How Did The Introduction Of Horses Change The Life Of The Plains Indians?
The Plains Indians first saw horses in the late 17th Century after the Spaniards brought them from Europe into south-western America. They got their first horses by stealing and trading among the Spanish settlements of the South-west. Within a century tribes such as the Commanches owned large herds of horses. Now they were able to cross vast areas of the Great Plains to hunt buffalo. As a result, many tribes abandoned their fixed adobes and became nomadic hunters. They would follow the wandering game herds, sleep in movable lodges and design a whole new way of life based on mobility. By the 19th Century, a Plains Indian spent almost all of his life on horseback. By the time he had outlived his warrior years, he would, hopefully, be the proud owner of a large herd. When explorers first came upon them, they were so impressed by the Plains Indians’ horsemanship that they called them the horse Indians.
