In addition to describing the dramatic hunt displayed in this image (CR# 374), Miller also commented upon the fact that the Indians were fond of piebald—or “paint” or “pinto”—horses such as he shows here. The Spaniards brought paint horses to the New World in the sixteenth century and, by the 1800s, wild herds had spread across the plains, and the Indians had tamed them for riding. Soon an Indian’s wealth was measured by the number of horses in his possession. Miller wrote that the old trappers had told him that the Indians “breeding [of piebald horses] was similar to that used by Jacob of old among Laban’s flocks of cattle.” (Ross, 1968, text accompanying plate 98; Genesis 30:31 – 41)
