Editing Appaloosa (section)

=== Nez Perce people ===

[[File:Nezperceindians1895ish.jpg|thumb|Two Nez Perce men with an Appaloosa, about 1895|alt=In the foreground, two Native American men wearing cowboy attire sit crosslegged on the ground. In the background, a dark colored horse with a white and black spotted rump stands saddled and bridled.]]

The [[Nez Perce people]] lived in what today is eastern [[Washington (state)|Washington]], [[Oregon]], and [[North Central Idaho|north central Idaho]],{{sfn|West, "Nez Perce and Their Trials"|p=7}} where they engaged in agriculture as well as [[horse breeding]].{{sfn|Malone Roeder & Lang, ''Montana''|p=134}} The Nez Perce first obtained horses from the [[Shoshone]] around 1730.<ref name=Meredith>{{cite journal | title=Appalucy; Appaloosa; Appaloosie|last=Meredith |first=Mamie J. |journal=American Speech |volume=25 | issue = 4| date =December 1950| publisher= Duke University Press| page=310| jstor=453271}}</ref> They took advantage of the fact that they lived in excellent horse-breeding country, relatively safe from the raids of other tribes, and developed strict breeding selection practices for their animals, establishing breeding herds by 1750. They were one of the few tribes that actively used the practice of [[gelding]] inferior male horses and trading away poorer stock to remove unsuitable animals from the gene pool,<ref name="Museum" /><ref name=Spencer/> and thus were notable as horse breeders by the early 19th century.<ref name="Appaloosa History">{{cite web|url= http://www.appaloosa.com/association/history.htm |title= Appaloosa History |publisher= Appaloosa Horse Club|access-date=January 31, 2008 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080219224347/http://www.appaloosa.com/association/history.htm| archive-date= 19 February 2008 <!--DASHBot-->|url-status = live}}</ref>

Early Nez Perce horses were considered to be of high quality. [[Meriwether Lewis]] of the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]] wrote in his February 15, 1806, journal entry:  "Their horses appear to be of an excellent race; they are lofty, eligantly {{sic}} formed, active and durable: in short many of them look like fine English coarsers {{sic}} and would make a figure in any country."{{sfn|Moulton, ''Lewis and Clark Journals''|p=333}} Lewis did note spotting patterns, saying, "... some of these horses are pided [pied] with large spots of white irregularly scattered and intermixed with the black brown bey {{sic}} or some other dark colour".{{sfn|Moulton, ''Lewis and Clark Journals''|p=333}} By "pied", Lewis may have been referring to leopard-spotted patterns seen in the modern Appaloosa,{{sfn|Moulton, ''Lewis and Clark Journals''|p=333}}{{sfn|Bennett, ''Conquerors''|p=390}} though Lewis also noted that "much the larger portion are of a uniform colour".{{sfn|Moulton, ''Lewis and Clark Journals''|p=333}} The [[Appaloosa Horse Club]] estimates that only about ten percent of the horses owned by the Nez Perce at the time were spotted.<ref name="Appaloosa History" />  While the Nez Perce originally had many solid-colored horses and only began to emphasize color in their breeding some time after the visit of Lewis and Clark, by the late 19th century they had many spotted horses.{{sfn|Bennett, ''Conquerors''|pp=390, 392}} As white settlers moved into traditional Nez Perce lands, a successful trade in horses enriched the Nez Perce, who in 1861 bred horses described as "elegant chargers, fit to mount a prince."{{sfn|West, "Nez Perce and Their Trials"|p=14}} At a time when ordinary horses could be purchased for $15, non-Indians who had purchased Appaloosa horses from the Nez Perce turned down offers of as much as $600.{{sfn|Ciarloni, "Shaping Stock Horses"|p=82}}