(Above: In the area that would become Montana, Indigenous people used dogs to pull travoises. Horses were a game-changer, and contributed to the rapid rise of horse nations in the West.)
As leaders of the nascent United States signed the Declaration of Independence, in this region 250 years ago — then a claim of Spain — another revolution was afoot, on four feet.
Although present in this area thousands of years ago according to fossil evidence, the horse had disappeared from western North America until Hernan Cortes made landfall much farther south, unloading more than a dozen horses in the Yucatan in 1519 from the holds of his ships.
Indigenous peoples didn’t have to have horse technology explained to them. They ran with it, and the horse population spread like wildfire along the mountainous spine of the American West, so quickly that the area to become Northwest Montana saw horses decades before California.
Some Indigenous people called horses “elk-dogs” on first encounter. Horses were a dream come true: collapsing distances to hunting grounds and enabling easier travel across rugged landscape. They were integral to increasing trade, protection, and conquest. In little more than a lifetime, the Ksanka (Kootenai), Selis (Salish), Qlispe (Pend d’Oreille), and Niitsitapi (Blackfeet) saw horses transform life in the northern Rockies.
Join us at the Northwest Montana History Museum for 250 Years Ago: This Revolution Came at a Gallop, a presentation by equine researcher Brenda Wahler, who often writes and lectures on horse history. The museum also presents a companion exhibit, A Western Revolution Came First.
More about the presenter: Helena author and lawyer Brenda Wahler has consulted widely on equine matters and written several books, including Montana Horse Racing and, most recently, Marcus Daly’s Montana Empires, which prominently features Daly’s significant horse-related activities. Copies of books will be available for sale and signing.
Details for both 250-year anniversary events:
Talk: 250 Years Ago: This Revolution Came at a Gallop, featuring equine historian Brenda Wahler at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 18; doors open 5 p.m.; free admission
Exhibit: A Western Revolution Came First: The Rise of Horse Nations in Northwest Montana
opens in June (on view anytime museum is open)
Northwest Montana History Museum, 124 2nd Ave. E., Kalispell, MT 59901; 406-756-8381
nwmthistory.org; regular museum hours 10 to 5 Monday-Friday