The Spaniards who invaded Mexico brought to North America a well-developed equestrian tradition.
Spur
Grade Range: K-12
Resource Type(s): Artifacts, Primary Sources
Date Posted:
10/27/2008
This spur, worn over a riding boot, was made in Mexico in the mid-1800s. Rubbed against the animal's side, spurs are one of the instruments that riders use to direct horses. The spikes on this spur are set on a small wheel called a rowel, making this a rowel spur. Horses and good riding equipment, such as spurs, saddles, stirrups, and leather coverings, played a fundamental role in the European conquest, exploration, and settlement of wide areas of North America. Much of the technique and craftsmanship of riding culture that was found in the American West among both Native Americans and later U.S. settlers was introduced by the Spanish in Mexico within the first century of colonization (1500s). During this period, huge herds of cattle and sheep (both newly introduced species, like horses) flooded the dry grasslands of northern Mexico and were tended by men who would later be called vaqueros—cowboys. The ranching culture that they developed, as well as the ecological destruction that grazing produced, stretched from Texas to California. This economy of raising livestock on the open range was embraced by settlers coming overland from the American East along routes like the Santa Fe, Old Spanish, and Gila trails. To this day, ranching remains a vital economic and cultural force in both the American West and northern Mexico.
National Standards
United States History Standards (Grades 5-12)
Era 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
2: How the industrial revolution, increasing immigration, the rapid expansion of slavery, and the westward movement changed the lives of Americans and led toward regional tensions
3: The extension, restriction, and reorganization of political democracy after 1800
4: The sources and character of cultural, religious, and social reform movements in the antebellum period
World History Standards (Grades 5-12)
Era 6: The Emergence of the First Global Age, 1450-1770
2: How European society experienced political, economic, and cultural transformations in an age of global intercommunication, 1450-1750
3: How large territorial empires dominated much of Eurasia between the 16th and 18th centuries
4: Economic, political, and cultural interrelations among peoples of Africa, Europe, and the Americas, 1500-1750
5: Transformations in Asian societies in the era of European expansion
6: Major global trends from 1450-1770
Era 7: An Age of Revolutions, 1750-1914
2: The causes and consequences of the agricultural and industrial revolutions, 1700-1850
3: The transformation of Eurasian societies in an era of global trade and rising European power, 1750-1870
4: Patterns of nationalism, state-building, and social reform in Europe and the Americas, 1830-1914
5: Patterns of global change in the era of Western military and economic domination, 1800-1914
6: Major global trends from 1750-1914