Narragansett Pacer

The Narragansett Pacer is a hardy horse breed from the shores of Narragansett Bay, known for a distinctive lateral gait in which the legs on one side move together. In the novel, that unusual movement is both a point of discussion and a clue: its tracks help the pursuers distinguish a deliberately altered trail from the signs of ordinary animal passage.

Breed and Distinctive Gait

Duncan explains that the horses ridden by the women move their legs on one side at the same time, unlike the trotting animals familiar to Hawkeye. He identifies them as Narragansett horses, bred along Narragansett Bay in the small province of Providence Plantations and celebrated for hardiness and ease of movement. Other horses, he adds, may also be trained to this gait. Hawkeye accepts the explanation while observing that his own expertise lies more in deer and beaver than in horses.

Role in Tracking

The horses’ tracks are followed for twenty miles, making their gait a feature Hawkeye can verify from both the animals and their trail. The pursuers also encounter a broken branch near one set of prints: one outer branch is bent upward, while the rest are torn down. Hawkeye reasons that the party they pursue has manipulated the signs to imitate a buck rubbing its antlers against the boughs. The breed itself is not the deception; its tracks form part of the evidence that the scout and his companions interpret as they continue the pursuit.

Captivity and Movement

After the captors divide their party, the sisters are mounted on horses while Duncan and David must travel on foot; David’s own horse has gone with the larger group. Duncan hopes that walking will let him slow the captors’ progress, though he also watches toward Fort Edward for a possible sign of help. The horses thus matter not only as recognizable animals but as part of the captors’ means of moving their prisoners through the woods.

Narrative Significance

The brief exchange about the horses contrasts specialized forms of knowledge. Duncan can name the breed and explain its characteristic pace, while Hawkeye acknowledges the limits of his own experience and returns to the trail’s more deceptive clues. The episode makes animal movement part of the story’s practical intelligence: breed, gait, prints, and broken branches are read together as evidence in a wilderness where pursuit depends on noticing small differences.