An illustrated lecture entitled “The Wild Horse: History & Lore” will be presented by Lee Silliman in the Journey Museum’s Adelstein Gallery on Saturday, August 16th at 12pm.  The public is cordially invited to this event at no charge. 

This talk will vividly sketch, using vintage imagery and anecdote, the story of the North American wild horse on the Western frontier.  The lecture begins with a discussion of how the horse evolved in North America, spread to other continents, and then went extinct in North America.  The talk then relates how the horse returned to the Americas with the colonial Spanish and was a factor in the repression of native cultures.  As the Spanish horses escaped or were stolen by Native Americans, horses--both wild ones called mustangs and tamed ones traded from tribe to tribe--inexorably diffused northward.  The acquisition of the horse profoundly altered the lifeways of Native Americans.  The talk concludes with an explanation of how early twentieth century mustangers (those who sought to capture mustangs for profit) utilized many ingenious tactics to break the will and freedom of an animal who so well personified the spirit of the untamed West.  Books telling the history of the wild horse from Silliman’s collection will be on display for inspection, and a bibliography sheet will be available.

Lee Silliman, a retired educator and former museum archivist now living in Missoula, Montana, has nurtured an avid interest in the art and history of the American West since his youth.  As a collector of vintage engravings, Silliman has assembled, annotated and framed many exhibits of these artworks for museums in six Western states.  His has taught five courses for the MOLLI program at the University of Montana on Western history and art.