New Mexico's Spanish Livestock Heritage: Four Centuries of Animals, Land, and People

The Spanish introduced European livestock to the New World—not only cattle and horses but also mules, donkeys, sheep, goats, pigs, and poultry. This survey of the history of domestic livestock in New Mexico is the first of its kind, going beyond cowboy culture to examine the ways Spaniards, Indians, and Anglos used animals and how those uses affected the region’s landscapes and cultures.

The author has mined the observations of travelers and the work of earlier historians and other scholars ...