Introduction of European Livestock to the Americas

Timeline

1. 1521Valley of Mexico · MexicoIn 1521 Cortés's coalition supported the siege with Spanish warhorses, pigs and dogs, and a few cattle; horses gave psychological and tactical advantages over horseless indigenous peoples in plain charges, while pigs provided marching meat. This battle marked the peak of Eurasian livestock's military-economic use in the Central Mexican core.
2. 1521–1530New Spain (Mexico) · New SpainIn the 1520s the encomienda and ranch (estancia) systems promoted cattle, horses, pigs, and sheep breeding in New Spain; pigs quickly went feral, cattle herds expanded onto northern grasslands, and horses supplied colonial transport and mixed cavalry. Livestock introduction changed indigenous diets (pork, beef, dairy) and land management.
3. 1530Panama–Pacific coast · PanamaIn 1530 Pizarro was authorized to conquer Peru, and Panama became a key node for forwarding horses and pigs to South America. Livestock had not yet entered the Andes in large numbers, but populations accumulated in the Caribbean and Mexico in the 1520s supplied stock for the 1530s South American conquests, about to give an asymmetric military advantage over the horseless Inca Empire.