His New Winchester

The Plains Indian particularly, became great horsemen, in a relatively short period of time. They did not know of horses until the early 1700’s when they were brought up from Southern tribes and Spanish explorers, to be traded for fine furs and hides grown thick and long by cold northern winters.   The Indians called them many names such as, “Elk Dog” or in Sioux, the largest most formidable tribe on the Plains, Shunka Wa Kan, “Dog God”, as they had no native word for horse.

Within a few short years these people of the Great Plains found that with the horse they could become a mobile and wealthy society.  Hunting buffalo became much easier, even sport, and moving larger and larger lodges and accumulating more possessions was now possible. They cherished their horses and prided themselves in raising good, strong animals that could survive on the prairie year round, wintering on dry grass and cotton wood bark. Indian horses were known for their unbelievable endurance and stamina.  Plains Indians became the greatest horsemen in the world, the “Cossacks of the Plains”, the “greatest light cavalry in the world”, they rode every day, sometimes continuously, eating, and even sleeping on horseback.

Horse stealing raids and warfare among tribes became more common and more intense, and warrior societies grew strong and formidable. They hunted for trade hides, and bartered for weapons and goods, and traveled great distances to trading posts and forts, all the while, unwittingly, inviting more and more incursion by the foreigners with the pale skin.

In “His New Winchester” I have sought to capture the tremendous horsemanship of these young men, and the value of the modern weapons of the white men, that introduced and symbolized a new and deadly form of warfare.

Steve Miller