In reading all the material about Historic Huronia and for that matter New France I can't recall any mention of horses.
The Spanish, if I recall brought horses over to Central America, why did the French or for that matter the British or Dutch not bring horses to the New World in the 1600's.
It would appear that the French and Jesuits managed to bring all the other animals of Old MacDonald's farm up to Ste. Marie, why not a horse?
Think of how much easier or at least quicker travel would have been between missions if they had.
When did the first horse arrive in Huronia? Who brought it and how?
1 comment:
I think I did read they had a mule in Quebec in the 1640's. Maybe the terrain/climate was not suitable for the luxury of a horse. Horses a great to ride on and do some work around the farm, but a cow would be even more valuable, it could till the field and provide milk. The Spanish may have needed the horse more as a weapon of war and conquest- which the English Dutch and especially the French had any intention of doing.
I think an iteresting animal for the Mission to the Hurons would have been sheep- especially to make woolen clothes.
As far as the first horse in Huronia- I would assume the 19th century.
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