Embudo Library to host program on ‘New Mexico’s Livestock Heritage’

Author Bill Dunmire will give a free slide talk titled “New Mexico’s Livestock Heritage” Thursday, June 27 at the Embudo Valley Library in Dixon. Dunmire’s talk, which begins 7 p.m., will be based upon his book, “New Mexico’s Spanish Livestock Heritage: Four Centuries of Animals, Land, and People,” just released by UNM Press. His book explores the history of livestock in New Mexico, and the preparation of it required more than three years of intensive academic research. The program will present some background on the several species of domestic livestock and then describe how Puebloans and Navajos slowly adopted horses, donkeys, sheep, goats, cattle, pigs, and chickens after their arrival with the Spanish colonists in 1598. It will cover the spread of livestock during colonial times, how quickly the Plains Indians learned to steal and ride horses, and how horses became central to their economy. The talk will describe how sheep became New Mexico’s most important economic animal, growing to a population of five million animals in the province by the end of the 19th century. It will cover the arrival of cattlemen from Texas on the eastern plains, the rising economic importance of cattle in our state, how speculators and politicians became involved in that industry, and how cattle on our eastern plains have replaced the historic herds of bison and have become a vital positive element of grassland perpetuation there today. The effects of introduced livestock upon Native peoples — both the good and the bad — will be included...more