The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 48, July 1944 - April, 1945 Page: 106
617 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 24 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
and Turf, Field & Farm (Oct. 13, 1866). There is a sketch in Appleton's
Cyclopaedia of American Biography, and in John S. Hart's The School
Room (1868), ch. xxI. There is also an account of Rarey's demonstration
of his remarkable abilities as a horse-tamer before Queen Victoria, the
Prince Consort, and the English Court, at the royal stables at Windsor.3
Sara Lowe Brown, in her "Rarey, the Horse's Master and Friend,"4
and her book, The Horse Cruiser (1925), has also given much of the
greatest interest on the life of this remarkable man. Yet certain chapters
in the all-too-brief life of Rarey [he died at the age of 39] are still in-
adequately known.
My particular interest in Rarey is this: In 1855, after having worked
out his "system" of horse-taming in Ohio, Rarey's "success was so
positive that the true magnitude of the field before him opened on his
view, and now he felt that he must in turn become a student. With this
modest idea he left Ohio [with one Captain Atkinson] for the distant
plains of Texas, where upon the wild inhabitants of the prairies he
found his law of kindness operated 'as a charm.' On his return [from
Texas] he gave his first public exhibition at Columbus [Ohio]. ...."
(Thorpe, Harper's New Monthly Magazine, XXII, 618). Rarey, in
a letter to the London Times,5 states that he "passed a length of time
experimenting [in Texas] on wild horses, mules, &c.," and his grand-
niece, Mrs. Sara Lowe Brown, tells me that he "spent several months
in Texas." She was not, however, able exactly to locate J. S. Rarey's
work in Texas.
I am keenly interested in learning of any contemporary-1855-Texan
accounts of Rarey in Texas. Houston, Galveston, Austin, or San Antonio
papers may give such. So far, I have been able to secure only two
references to men of the Rarey name, in Texas newspapers.6 J. S. Rarey's
oldest brother, William H. Rarey (b. 1812), a successful horse-tamer,
was in Texas in February, 1859, taming horses and lecturing. He
traveled extensively throughout the Union in this capacity, after the
fame of his younger brother was secure. He is mentioned here to clear
up the reference in the Henderson Southern Beacon of that date. Any
information on further newspaper references will be most cordially
appreciated.
E. W. Winkler has called to my attention the fact that in 1856 a
"third edition, revised and corrected" of Rarey's book, The Modern Art
of Taming Wild Horses, was printed at the State Times Office in Austin;
the verso of the title-page reads: "Entered according to Act of Congress
in the year 1856, by J. S. Rarey, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court
of the United States, for the District of Texas." This should be added
to the editions listed in Robert W. Henderson's essay on Rarey, first
above mentioned.
3lllustrated London News, XXXII (Jan. 30, 1858), 109-10.
4Printed in Publications of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical
Society (1916), XXV.
5Reprinted in the London Athenaeum, July 10, 1858, p. 58.
6Dallas Herald, Sept. 8, 1858, p. 2, col. 4; Dallas Herald, Feb. 23, 1859,
p. 2, col. 3 (reprinted from the Henderson Southern Beacon).106
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 48, July 1944 - April, 1945, periodical, 1945; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146055/m1/110/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.