The Spanish explorers were forced back to their ship by the Caloosa Indian warriors, and Ponce De Leon received a mortal wound. There is no record of what became of the explorers livestock, so it is imagined that these were the first cattle to ever run wild in Florida. The challenge to conquer Florida went out, and other conquistadors soon followed. These explorers brought cattle, swine, and horses. Each expedition party certainly would have arrived with horses for transportation. Like the early cattle, these horses were the product of selective breeding, and many were of Andalusian lineage. The horses played a tremendous role in Florida History...Ranching was born when Jesuit and Franciscan Friars set up a system of missions across north and north-central Florida. Their mission was to convert Indians to Christianity but the Friars also used Indian labor to tend livestock and crops. These were the first established ranches in North America. Note that the pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock had not yet been born! By 1618 Florida's Spanish Governors were seriously expanding cattle production on local ranchos. The Spanish herds, as well as those kept by the Indians and many cattle running wild, flourished on the immense prairies and rangeland of Florida. The result of this herd increase was that Spanish Cattlemen in Florida began to ship cattle to the large trading center of Cuba. This was the first industry to develop in the New World and trade with Cuba would continue for the next three hundred years. By 1700 there were over 30 privately owned ranchos in Florida. A census ordered by Spanish tax collectors reported over 20,000 cattle on the ranchos. Mission herds were exempt from reporting, cattle owned by individual chiefs and those running wild would not have been counted....
Monday, November 03, 2008
Florida Cracker Cattle & Cracker Horse Program In the year 1521, Juan Ponce De Leon brought a small herd of Andalusion cattle and horses with him on his second expedition to the New World. These were the first cattle and horses to ever set foot (or hoof) on what is now the continental United States. 
The Spanish explorers were forced back to their ship by the Caloosa Indian warriors, and Ponce De Leon received a mortal wound. There is no record of what became of the explorers livestock, so it is imagined that these were the first cattle to ever run wild in Florida. The challenge to conquer Florida went out, and other conquistadors soon followed. These explorers brought cattle, swine, and horses. Each expedition party certainly would have arrived with horses for transportation. Like the early cattle, these horses were the product of selective breeding, and many were of Andalusian lineage. The horses played a tremendous role in Florida History...Ranching was born when Jesuit and Franciscan Friars set up a system of missions across north and north-central Florida. Their mission was to convert Indians to Christianity but the Friars also used Indian labor to tend livestock and crops. These were the first established ranches in North America. Note that the pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock had not yet been born! By 1618 Florida's Spanish Governors were seriously expanding cattle production on local ranchos. The Spanish herds, as well as those kept by the Indians and many cattle running wild, flourished on the immense prairies and rangeland of Florida. The result of this herd increase was that Spanish Cattlemen in Florida began to ship cattle to the large trading center of Cuba. This was the first industry to develop in the New World and trade with Cuba would continue for the next three hundred years. By 1700 there were over 30 privately owned ranchos in Florida. A census ordered by Spanish tax collectors reported over 20,000 cattle on the ranchos. Mission herds were exempt from reporting, cattle owned by individual chiefs and those running wild would not have been counted....
The Spanish explorers were forced back to their ship by the Caloosa Indian warriors, and Ponce De Leon received a mortal wound. There is no record of what became of the explorers livestock, so it is imagined that these were the first cattle to ever run wild in Florida. The challenge to conquer Florida went out, and other conquistadors soon followed. These explorers brought cattle, swine, and horses. Each expedition party certainly would have arrived with horses for transportation. Like the early cattle, these horses were the product of selective breeding, and many were of Andalusian lineage. The horses played a tremendous role in Florida History...Ranching was born when Jesuit and Franciscan Friars set up a system of missions across north and north-central Florida. Their mission was to convert Indians to Christianity but the Friars also used Indian labor to tend livestock and crops. These were the first established ranches in North America. Note that the pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock had not yet been born! By 1618 Florida's Spanish Governors were seriously expanding cattle production on local ranchos. The Spanish herds, as well as those kept by the Indians and many cattle running wild, flourished on the immense prairies and rangeland of Florida. The result of this herd increase was that Spanish Cattlemen in Florida began to ship cattle to the large trading center of Cuba. This was the first industry to develop in the New World and trade with Cuba would continue for the next three hundred years. By 1700 there were over 30 privately owned ranchos in Florida. A census ordered by Spanish tax collectors reported over 20,000 cattle on the ranchos. Mission herds were exempt from reporting, cattle owned by individual chiefs and those running wild would not have been counted....
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