How did the horse come to North America and when did the indians begin using them?
The Spaniards brought them over to the “New World.” They were domesticated when they came over, but then left to run wild (and returned to their wild roots, so to speak). The Indians began using them after this. So, if Columbus came over in 1492…. I also read somewhere that the Indians didn’t want the horses brought over to Jamesport…that it was later that the Plains Indian became interested in the horses. To answer your “timeline” question, it could have been as early as the 16th century, but sounds more like it was the 17th and 18th century before the Indians became true horseman. How did horses impact the North American Indian? When the Spaniards arrived in the late 15th century, Indians had never seen horses. (Horses had been in the Americas in prehistoric times, but had died out.) The biggest impacts that horses had were 1) when mounted, the Indians could kill buffalo. Their food supply changed. 2) horses were seen as a status symbol, and was used as currency for trade. Geroni
