History of the Corriente

The Corriente can be traced back to the first cattle brought to the new world by the Spanish as early as 1493. These cattle were hardy breeds chosen especially to withstand the ocean crossing and adapt to their new land. They were brought to the West Indies and south Florida, as well as Central and South America. Over the centuries the descendants of these cattle were bred for different purposes – milk, meat and draft animals.

In the early 1800’s, European and other breeds were introduced to the new world, and by the 1900’s many ranchers in the Americas were upgrading their herds with modern beef cattle. From this introduction of many new breeds, pure descendants of the original Spanish cattle almost disappeared, but some survived with little human care or intervention in remote areas of Central and South America, and in very limited numbers in some areas of the southern U.S.