The Passing of Tulare County's Spanish Mustangs

Historians tell us that the first horses were brought here by Christopher Columbus in 1493. Others have credited Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortes with introducing them to North America a few years later. Regardless of credit, horses took the continent by storm and they multiplied quickly.

With their increased exposure came their rise in popularity which continues today. Horses are everywhere. Well known western artist Frederic Remington painted them on canvas, illustrator Will James drew them on paper, and famed author Zane Grey wrote about them in books. The horse clearly has captured our hearts and imagination.

The first Spanish horses were small - standing from 5-6 feet tall and weighing less than a thousand pounds. They were wild and free. Eventually, many of these mustangs were tamed or "broke" as the process is called, making them usable for local transportation and farming. Early California missions and ranchos had many of these domesticated animals.

The San Joaquin Valley was an early haven for these wild herds. Domesticated horses from the coastal areas were often brought to the valley for grazing, and many would wander off and join the mustangs. Early visitors to the valley saw these large herds and frequently commented on the huge clouds of dust that formed as they ran.

The land that became part of Tulare County had several herds. Some were located on the east side valley floor between the Kaweah and Tule Rivers. Others roamed around Tulare Lake.

As the land became more and more settled, conflicts developed between the hungry, roaming wild mustangs and the farmers who did not appreciate them eating their crops., The horses were deemed a nuisance and were captured and hunted. But the animals were tough and by the 1860s, there were still plenty.

On June 19, 1862, the Visalia Delta reported, "Wild mustangs seem to be quite plenty in our vicinity. A company of young men went out on the plains near the head of Cross Creek on Saturday last and succeeded in securing 16 of the quadrupeds."

The valley produced some good wild horse wranglers, but none were better than Francisco Martinez. To many, he was the valley's most proficient mustang hunter. Chico, as he was called, was born near Sonora, Mexico, in about 1812. He came to the San Joaquin Valley in 1863 and quickly became recognized as a top cowboy.

He and other horsemen built large corrals with "winged" fences serving as guides. As they would chase or run the mustangs toward the corral, the wings would guide them inside. Once the horses were in the corral, Chico and the other vaqueros would rope, brand and blindfold each one. Then they would quickly cinch a saddle tightly on the animal and ride it.

Those found suitable were saved for more breaking. Chico was so good at this trade he earned the title "The King of the Mustang Runners." He died at his home in Jacalitos Canyon near Coalinga in 1876 at the age of 64. He was carried by wagon to Visalia and interred in the Visalia Cemetery.

By the 1870s, there was still more evidence of big herds roaming in the San Joaquin Valley. In a letter written on June 7, 1871, Jorgan Daniel Bruhn, a Danish cowboy, described to his family how he and 40 other cowboys were hired to round up and move 3,000 head of wild mustangs from the San Joaquin Valley to Texas. They gathered the horses on the "waste plains in the region of the Kings River."

After crossing the Sierra with them, Bruhn and the others got them as far as the Humboldt River in Nevada. It is unclear whether the animals made it to Texas, but some speculate that at least part of this San Joaquin Valley herd created the wild mustang stock that is still found in Nevada today.

But the late 1870s marked the end of the wild mustangs in Tulare County. According to the late Annie R. Mitchell, Tulare County's premier historian, the last of the county's mustang herds were rounded up at the Rice Ranch near Farmersville. It must have been a huge event as she said a hundred vaqueros were involved.

The days of the Spanish mustangs are gone now in Tulare County, but there are still remnants of wild herds in other areas of the Southwest today.