An epic story that restores the horse to its rightful place in the history of the American West Mustang is the sweeping story of the wild horse in the culture, history, and popular imagination of the American West. It follows the wild horse from its evolutionary origins on this continent to its return with the conquistadors to its bloody battles on the old frontier to its present plight as it fights for survival on the vanishing range. Along the way, you meet some of the great characters — equine and human alike — in American history, including Comanche, the gallant horse that survived the Battle of the Little Bighorn; Charlie Joe, the intrepid cast member of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show; Fritz, the mustang that became America’s first equine movie star; and Bugz, the survivor of the 1998 wild horse massacre outside Reno, Nevada. There’s also Wild Horse Annie, who lobbied for the first federal protections for mustangs and, after a twenty-year fight, saw them signed into law in 1971. In the tradition of Barry Lopez and Peter Matthiessen, Mustang follows the horse tracks across American history and shows that despite ever-encroaching civilization and dwindling protections, the horses still run wild, with spirit unbroken — a living tableau of our heritage. But for how much longer, no one can say.

Mustang: The Saga of the Wild Horse in the American West PDF

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