Clip clop: Detroit's early horsepower

Horse racing on the frozen ice of the Rouge River or the Detroit River was a popular pastime for many, including future President Ulysses S. Grant, who was stationed as an Army lieutenant in Detroit in the late 1840s.

An illustration shows a cariole sleigh, popular in Canada and Detroit in the 19th century. The wheeled version of the cariole was a light, two- or four-wheeled vehicle drawn by a single horse.

There were no traffic laws in 19th century Detroit. An illustration of Woodward Avenue in the 1870s shows horsecars running up the center of the avenue while other vehicles drive or park in all directions.

Sleighs were common sights on Detroit streets in winter. Just about anything that could have runners attached to it was used, from dog-pulled carts to posh four-horse carriages with stoves.

Officer David Rose made his patrols on Belle Isle with a horse and buggy.

Horses pull a sleigh loaded with logs at a lumber camp in Grayling, Mich. in the 1890s.

A horsecar pulls a full load at Campus Martius in downtown Detroit during the national G.A.R. convention in 1891. Cars were often grossly overloaded during special events, adding to the strain on the horse's shoulders during jarring starts and stops.

Inhumane treatment of horses was becoming a national concern at the turn of the 20th century. Here, an animal welfare group in 1898 has an ambulance to pick up abused or broken down horses.

This Detroit horse-drawn trolley was photographed in 1910. The Fort Wayne & Elmwood Railway Co. dates back to at least 1874.

A horsecar travels along Fort Street near Cass Avenue in 1910.

A Detroit Fire Department team charges out of the station in 1911.

Horses Pete, Jim and Tom pull the Detroit Fire Department's steam pumper in 1911. The trio would make their final, ceremonial run in 1922, marking the end of the fire department's horse-drawn era.

An omnibus delivered passengers to and from Belle Isle in the early 20th century.

Horse-drawn carts and carriages were still a common sight in downtown Detroit in the early 20th century, but the advent of electric-powered streetcars was one indicator of a major change in transportation.

This generously adorned horse and carriage were part of a floral parade celebrating Detroit's bicentenary in 1901.

The electric car at left was a curiosity when this picture was snapped. But before many years had passed the electric trolley had driven the horsecars off Detroit's streets.

Youngsters dressed in their Sunday best tour Belle Isle in a pony cart in the first decade of the 20th century.

A horse delivers a load at the Public Works Department's garbage disposal shed. Horses were used for heavy hauling in many industries well into the 20th century.

Woodward Avenue circa 1920 was in the midst of a transportation transition, with electric trolleys, horse vehicles and automobiles sharing the street.

In 1929, three horses, roped together, are being led by a worker to the Detroit Zoo's meat storage building in the background.

Four horses pull a stagecoach with people sitting on top identified as Henry and Edsel Ford and their families during a 4th of July parade in Dearborn in 1924.

Santa Claus's sleigh is pulled by horses, not reindeer, in this visit to a Detroit neighborhood in 1929.

Horses pulled street cars carrying 30 to 40 passengers for about four hours a day. The working lifespan of a car horse was seven years.

The Detroit fire Department's "Old Faithful" engine, pulled by horses, came out of mothballs for a parade in the 1930s.

Elmer E. Perrin on horseback hands a bag to Harry C. Robinson on a stagecoach in a re-enactment of early U.S. Postal Service days. The date is unclear, but archives indicate it had something to do with an air mail celebration.

A horse-drawn cab is still in business in 1934.

Nostalgic Detroiters turned out on Woodward Avenue in the 1930s for a parade in which horses once again pulled a streetcar.

A horse-drawn streetcar makes a reappearance for a parade in the 1930s.

Charity volunteers sell raffle tickets from a horse-drawn cab for a "Goodfellows Frolic" that could win the recipient a "Ford-Plymouth-Chevrolet" on Dec. 3, 1935.

With a gasoline shortage during World War II, Cunningham's Drug Stores used horses to pull their delivery trucks.

Workers at the Singer Poultry Co. near Eastern Market also used horses for deliveries during World War II.

Two members of the Detroit Police Mounted Division practice Roman riding, standing on two horses at once, in 1932.

Beginning in the second half of the 19th century, companies sought out large draft horses to pull heavy wagons of goods - and to convey an image of power. This 1937 image shows a horse team pulling a wagon of barrels for Goebel Brewing Company.

A horse-drawn buggy in the 1930s.