Probably most Americans woud like to believe that, had they only known that scenes like these would have been part of the end results, our nation's founding fathers and subsequent, pioneer lawmakers would have done some things differently, to preserve rather than exploit the natural gifts of our great land.  (An estimated two-million free roaming wild horses reportedly lived in North America, around the time of the founding of the United States of America.  Present day numbers are estimated at only about thirty-two thousand and rapidly declining.)

Sadly, however, there are numerous indications that too many of our founding fathers actually were very short sighted and exploitive of all the "goodies" they were discovering in the great expanse of lands which, they apparently felt were just there for the taking.  In the halls of early Congress there was little more than lip service actually given to such noble ideals and principles as "all men are created equal", "with liberty and justice for all" and the so called Golden Rule of "Do unto others, as you would have others do unto you."  Such principles only were applied within a closed community of the already dominant members within the circles of the new settlers, themselves.   And, for example, although they may have been treated well, the slaves that were kept by Thomas Jefferson certaintly did not enjoy the supposed national principle of equal opportunity.  Nor did those early settlers who were women.  Nor were any such considerations of equality extended to Native American Indians, who were here first.   And, with what must have seemed, in those times, to be an endless expanse of land to be explored, used or sold, and with an endless supply of natural resources to be taken, it's easy to understand why natural conservation did not seem to be a high priority concern.  Shamefully, this early history of our nation is riddled with ruthless greed, corruption, brutality, murder and the wanton destruction of anything and any living creature that stood in the way of our nation's early pioneers.  More accurately, they might be described as our nation's early PILLAGERS and PLUNDERERS.

So, it is understandable, although not inexcusable, that our pioneer national lawmaking, which evolved during this period, reflected this attitude of ruthless greed, corruption, brutality, murder and wanton destruction of natural resources and wildlife, including wild horses.

May 20, 1785:  Congress approved an Act entitled "An Ordinance for Ascertaining the Mode of Disposing of Lands in the Westeern Territory".  It prescribed a method of surveying and subdivding the land, said to have been based on techniques developed by founding father/surveyor Thomas Jefferson, called the Public Land Survey System (PLSS).

April 25, 1812:  Congress created the General Land Office (GLO), as part of the Treasury Department, to "superintend, execute, and perform all such acts and things, touching or respecting the public lands of the United States,..." (including wild horses).  It's first appointed commissioner, Edward Tiffin, later went on to become the U.S. Surveyor General.

March 3, 1849:  Congress created the U.S. Department of the Interior. to pretty much manage ALL of the country's internal affairs which, by this time, included such diverse activities as creating a water system for the nation's capitol, managing universities and hospitals, settling local, territorial disputes, exploring more of the western regions, managing Native American Indian Affairs and, of course, continued surveying, exploitation and dispersals of public lands and/or their resources (including wild horses).

1862:  U.S. Department of Agriculture was created . to maintain and bolster farm income.