governor of orleans, american remount stallion


I was contacted recently by Lillian Smith, a Morgan Horse historian in Oregon. In 2005, Smith published American Morgan Horse - U.S. Army Remount Stallions, and she graciously shared with me both her knowlege and information from the American Morgan Horse Register and U.S. Government publications about remount stallions. Last week, I tracked down several books and dozens of articles on the subject.

I felt like I spent this weekend on a horse and yet I never left the house. Almanzo Wilder's involvement with the American Remount Association and the Morgan stallion, Governor of Orleans, is only a small bit of a much larger picture. This is one of those Laura Ingalls Wilder tangents that I found both fascinating and almost impossible to rein in (pun intended). Fort Robinson, here I come!

I have read (in Barbara Fogel's "Little House Morgans" article for The Morgan Horse, October 1992, for example) that Almanzo Wilder bought Governor of Orleans. My mistaken belief that Almanzo indeed owned the horse must have been why I saw brought and read bought in other publications (such as William Anderson's A Little House Sampler) that clearly do not say that the horse was Almanzo's property. Almanzo Wilder did not own Governor of Orleans. He never did.

Governor of Orleans was foaled in 1914; his sire was Ben Lamond 3000 and his dam was Maid of Orleans. You can see his pedigree HERE. The breeder was Joseph Battell (1839-1915) of Middlebury, Vermont. Battell was a philanthropist who edited the American Morgan Horse Registry and is credited with saving the breed loved by Almanzo Wilder, also donating his horse farm to the federal Morgan horse breeding program.

Governor of Orleans was most likely donated to the American Remount Association, founded during World War I to supply the United States Army with fit animals, and most noted for supplying registered stallions to farmers and ranchers owning suitable mares in order to encourage the production of more and better light horses suited for the military.

From 1923-1925, Governor of Orleans was leased by Almanzo Wilder from the federal government through the Fort Robinson (Nebraska) remount facility. For a $25 fee, Wilder agreed - in writing - to provide for the stallion (including medical attention) in exchange for the right of the Army to buy any colts born to Wilder's suitable mare(s) when they were three-year-olds. Almanzo could keep any filly foals, and also was allowed to charge $10 for each mare belonging to others and bred to Governor of Orleans. 1923 seems to have been the first year that Morgan stallions were distributed in Missouri. It may also have been the first year that Almanzo Wilder participated in the remount program.

According to Almanzo Wilder, Governor of Orleans sired 23 colts in a single year. It is not known how many were from Almanzo's mare(s) and may have been purchased by the Army, but oral history has always said that Almanzo did sell them horses. But according to Almanzo and others, the main reason the program was so important was that it allowed horses of excellent bloodlines to breed with Ozark farm horses.

"What we hope to do is to improve the quality of Ozark horses by an admixture of Morgan blood," Wilder told the assistant editor of the Missouri Ruralist, George Jordan. "For many years we have been attempting to breed an ideal Ozark horse, and this has been helped to some extent by a few drafters and some coach horse blood. On many farms there are fine mares weighing from 1,110 to 1,350. But in many cases the quality is lacking. The Morgan has that quality. It means good feet to withstand the stony roads and fields. It means an exceptionally good back. And there must be ability to pull, yet serve our purpose for road uses—and this ability must be backed by a willingness to go into the collar. A horse must have sense as well as weight, and the Morgan, I'm convinced, has more intelligence than any breed of horses I have ever known."

And, added Gordon, "the Morgan is a horse you can love." Anybody who has read Farmer Boy can certainly agree with that.
- posted by pioneergirl at 7:20 PM