alternatehistory.com

Alright, this is an idea I'd been tossing around - what if modern day North America received horses before European exploration?

The most realistic way I'd thought up was if the first Columbus expedition went differently - for whatever reason, and by whomever, he gets sent with horses. Instead of landing in the Caribbean and returning, however, his ships get caught in a storm and shipwreck off the coast of Florida, where these horses escape into the North American wilderness.

First things first, I suppose - under what, if any circumstances, would Columbus be given horses on his initial expedition? As a follow up, would it be remotely reasonable to expect that he'd ever bring enough in a single voyage to establish a breeding population in the Americas, even assuming the horses survived the shipwreck and survived under otherwise ideal conditions?

Alternate solutions for getting horses before the Europeans welcomed.
Top