 ; ( Young 25 )

The plane proved to be rather effectual, in fact excessively efficient. As the plane became a great tool in the Equus caballus roundups, a big market for fringy quality Equus caballuss opened up in the turning favored nutrient, and chicken provender concern. And as Young said, & # 8220 ; a form was established: planes kept providing ; the provender industry kept utilizing ; the Equus caballuss kept disappearing. & # 8221 ; ( 26 ) As the success added more and more people to this industry, the incidence of Equus caballus maltreatment increased. This maltreatment is what finally caused an terminal of aerial roundups and indirectly contributed to the transition of Torahs, which basically closed the door on mustanging as a concern.

The horribly cruel and inhumane methods that were used to take big figure of Equus caballuss from Nevada went virtually unnoticed until Velma Johnston brought the issue before the populace. She had seen a truckload of dog-tired and literally mutilated horsed on their manner to butcher one twenty-four hours in 1950 on her manner to work. When she learned that they had been rounded-up by aeroplanes, her battle that earned her the name & # 8220 ; Wild Equus caballus Annie & # 8221 ; began.

Subsequently in 1952, when Velma learned of a proposed aeroplane roundup in the Virginia Range near her spread, she and her protagonists took a base. Permission was needed signifier the Storey County Board of Commissioners before the roundup could take topographic point. Velma and others attended the meeting and expressed their positions. They were converting plenty that the Commissioners denied the license for that roundup and & # 8220 ; a hebdomad subsequently they passed declaration forbiding the usage of any airborne equipment during a roundup of wild Equus caballuss or burros in the county. & # 8221 ; ( Young 26 ) From this encouragement, Velma took her aspirations even further. In 1955 she win in the transition of a jurisprudence forbiding the usage of airborne and other motor-driven vehicles to run the wild Equus caballuss, and doing it illegal to foul the lacrimation holes to pin down the Equus caballuss.

This was some protection for the Equus caballuss, but non plenty, more federal ordinance was needed. Velma and legion informants testified at the congressional hearings in Washington, D.C. assisting easy go through the Wild Horse and Burro Act. Pres. Nixon signed the measure into jurisprudence in 1971, and with it assured the wild Equus caballus a legal place on the scope. Velma & # 8220 ; Wild Horse Annie & # 8221 ; Johnston died in 1977 after a long, tough and successful battle.

& # 8220 ; Wild Horse Annie & # 8221 ; was non the first to be concerned with the fate of wild Equus caballuss ; she was merely the first to convey it to the states & # 8217 ; attending. Her attempts included the formation of two protection organisations: the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros ( ISPMB ) and Wild Horse Organized Assistance ( WHOA ) . These groups and a few others have kept active in seeking to better the batch of the wild Equus caballuss.

In that 1971 jurisprudence wild Equus caballuss were given the alone position of & # 8220 ; populating symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West. & # 8221 ; This makes them neither wildlife nor farm animal, they are & # 8220 ; considered as an built-in portion of the natural system of the public lands & # 8221 ; , but merely on that part of public lands that they inhabited when the jurisprudence was passed in 1971. ( Young 28 ) Most of the lands that the Equus caballuss presently run on, nevertheless, are BLM lands, which puts the federal authorization to pull off, protect and command the wild Equus caballuss on the shoulders of the Bureau of Land Management. And as Young said & # 8220 ; What happens in Nevada is important to the effectivity and success of plans initiated through the Wild Horse and Burro Act since 51 % of the protected animate beings inhabit this state. & # 8221 ; ( 28 )

The bureaus in charge of the Equus caballuss today are directed to maintain a current stock list of the wild Equus caballuss, to find appropriate direction degrees, make findings as to whether overpopulation exists and what actions should be taken. The public sentiment is taken into history through citizen groups that meet with the BLM to discourse Equus caballus issues and to do recommendations. Final determinations, nevertheless, are made by the bureau.

There are several methods presently in usage to maintain the wild Equus caballus population under control. BLM conducts humane roundups in determined countries utilizing choppers to gaining control and trucks to transport the animate beings. An Adopt-A-Horse plan is besides in usage and is a favorite mean of disposing of the healthy Equus caballuss. The acceptance centre is located in Palomino Valley, North of Sparks. Other acceptance installations are maintained throughout most western provinces and a few scattered shelters. Unfortunately, more Equus caballuss are rounded up than are adopted. Thus a signifier of stud sterilisation has been experimented with and appears to be successful, though non yet practical, as there are so many Equus caballuss. Amendments to show Torahs and new policies are still being enacted. Thankfully the wild Equus caballuss and burros on the public scope have been assured their right to existence by jurisprudence. The quandary remains what are appropriate population degrees and how should those degrees be attained.

& # 8220 ; The western mustang of yesterday was a unusually lasting species. Through the centuries, he managed doggedly to last the relentless efforts to kill him. & # 8221 ; ( Amaral ) The wild mustang has disappeared from the present twenty-four hours narratives, as have the narratives of the Wild West. But the Equus caballuss that roamed the fields for centuries are still here, and will be here, hopefully for centuries to come. The wild mustang & # 8220 ; captured the West & # 8221 ; along with the Black Marias and imaginativenesss of so many. It formed a brotherhood with Americans so intimate and profound that work forces still measure power by the figure of Equus caballuss. I hope that brotherhood will be remembered and with it, the wild mustang.

Amaral, Anthony. Mustang & # 8211 ; Life and Legends of Nevada & # 8217 ; s Wild Horses. Reno, Nevada: University of Nevada Press, 1977.

Haines, Francis. Horses in America. New York: Thomas Y. Cromwell Company, 1971.

Paskett, Parley J. Wild Mustangs. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press, 1986.

Wyman, Walker D. The Wild Horse of the West. Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton Printers, 1945.

Young, Cheryl A. The Wild Horse in Nevada. Carson City, Nevada: Nevada State Printing Office, 1985.