Friday, September 27, 2013

The First Longhorns In The New World

September 27, 2013
   After a couple weeks of painting leaping cowboys I shifted gears today and attacked another scene for the feature on Cowboy Ground Zero. Went home for lunch today and whipped this out:



 
Daily Whipout: "The First Longhorn Wades Ashore (unfinished"

   Need to drop in a couple Spanish galleons and a gang of Spaniards and that Italian guy. This, of course, illustrates Columbus and his second trip to the New World when he brought pigs, horses and Spanish longhorn cattle. Several references say the longhorns grew even longer horns in their new environment to deal with nastier predators. There is some speculation Columbus picked up these cattle on the Canary Islands. The second trip was for colonizing and Columbus talked Isabella into giving him 17 ships and 1,000 men. The dudes left behind on the first trip were gone when Columbus returned the next year. Turns out they were raping the local women and the natives attacked wiping them out.

"There's no point in burying a hatchet if you're going to put up a marker on the site."
—Sydney J. Harris