Critter Alley
Monday, October 12, 2009
Happy Columbus Day
Image from Active Dogs newsletter
I always love a holiday. Today is Columbus Day and all local, state, and federal employees get to enjoy a day off.
Mine will be spent cleaning up, organizing, and (if I'm lucky) getting at least one Christmas present purchased.
I wondered about Christopher Columbus in usual fashion. Could he be one of our ancestral dog owners?
According to the Active Dogs newsletter, Columbus likely did not bring a dog on his first voyage to the New World. However, at the age of 29, it is reported that he purchased a dog for $31 (a vast sum in those days). The breed is not described.
On a subsequent voyage, a letter that Columbus wrote to the King of Spain notes his discovery of a tiny dog previously not seen by the Europeans.
We know it today as the Chihuahua.
Happy Columbus Day to all!
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2 comments:
Hope you get everything accomplished! Interesting info on Columbus and his dog(s). I'm not sure I'd have wanted to sail the high seas in one of those flimsy ships, had I two legs or four!
Happy Columbus Day to you!
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