Famous Horses in History – Comanche by Donna Schlachter with Giveaway

Comanche, 1872 (Courtesy Wikipedia)

In our second installment of Famous Horses in History, we are going to take a look at another war horse, Comanche. While his exact date of birth isn’t known, he was bought by the US Army in 1868 in St. Louis, Missouri, and sent to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He was thought to be part mustang and part Morgan, giving him good lineage for living on the plains as well as having stamina and personality. Captain Myles Keough liked the versatile size of the gelding, and purchased him to use as his personal mount, to be ridden only in battle. He usually rode Paddy on marches, while Comanche followed with the other extra horses. Apparently, Keough wanted to keep Comanche fresh for the fighting. 

Captain Myles Keough

 

Comanche was wounded several times prior to Little Big Horn, and each time, the horse continued through the battles and was treated after the fighting ended. One such report was that in 1868, he was wounded in the hindquarters by an arrow, but carried Keough in the fight. He was then named “Comanche” to honor his bravery and toughness. Comanche healed quickly, and Keough was proud of his fearless horse who was never afraid to enter a battle, even though he’d had many injuries.

On June 25, 1876, General George Custer led the 7th Calvary into battle at the Little Big Horn, and Captain Keough rode Commanche into what is now known as Custer’s Last Stand. Every soldier in the battle died, as did most of the horses, and Comanche was one of perhaps 100 Army horses that survived. There is even a report that a yellow bulldog made it through the battle. Most of these mounts were taken by the natives, although their fate is unknown, as the Army horses were more accustomed to a diet of rich grasses, hay, and grain, and tended not to fare well on the native diet of whatever forage they could find.

Severely wounded, Comanche was discovered two days after the end of the fighting, standing beside his owner’s body. He was shipped to Fort Lincoln to recover from his wounds.

Following that, he received the honorary title of Second Commanding Officer and was retired. This time, however, his healing took longer due to the extensive number of wounds. Part of the official order said, “his kind treatment and comfort shall be a matter of special pride and solicitude on the part of every member of the Seventh Calvary to the end of his life…Wounded and scarred as he is, his very existence speaks in terms more eloquent than words, of the desperate struggle against overwhelming numbers…he will never be ridden…nor will he be put to any kind of work.” In accordance with the order, he was never ridden again. He led official parades, with a pair of Calvary riding boots reversed in the stirrups to honor his fallen owner and fellow soldiers.

A reporter from the Bismack Tribune was so inspired by the order that he visited Fort Lincoln to interview the horse, writing that he asked the usual question, and the subject acknowledged with “a toss of his head, a stamp of his foot, and a flourish of his tail.”

However, his official keeper, John Rivers of Company 1, added more details, including that the horse had been found in 1876 following the fatal battle by Sergeant DeLacey, severely wounded. He had serious wounds, including four bullets, three of which were extracted following the battle, and the fourth in April 1877. His keeper didn’t consider him an extraordinary specimen, but acknowledged he was noble looking.

Comanche stayed at Fort Lincoln until June 1879, then the Seventh Regiment moved him to Fort Riley, Kansas in 1887, where he became something of a pet. He enjoyed the run of the post grounds and acquired a taste for beer due to all the toasts made to his bravery in battle.

On November 7, 1891, at the estimated age of 29, Comanche passed away from colic.

Comanche on display at Kansas University (courtesy of The Wayback Machine)

 

A well-known Kansas taxidermist was commissioned to preserve his body, which was exhibited at the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893, before being moved to the Kansas University where he is currently on display. He is one of only four horses to be given a military funeral with full honors.

 

Leave a comment and I will draw randomly for an ebook “Christmas Under the Stars”, which also features horses. Please include your cleverly disguised email address (so the ‘bots don’t get you). For example: donna AT livebytheword DOT com

About Christmas Under the Stars:

November 1858, Utah Territory: Edie Meredith strives to keep her temper and her tongue under control as she heads west with her brother to California. Raised in an itinerant preacher family, she promises she will never marry a man of the cloth. Tom Aiken, drover of the wagon train, longs to answer his true calling: to preach, and while he realizes not every woman would choose a preacher for a husband, he hopes to soon find his help-meet. Suspicious ‘accidents’ plague their journey. Is someone trying to keep them from reaching their destination? Or will misunderstanding and circumstances keep them apart?

About Donna:

A hybrid author, Donna writes squeaky clean historical and contemporary suspense. She has been published more than 60 times in books; is a member of several writers' groups; facilitates a critique group; teaches writing classes; and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, traveling extensively for both, and is an avid oil painter. She is taking all the information she’s learned along the way about the writing and publishing process, and is coaching committed writers eager to tell their story.

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Resources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comanche_(horse)

University of Kansas Natural History Museum

https://web.archive.org/web/20101028094838/http://custerlives.com/custer4.htm

Literature Appel, David (1951). Comanche: Story of America's Most Heroic Horse. World Publishing Company. ASIN B0007HG0SW.

Movies Tonka (1958), also released as A Horse Named Comanche, a Walt Disney film starring Sal Mineo, based on David Appel's book
Comanche (2000), a film written and directed by Burt Kennedy, starring Kris Kristofferson and Wilford Brimley

The Wild Horses of the West: Legends on the Hoof

Wild Mustangs in Wyoming

The Wild West conjures up images of dusty trails, sprawling plains, and of course, wild horses galloping freely across the horizon. These iconic animals are more than just symbols of freedom and untamed spirit—they have deep roots in American history and culture.

Origins: From Escapees to Icons

Contrary to popular belief, horses are not native to North America. They originated here millions of years ago but went extinct around 10,000 years ago. It wasn’t until the early 1500s that horses returned to the continent, brought over by Spanish explorers like Hernán Cortés. Some horses escaped or were released, and over time, they formed free-roaming herds across the Great Plains, deserts, and mountainous regions.

These feral descendants of domesticated horses came to be known as mustangs—a term derived from the Spanish word mesteño, meaning "stray" or "ownerless." By the 18th and 19th centuries, mustangs had spread across vast areas of the western U.S., from Texas to Nevada.
Work and Partnership

Wild horses weren’t just admired from afar—they became central to the lives of Native American tribes, cowboys, ranchers, and settlers. Tribes such as the Comanche quickly became expert horsemen, using them for hunting, travel, and warfare. Horses revolutionized life for many Plains tribes, granting them unmatched mobility.

During the heyday of the cowboy in the 1800s, horses were indispensable. They were used for cattle drives, farming, transport, and even mail delivery through the Pony Express. A well-trained horse was as valuable as gold, and bonds between rider and steed were often deep and lifelong.

Care and Challenges

While wild horses thrived in open landscapes, domesticated horses required care. Cowboys and ranchers provided feed, clean water, shoeing, and shelter. Caring for a horse also meant regular grooming, vet care, and ensuring the animal wasn’t overworked.

In the wild, mustangs had to fend for themselves, facing predators, drought, and competition for food. Today, their numbers are managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), as overpopulation can threaten both the horses and the delicate ecosystems they roam.

Legends and Folklore

Comanche, with saddle and bridle, held by a soldier.
Public domain image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The West is rich with horse legends. One of the most famous horses in folklore is Comanche, the horse of Captain Myles Keogh of the 7th Cavalry. After the battle in 1876, Comanche was found gravely wounded but alive—one of the few survivors from Custer’s detachment. He was taken in and nursed back to health by the U.S. Army. Comanche was given full military honors and lived out the rest of his days at Fort Riley, Kansas. He received exceptional care and never carried a rider again.

After his death in 1891, Comanche’s remains were preserved through taxidermy. Today, you can see him on display at the University of Kansas Natural History Museum in Lawrence, Kansas. His mounted form is carefully maintained as a historical artifact, housed in a temperature- and humidity-controlled environment to ensure his preservation. The exhibit includes information about his life, the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and his unique place in American military and equine history.

Roy Rogers and Trigger in a publicity photo.
Public domain image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Trigger, the golden palomino of cowboy actor Roy Rogers, achieved the status of movie star in his own right. Trigger appeared in films and performed tricks that dazzled his audiences.

Then there’s the ghostly tale of the Phantom Stallion, a recurring motif in Western lore that embodies the mystery and majesty of the Wild West. This legendary horse is said to roam the wide-open ranges alone, a beautiful, powerful creature with a coat as white as snow or as black as night—depending on the version told. Elusive and wild-eyed, the Phantom Stallion is rarely seen for more than a fleeting moment, vanishing like mist before anyone can get close. Ranchers, cowboys, and travelers speak of catching glimpses of him on moonlit ridges or across distant valleys, always just out of reach.

In many versions of the tale, the Phantom isn’t just a wild horse but the living embodiment of freedom itself. To some, spotting the stallion is a sign of good fortune, while others see him as an omen or a reminder that not all things can be tamed. The story has inspired countless books, songs, and even a popular young adult series, The Phantom Stallion by Terri Farley, which blends the myth with modern-day mustang advocacy.

The legend persists because it captures something timeless--the untamed spirit of the Wild West.

Final Thoughts

Listen carefully, and you will hear the echo of hoofbeats as the wild horses of the West run forward through time. They remain living legacies of America's past.

Over to You

Do you know of any other legendary horses of the Wild West? If you've seen wild horses, what did you experience?

About Janalyn Voigt

Janalyn Voigt fell in love with literature at an early age when her father read chapters from classics as bedtime stories. When Janalyn grew older, she put herself to sleep with tales "written" in her head. Today Janalyn is a storyteller who writes in several genres. Romance, mystery, adventure, history, and whimsy appear in all her novels in proportions dictated by their genre. 

Learn more about Janalyn Voigt and the books she writes.

Discover Montana Gold

Hills of Nevermore: A young widow hides her shameful secret from a blue-eyed circuit preacher.

Cheyenne Sunrise: A disillusioned young woman is forced to entrust herself to a half-Cheyenne guide.

Stagecoach to Liberty: To escape captivity, a young woman must trust a mysterious stranger.

The Forever Sky: Can a young widow with no faith in love reconcile with the man who broke her heart?

The Promise Tree: A preacher’s daughter knows she shouldn't encourage a troublemaker, no matter she promised him.

The Whispering Wind: Phoebe can have her pick of suitors but never the man she wants.

Learn More

Montana Gold Boxed Set (books 1-4 discounted)

The Castillo de San Marcos--Pt 6 (and a giveaway!)

 

By Jennifer Uhlarik

 

Hello, readers! Time for your next installment of the history of the Castillo de San Marcos. If you’ve been following along over the last handful of months, you’ve read about the Spanish building this large masonry fort in St. Augustine, Florida, how the fort came into British possession, was returned to Spanish control for a brief time, became an American acquisition, and then traded hands between the Federal and Confederate armies during the Civil War. So what happened after the war’s end? Life in the St. Augustine fort was quiet for only a decade before it next came into use.

 

The north wall of Fort Marion,
including the wooden barracks the
Native American prisoners built
on the upper gun deck.

As many of you may know, the western territories were fraught with conflict. Not just between lawmen and outlaws, but also with conflicts between the Native American tribes and the western settlers. Many battles cropped up between settlers and Indians, with much bloodshed on both sides, until the Frontier Army and the Native American tribes such as the Lakota Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Comanche, and others, were in an all-out war. There were many instances where whites attacked and massacred sleeping camps of Indians, and others where Indians wiped out whole wagon trains or military units. It was a long, drawn-out period where many lives were lost—a tragic piece of America’s history.

 

That war finally came to an end on the western plains in the mid-1870s. In 1874 and 1875, the various Indian tribes surrendered to the Army. Investigations were done into some of the most horrendous of attacks perpetuated by members of these tribes, and those who led them were singled out to be made examples of. The rest were sent to the reservations in Indian Territory (modern-day Oklahoma). While some Indians were tired of the decades of conflict and were willing to live peacefully, others chafed at the American government being able to tell them where and how they should live. Those in the latter group often attempted to stir up trouble within the reservation lands, leading their other tribesmen to rebel. So these men also were singled out for further punishment. In total, there were seventy-three men from five tribes—the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Comanche, Kiowa, and Caddo—who were to be punished. Their punishment was to be sent to distant Florida, far from their tribal lands, and completely cut off from their people, to be incarcerated in Fort Marion (aka the Castillo de San Marcos). 

 

Some of the seventy-three Plains
Indians, posing with Lt. Pratt,
soon after their arrival at
Fort Marion.

The trip from the west took roughly a month, and during that time, these seventy-three men traveled by wagon to reach the railroad, then by train all the way to the panhandle of Florida. There, they disembarked the train and boarded a steamboat for a brief ride south. Then another short train ride, and finally, they arrived at the fort they would call home for some unspecified time. Their travels east were not without difficulties. While the men were used to galloping for miles on horseback, the unfamiliar movements and sounds of the train made many of them sick at their stomachs. There was at least one escape attempt during a brief stop-over, leading to one of the seventy-three men being shot and left behind under military guard until he was well enough to travel. By the time these prisoners of war reached St. Augustine’s fort, they were shells of the fierce warriors they’d once been. Instead, they were thin and bedraggled, wrapped in blankets with shackles on their hands and feet. They shuffled through crowds of St. Augustine residents to reach the stone fort and face their punishment.

 

Uniformed Indians performing
morning drills.

The man who was placed in charge of the Indians’ care was one Lieutenant Richard
Henry Pratt. He quickly realized that his charges were wasting away with little to do, so he struck upon the idea to give them men structure. First, he instituted military drills and physical exercise, just like the Army soldiers were made to do. Then, Pratt began noticing that the casemate rooms in which the men slept each night were moldy. He put the Indians to work scrubbing the walls and ceilings. With each new task, the men’s outlook seemed to improve. They liked to work. It wasn’t long before Pratt approached his military superiors to ask about teaching the Indians reading, writing, simple arithmetic, and even trades with which to make money in the white man’s world. After some discussion, he was granted approval for the progressive plan, and Pratt teamed up with various women in the St. Augustine community to begin classes. Two of the most prominent women were Sarah Ann Mather and Rebecca Perit, who did much to further the lives of freed slaves and the Native Americans in St. Augustine. With their help, Lt. Pratt even began weekly church services within the fort, led by local ministers from the St. Augustine area.

 

Just like on the reservations, there were some who took to the new ways, and those who didn’t accept it as easily. But by and large, the Indians cooperated enough to make the plan work. For several hours each weekday morning, they would sit in class and learn to speak and read English, work simple math problems, and other academic subjects. In the afternoons, they would learn trades like shoe cobbling, blacksmithing, farming, and other skills that they would be able to carry into life after incarceration.

 

Example of Ledger Art drawn by one of the 
Plains Indians, depicting their travels
to Fort Marion.

As they embraced their new, structured day and showed themselves to be trustworthy, Pratt begin giving them more freedoms. When a local jeweler approached Lt. Pratt with the request to have the Indians gather and polish “sea beans” for him to sell in his store, they went to work. They were given time to go across Matanzas Bay to Anastasia Island and gather then beans, then spent hours polishing the beans to a high shine. They turned over thousands of the trinkets and were paid handsomely for their efforts. This led to other money-making ventures. Drawing “ledger art” and selling it outside the fort. Making bows and arrows to sell to tourists. Teaching those same tourists how to use the authentic weapons. In addition, they also began putting on cultural displays—powwows, Native dances, “buffalo” hunts (using cattle from local ranches and the worst of the nags the local livery stables had to offer). 

 

For three years, these industrious men were incarcerated in St. Augustine’s ancient fort. While many of those seventy-three fell ill to consumption (tuberculosis) and other illnesses, most survived and either returned to the reservations and their families—or, in some cases, followed Pratt on his next venture, which was to found the Carlisle Indian School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. 

 

It’s Your Turn: Lt. Richard Henry Pratt fought hard for the seventy-three Native American men he was put in charge of at Fort Marion in 1875. He employed progressive ideas to educate these men in hopes they might be able to one day integrate into society at large. In your opinion, was Pratt a hero for his ideas to help the Indian men learn skills that would help them integrate, or was he a villain for forcing them to embrace a culture not their own? Leave your honest opinion with an email address to be entered into a drawing for an autographed paperback copy of Love’s Fortress (US entries only). (I know this topic can bring some heated feelings, so please be kind in your responses)!

 

Award-winning, best-selling novelist Jennifer Uhlarik has loved the western genre since she read her first Louis L’Amour novel. She penned her first western while earning a writing degree from University of Tampa. Jennifer lives near Tampa with her husband, son, and furbabies. www.jenniferuhlarik.com

 

AVAILABLE NOW!

Love's Fortress by Jennifer Uhlarik

 

A Friendship From the Past Brings Closure to Dani’s Fractured Family

 

When Dani Sango’s art forger father passes away, Dani inherits his home. There, she finds a book of Native American drawings, which leads her to seek museum curator Brad Osgood’s help to decipher the ledger art. Why would her father have this book? Is it another forgery?

 

Brad Osgood longs to provide his four-year-old niece, Brynn, the safe home she desperately deserves. The last thing he needs is more drama, especially from a forger’s daughter. But when the two meet “accidentally” at St. Augustine’s 350-year-old Spanish fort, he can’t refuse the intriguing woman.

 

Broken Bow is among seventy-three Plains Indians transported to Florida in 1875 for incarceration at ancient Fort Marion. Sally Jo Harris and Luke Worthing dream of serving on a foreign mission field, but when the Indians reach St. Augustine, God changes their plans. However, when Sally Jo’s friendship with Broken Bow leads to false accusations, it could cost them their lives.

 

Can Dani discover how Broken Bow and Sally Jo’s story ends and how it impacted her father’s life?

 

St. Augustine, Florida and the Rise of Ledger Art

Group of Plains Indians on their arrival at Fort Marion, 1875

By Marilyn Turk

On May 21, 1875, seventy-two Native Americans arrived in St. Augustine, Florida, to be held as prisoners at Fort Marion (now called by its original name, Fort San Marcos). They had traveled over a thousand miles by wagon, railroad and steamboat from Fort Sill, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). These Native Americans had been chosen at random from other Indians captured during the 1874 Red River War of the Southern Plains.

The group included so-called ringleaders of raids on white settlers and included representatives from five different tribes - Cheyenne, Comanche, Kiowa, Arapaho, and Caddo. The Native Americans, shackled in chains and heavily guarded, slept on the dirt floor of the fort.

When Lieutenant Richard Henry Pratt of the 10^th Calvary was given charge over the prisoners, he improved their living conditions. The prisoners were unchained and allowed to move more freely around the fort. They were also given wood to build their own barracks on top of the gun deck (terreplein).

Native American soldiers

Lt. Pratt issued the prisoners military uniforms and had their hair cut. They were organized into guard units and taught to perform daily drills, engage in morning exercise routines and were subject to daily inspections like regular soldiers. In addition, Pratt organized camping bivouacs for the Native Americans on nearby Anastasia Island and taught them how to sail and fish.

Pratt believed Native Americans could be educated, so he recruited local teachers to come teach the English language, along with other elementary skills to the prisoners. Several of the fort’s rooms were turned into classrooms and one was converted to a chapel where local ministers would preach the gospel. Although Pratt’s goal was to “westernize” the Native Americans with his theory, “kill the Indian, save the man,” his approach to their treatment was more humane than many of his peers who did not see the Indians as human equals. 

Many of the Native Americans were accustomed to telling their stories by drawing on buffalo hides. Pratt encouraged their drawing skills by giving them pencils and paper from ledger books to use and later, sketch pads. In this way, the Native Americans preserved the history of their life on the plains, their journey to Florida and their life at the fort. Several of the Indians achieved some fame with their artwork.

Three years later, the prisoners at Fort Marion were released to the care of the Indian Bureau. Many returned west, but 22 expressed a desire to stay in the east and continue their education. Pratt made arrangements to have their education funded by white citizens. He convinced the superintendent of the Hampton School, a Virginia school started for freed slaves after the Civil War, to accept seventeen of these men as students. The remaining five went to live with families in the northeast.

Have you ever heard of ledger art? Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of my new book, Redeeming Light.

Add caption

Cora Miller, a recent widow, moves to St. Augustine in 1875 with her young daughter to start life over as a single mother. She opens a fine millinery shop and seeks the business of affluent town society. An unfortunate incident during the arrival of Indian prisoners results in Cora meeting a group of wealthy tourists.

When Daniel Worthington accompanied his mother and sister to St. Augustine, he didn’t expect their trip to coincide with the arrival of Plains Indians at the fort. But concern for their plight prompts him to use his art training to help the prisoners communicate. He has little interest in pretty hatmaker Cora Miller, who has no sympathy for the Native Americans and is only concerned with frivolities. But seeing her with a benevolence group at the fort, his opinion of her begins to change.

Just as Cora’s business is picking up, her wealthy customers report the theft of their jewelry. When the jewelry mysteriously appears in her shop, she is afraid of being accused of theft. What will happen to her if no one believes her? Will she lose everything she’s worked for, or will someone step up to her defense?

Cynthia Ann Parker

Susan Page Davis here. You can’t study Texas history without hearing the name Cynthia Ann Parker. Several of my books are set in the Lone Star State, and she is one of the first famous Texans I learned about.

    Cynthia was about eleven years old when she was captured by Comanches, and here is how it came about.

    She was born about 1825, in Illinois. Her parents moved to central Texas when she was nine or ten years old. Her father, John Parker, headed the move and took a large number of people from his extended family with them. They built a stockade, Fort Parker, on the headwaters of the Navasota River, in what is now Limestone County.

    The fort was built on a hill, giving the inhabitants a good view of anyone approaching. The settlers lived in log cabins inside the walls. Each day, they went outside the walls to farm. At night, they would drive their grazing animals inside the fort and bar the gate.

Source of this picture of Fort Parker unknown, public domain

    On May 19, 1836, several of the Parker men went out to tend their fields. They left the gate open. A short time later, a child looking out the gate saw about 150 mounted warriors (some accounts estimate up to 500) outside.

The Indians, mostly Comanche, claimed to be friendly at first. Benjamin Parker went out to talk to them. They asked for some beef and directions to the nearest water—and yet, the river ran nearby. Parker went inside the gate told the others he would go and talk to them some more. Still those inside did not close the gate, not wanting to shut out the men in the fields.

     The warriors killed Benjamin Parker and attacked the fort. They killed several of the settlers and captured five people, including Cynthia and her younger brother, John Parker. Then they chased the men who had been working outside the fort. Some were killed, and others managed to hide and escape.

Comanche chief Quanah Parker on horseback, late 1800s. Public Domain

      The other captives were released in a relatively short time, but not Cynthia Ann. She grew up among the Comanche people and became one of them. They gave her the name Nadua, and she darkened her hair to make her look more like her adopted people. She became the wife of Peta Nocona, a leader among the Comanche. They had two sons, Quanah and Pecos, and a daughter, Topsannah.

    Her brother, John, who had been ransomed, reportedly asked Cynthia to return to their family in the mid-1840s, but she refused. She told him she loved her husband and children too much to leave them. Another undocumented report tells of an Indian trader inviting her to return to the white settlements with him a few years later, again without success.

     Several federal officials and military officers reported seeing her over the years and attempting to ransom her and being refused by the Comanche elders, who said she was a member of the tribe.

Cynthia with her daughter, Topsannah

    In December, 1860, Cynthia Ann and her baby, Topsannah (“Prairie Flower”), were captured by a group of Texas Rangers during an attack on a Comanche hunting camp. The Rangers were surprised to find that one of their captives had blue eyes. They described her as a non-English-speaking white woman with an infant daughter. She was later identified by Col. Isaac Parker as his niece, Cynthia Ann.



    Cynthia at the time thought her husband was dead and cut her hair short, a Comanche tradition of mourning. She begged to be allowed to return with her daughter to the Comanche, but was refused. She agreed to accompany Col. Parker on the condition that her sons would be sent to her if they were found. This did not happen. She returned to the Parker family. She had lived with the Comanche for more than twenty-four years. By now, Cynthia Ann had disappeared. She considered herself Nadua, a Comanche woman.

Cynthia's son Quanah

    The Texas legislature voted her a grant of $100 a year for five years and a piece of land. Two of the Parker family men were appointed her guardians. Desperately unhappy and longing to be with her sons and her husband, Nadua tried several times to escape. She was placed under guard.

    When Topsannah died within three years of coming to the white community, Nadua grieved as a Comanche woman would, horrifying her relatives. She howled and slashed her arms and breasts with a knife. She refused to eat and died mourning at the home of one of her brothers, having never seen her Comanche family again. She was approximately forty-three years old.

    Her son Quanah became the most influential Comanche leader of the reservation era and took his mother’s last name, Parker. He moved her body in 1910 to the Post Oak Mission Cemetery near Cache, Oklahoma. Later, Cynthia Ann’s remains and Quanah Parker’s were reinterred at the Fort Sill Post Cemetery in Lawton, Oklahoma.

To enter a drawing for a copy of Susan Page Davis’s Captive Trail, a historical novel set in Texas, leave a comment and your contact information. The drawing will be held Oct. 28.

Susan Page Davis is the author of more than sixty published novels. She’s always interested in the unusual happenings of the past. She’s a two-time winner of the Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award, and also a winner of the Carol Award and the Will Rogers Medallion, and a finalist in the WILLA Awards and the More Than Magic Contest. Visit her website at: www.susanpagedavis.com .
All photos on this post are in the public domain.

Horses in History

Patricia PacJac Carroll here again to talk about horses.

 I love horses. When I was a teen, I would ride my Appaloosa mare, Misty Blue, and we would charge through the pasture. There is nothing so free as riding a horse running full out. They are truly works of art when you see them galloping wild and proud with their head up, tail outstretched, and even if for only the briefest of moments, flying over the earth as all of the their hooves leave earth.

One reason I love writing about the Wild West is I can write about horses. You’ll find them, named and beloved, in my stories. Murphy, Galahad, and Fancy in Golden Dreams. Southern Star, Banjo, and Fuego in Liberty Belle.

So I got to wondering. (One of my favorite things to do.  : ) What role did horses play in history?  Quite a bit I found out. In the Bible, God instructs Job on how He fashioned the horse for battle. Wars and battles were won or lost by men on horseback. Note the famous quotation from 

Shakespeare’s King Richard III:  

A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse! 

So it is little surprise that many of the horses known from history were those ridden by military heroes.  

To start, we’ll go way back to 344 B. C. and find Bucephalus. This mighty, black steed belonged to Alexander the Great. According to legend, no one could tame the horse until 13 yr old Alexander got hold of him. The horse fought in many battles and is depicted in paintings and statues. The powerful steed died in battle at the age of 30 in Pakistan where he was buried.

There were no horses in America until Columbus' second voyage. The Spanish explorers brought more horses to America in the explorations for gold. The American Indian horse came from the Spanish whose animals were either lost or stolen and gave rise to the Mustang - the wild horses of the American West. 

To end the American Civil War, General Ulysses S. Grant rode his favorite horse, Cincinnati, to meet Robert. E. Lee on his horse Traveller.

Probably one of the most famous war horses in the American West is Comanche. The little buckskin was the only US survivor of the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

  

The first thoroughbred to the Americas was Bulle Rock in 1730. Amazingly, most thoroughbreds can trace their ancestry to one of three stallions. The Byerley Turk. The Darley Arabian. The Godolphin Arabian. 

If you enjoy movies and books about racehorses, check out Seabiscuit and Secretariat. When I need some inspiration I watch Secretariat to remind myself to run my race. Seabiscuit to remind me that having heart can overcome obstacles and hopeless times.

The first breed of horse established in the United States came from one horse - Figure. A horse owned by Justin Morgan. The Morgan breed is still popular today.

Another breed developed in the U.S. is the Appaloosa by the Nez Perce Indians of the Pacific Northwest. These are the flashy, spotted horses and definitely horses of a different color.

An interesting horse in our history is Beautiful Jim Key. Trained by a former slave, the horse could read, do math, and more. He traveled the US performing his abilities to promote the humane treatment of animals.  

As a young girl, I loved reading horse stories and dreamed of having a horse of my own. Some of my favorite books - Black Beauty, The Black Stallion and other Walter Farley books, My Friend Flicka and Thunderhead. Did you read any of those?

So, do you have a horse or used to have horses? Let me know the color, breed, and name. They might find their way into one of my stories. 

My first horse was Misty Blue a pretty blue roan Appaloosa. Then I had Great Ceaser's Ghost - a gray quarter horse, and then Raindrops, a red spotted Appaloosa.

I still love horses. So chime in and let me know about your horses. And if  you never had a horse - let me know your dream color and breed of horse and what you would name them. 

Patricia PacJac Carroll has one book available on Amazon, Liberty Belle. Set in 1859 Denver, Liberty Belle is a story of finding freedom and forgiveness. A jilted bride, a wayward sheriff, a small boy, outlaws, and a gallows provide plenty of action, romance, and hope.

Her next book, Golden Dreams, will be out in April.

Find out more about her on her website 

And on her blog about her fight against breast cancer.

Enjoy the day! And thanks for stopping by.  : )