http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2015/08/the_oregon_trail_reviewed_rinker_buck_history_book_about_covered_wagon_journey.html

In December 1788, a few weeks before the Electoral College convened to elect him as the United States’ first president, George Washington wrote to British agriculturalist Arthur Young. In his letter, he laid out a majestic vision: He wanted to breed a superior animal from specimens sent to him by the king of Spain and the Marquis de Lafayette. “I hope to secure a race of extraordinary goodness,” Washington wrote, less fussy than a horse and more suited to work. Within a few years, he said, “I intend to drive no other in my carriage.”