Other ideas about horses in Ancient America

Much of Daniel's recent work and research has been in checking out evidence of horses in Ancient America. This is undoubtedly a controversial topic and one that many critics use against the Book of Mormon. His recent paper published in BYU Studies Quarterly shows some strong support for the validity of the Book of Mormon's claims and examines several possibilities that explain the apparent lack of horses as noted by the first European explorers. Some of this information is also in An LDS Guide to the Yucatán.

While we don't have the final answer, it's nice to know we aren't alone in suggesting that horses actually could have lived in the Americas and were known to ancient people, although that knowledge has been lost. Some indigenous cultures claim not to have lost this knowledge, but to have had it all along. The website Tuesday's Horse has an article examining Native American claims that they have always had horses, even contradicting the standard story we all know. It also mentions several legends of ancient explorers from the Old World that found their way to the Americas and mentioned large animals such as horses among peoples in this new land. While these accounts are not fully supported, there are quite a few from all over the world. The scientific community has finally accepted that others from Europe beat Columbus across the ocean and some of these other accounts are gaining greater acceptance, even among the mainstream. The Book of Mormon's claims about three separate groups traveling across the oceans to the Promised Land seem much more plausible.

Click here to read Indian Horses Before Columbus