Spanish

Stallions and mares that escaped from the Spanish started the great herds of wild horses that spread north from Mexico into the United States. These horses became essential to the Plains Indians' way of life. Spanish also introduced Cowboy culture into the Old West.

Early Conquests in the New World
In 1493, during his second voyage, Columbus founded Isabela, the first permanent Spanish settlement in the New World, on Hispaniola. After finding gold in recoverable quantities nearby, the Spanish quickly overran the island and spread to Puerto Rico in 1508, to Jamaica in 1509, and to Cuba in 1511. The natives fared badly. Many died in one-sided armed conflict with soldiers and settlers, or in forced servitude in mines and on plantations. Others died of diseases to which they had no immunity. By mid-century, the native Ciboney of Hispaniola and western Cuba were extinct, and other tribes, including the Arawak of Puerto Rico, were nearly so.

Beginning in 1508, Spanish settlements sprang up on the mainland of Central and South America. In 1519, just six years after Balboa had crossed the Isthmus of Panama and claimed the entire Pacific Ocean for Spain, Pedro Arias de Avila, Balboa's father-in-law and executioner, founded the city of Panama on the Pacific coast. The same year, Hernan Cortes led a small force from Cuba to the Gulf coast of Mexico, founded Veracruz, and set about destroying the Aztec empire. Most of Mexico fell within two years. Subsequent conquistadors followed the example set by Cortes. By 1532, Francisco Pizarro, had effected the early stages of his conquest of the Inca empire of Peru. By 1550 Spain had dominion over the West Indies and Central America and its large surviving native population.

The Spanish West
In the early 1500s, Spain made a few attempts to explore Florida and the Gulf coast. Around 1513, Juan Ponce de Leon, conqueror of Puerto Rico, conducted the first reconnaissance of the area. In 1519 Alonso Alvarez de Pineda explored and mapped the Gulf of Mexico. Two years later, Ponce de Leon died in a disastrous attempt to build a settlement in Florida, and Spain withdrew from further serious efforts to establish a permanent presence there for another half-century.

Upon his arrival, Viceroy Don Antonio de Mendoza vigorously took to the duties entrusted to him by the King and encouraged the exploration of Spain's new mainland territories. He commissioned the expeditions of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado into the present day American Southwest in 1540–1542. The Viceroy commissioned Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo in the first Spanish exploration up the Pacific Ocean in 1542–1543. Cabrillo sailed far up the coast, becoming the first European to see present day California, United States. The Viceroy also sent Ruy López de Villalobos to the Spanish East Indies in 1542–1543. As these new territories became controlled, they were brought under the purview of the Viceroy of New Spain. Spanish settlers expanded to Nuevo Mexico, and the major settlement of Santa Fe was founded in 1610.

The establishment of religious missions and military presidios on the northern frontier became the nucleus of Spanish settlement and the founding of Spanish towns.

Introduction of Horses and Cowboy Culture
In 1519, shortly after the Spanish arrived in the Americas, they began to build ranches to raise cattle and other livestock. Horses were imported from Spain and put to work on the ranches.

Mexico’s native cowboys were called vaqueros, which comes from the Spanish word vaca (cow). Vaqueros were hired by ranchers to tend to the livestock and were known for their superior roping, riding and herding skills.

By the early 1700s, ranching made its way to present-day Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and as far south as Argentina. When the California missions started in 1769, livestock practices were introduced to more areas in the West.

After 1680, the Pueblo Indian tribes forced the Spanish out of New Mexico. Many horses were left behind. The Pueblo learned to ride well but didn't live by the horse. They mainly valued the horse as food and as an item to trade with the Plains tribes for jerked buffalo meat and robes.

Horses and horsemanship gradually spread from tribe to tribe until the Native Americans of the Plains became the great mounted buffalo hunters of the American West.