Highlighting Horses in our Collection

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Highlighting Horses in our Collection

May 3, 2019

This weekend marks the 145th reprise of The Greatest Two Minutes in Sports. Many of us will watch thoroughbreds earn their costly pedigree at the Kentucky Derby. While we celebrate these purebred horses for their agility and speed, horses in Colorado were largely obtained from wild herds of mustangs that were caught and domesticated. Wild horses and cowboys have long represented Colorado and the rest of the American West on the covers of western pulp books and magazines and in the minds of people all over the world. Historically, horses in the West have had more practical purposes than the status symbols that run at the Kentucky Derby.

From their use in transportation and work to recreation and warfare, horses have played an essential role in the culture and economy of Colorado. Historical materials such as photographs, manuscript collections, maps, artifacts, and objects related to horses reveal the evolving relationship between horses and humans. The following images represent some of History Colorado’s collection materials that celebrate horses (and donkeys) across a variety of formats, settings, circumstances, and times.

horse racing at Overland Park racetrack — Harness Racing at Overland Park Racetrack, Denver, Colorado, about 1900–1910

photo of men standing on horses in race — Roman standing race at the Durango Spanish Trails Fiesta rodeo, 1947

magazine cover with cowboy on horse — *Something Suspicious* Western Pulp Magazine Cover—Author, A. R. Mitchell, Artist, Leonia, New Jersey, 1930

man walking his horse in a deep bank of snow — Colorado Mountain Club member Max Giesecke walking his horse in a deep bank of snow near Flat Top Mountain, Colorado—Harvey, George Jr., 1914

Newspaper article with silhouette of Blucifer — Editorial regarding controversial Blue Mustang, known to locals by the nickname Blucifer, *The Denver Post*, February 1, 2009

From the History Colorado Historical Newspaper Collection:

horse bit — US Cavalry Model 1859 Curb Bit No. 1, Civil War era

Equestrian Fair Poster, 1868

From the History Colorado Subject File Collection

photo of donkeys — Donkey Derby at Cripple Creek, about 1895–1910

poster with carousel horse — Poster, Kit Carson Carousel’s Hippocampus (Sea Horse), 1987

group of Southern Ute men on horseback — View of Southern Ute war party on horseback. Photo by Horace S. Poley, 1899.

History Colorado. 95.200.112

Visit the Stephen H. Hart Research Center to discover History Colorado’s collection and how it can inspire you to discover new things about Colorado’s past. The research center, located in the History Colorado Center, is free and open to the public. Hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.–3 p.m. Staff members are available during open hours to help you find materials of interest.