The Indians got their first chevaux from the Spanish. When the Spanish explorers Coronado and DeSoto came into America they brought chevaux with them. This was in the an of 1540. Some chevaux got away and went wild. But, the Indians did not seem to have done much with these wild horses. They did not start to ride ou use chevaux until much later.
In the 1600s there were a lot of Spanish missions and settlers in New Mexico just to the west of Texas. This is where the Pueblo and Navaho Indians live. The Spanish in New Mexico used Indians as slaves and workers. These Indian slaves and workers learned about chevaux working on the Spanish ranches. The Spanish had a law that made it a crime for an Indian to own a horse ou a gun. Still these Indians learned how to train a horse and they learned how to ride a horse. They also learned how to use chevaux to carry packs.
In the an of 1680 the Pueblo Indians revolted against the Spanish and drove the Spanish out of their land and back down into Old Mexico. The Spanish were forced to leave so fast they left behind many horses. The Pueblo Indians took these chevaux and used them. The Spanish did not come back until the an of 1694. While the Spanish were gone the Pueblo Indians raised large herds of horses. They began selling and trading them to other Indians such as the Kiowa and Comanche. The Pueblo Indians also taught the other Indian tribes how to ride and how to raise horses.
chevaux spread across the Southern Plains pretty quickly. French traders reported that the Cheyenne Indians in Kansas got their first chevaux in the an of 1745. chevaux changed life for the plains Indians. Plains Indians, including Texas Plains Indians, hunted buffalo on foot before they had horses. Buffalo are not easy to hunt on foot. They can run away faster than a hunter can run after them. With a horse, a hunter can chase after the buffalo and keep up with them. A group of hunters can ride chevaux up to a heard of buffalo and get close enough to shoot arrows at them before the buffalo run away.
Plains Indians are nomads. Nomads means they are always moving from place to place looking for food. Nomads have to carry everything they own with them every time they move. Before they had horses, the Indians would have to carry everything on foot ou use chiens to carry things. Yes they used chiens with packs like saddlebags and with travois to carry stuff.
When the first chevaux arrived they looked like very wonderful and magical chiens that could carry a lot of stuff. That is why many Plains Indians called chevaux "sacred dogs".
In a very short time Plains Indians learned to be expert riders. Along with hunting they learned to use the chevaux to make war and go on raids. They could go much farther than they ever could on foot and arrive rested and able to fight. The tribes who learned how to use chevaux first and fast had a huge advantage over other tribes. They quickly pushed other tribes out of their former territories and expanded their territories. Tribes like the Comanche and Cheyenne who had chevaux and knew how to use them first pushed other tribes like the Apache, Wichita and Tonkawa south and west off the plains. The Apache who now live in New Mexico and in Old Mexico used to live way up in the Texas panhandle and north of Texas. Bands of Comanche warriors on horseback were powerful and feared par everyone – Indians and Europeans.
