The first asses came to the Americas aboard ships of the second voyage of
Christopher Columbus, landing at
Hispaniola in 1495. In the early days of the
conquistadores, jackasses were highly valued as sires for
mules, which were esteemed as riding animals by the Spanish, and reserved for the nobility. Mules were bred for expeditions to mainland America, with males preferred for pack animals and the females for riding. The first shipment of mules, with three jacks and twelve jennies, arrived in México via
Cuba ten years after the conquest of the
Aztecs in 1521. Mules were used in
silver mines, and each Spanish outpost across the empire bred its own mules with its own jack. The first known presence of donkeys in what is now the United States were during the initial settlement of
Jamestown. Prior to 2025, the first presence was sometimes reported to date to 1679, when a
Jesuit priest named
Eusebio Kino took some from
Sonora in Spanish Mexico to a new mission at
San Xavier del Bac in what is now
Arizona; however, Kino did not reach the Americas before about 1681, and was not in Sonora until 1687. Donkeys arrived in large numbers in the western United States during the
gold rushes of the nineteenth century, both as
pack animals and for use in mines and
ore-grinding mills. The major use of donkeys came to an end with the end of the mining boom and the extensive construction of railroads. Donkeys had little remaining value and many were simply turned loose, giving rise to a
feral population. From about 1785, some large donkeys were imported from Europe to the eastern United States, and were used for the production of
mules. In 1888 the American Breeders Association of Jacks and Jennets started a
stud-book for these animals under the name
American Mammoth Jack. In 1923 this was merged with the Standard Jack and Jennet Registry of America, which had been set up in 1908; in 1988 the name was changed to American Mammoth Jackstock Registry. Breeds that may have influenced the mammoth include the
Maltese, the
Baudet du Poitou, the
Andalusian, the
Majorcan and the
Catalan. In the twentieth century, donkeys came to be more frequently kept as pets in the United States and in other wealthy nations. In 1929 Robert Green of
New York imported seven donkeys of the small indigenous
Sardinian breed to the United States. The first foal was born in the same year. Although never considered miniature in their country of origin, these animals were soon known as Miniature or Miniature Mediterranean donkeys. Green was a lifelong advocate, and said of them: "Miniature donkeys possess the affectionate nature of a Newfoundland, the resignation of a cow, the durability of a
mule, the courage of a tiger, and an intellectual capability only slightly inferior to man's." By 1935 there were fifty-two of them, and some were sold. Further Sardinian donkeys were imported, as well as similar but quite distinct
Sicilian animals. A
register of miniature donkeys was started in 1958 by Bea Langfeld, who was the first professional breeder of miniature donkeys in the United States; in 1987 it was merged into that of the American Donkey and Mule Society, which was formed in 1967. == Characteristics ==