Colonial Spanish Horse Collection

Collection

Identifier: A-0323

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The papers, letters, articles, and photographs in this collection were used by Gretchen Patterson in 2018 for her Master’s thesis “The Preservation of the Colonial Spanish Horse and Robert E. Brislawn, Sr.” These items came into her possession when the Horse of the Americas Registry re-incorporated in the State of Texas in 2000. Patterson is the official secretary of the corporation as well as the registrar.

Dates

Creation: Donated 5/9/2018

Language of Materials

The collection is in English.

Conditions Governing Access

Open for research.

Biographical / Historical

Robert E. Brislawn (1890-1979) was born and raised in Sprague, Washington, but lived his adult life on his ranch in Oshoto, Wyoming. A life-long horseman, WWI veteran, and surveyor for the U.S. Topographic Branch (US Geological Department), Brislawn set out to save the last remnants of the Spanish-type horses, descended from stock brought to the Americas by Christopher Columbus in 1493. Gilbert Jones (1906-2000), joined Brislawn in 1954 with the same goal in mind. These two men along with a handful of other horsemen and women set up a permanent registry in 1957 to record the horses that fit Brislawn’s model and to preserve their bloodlines through their offspring for future generations.