According to the present fossil record, the North American Peccary (Perchoeus) first appeared on the North American continent some 37 million years ago. However, it is believed by anthropologists that pig were first domesticated in China around 4,900 BC and that the practice of keeping pigs had migrated to Europe by 1500 BC. But, it was the Romans who actually saw the true potential of domestic swine as a food source because any general will tell you than an army runs on its stomach and soldiers need a LOT of protein to remain healthy and in good fighting condition during periods of heavy exertion or when crossing harsh terrain or when enduring inclement weather. Consequently, the Romans set about improving the pig through selective breeding by starting with two main types: a large bodied breed with floppy ears that was bred to produce prodigious amounts of lard and, a smaller bodied breed with erect ears that was primarily bred to be a source of meat.

Next, moving forward in history a bit, when Christopher Columbus sailed on his second voyage to the New World in 1493, Queen Isabella (the Queen of Spain at the time and the person financing his expedition) insisted that he take on board eight “selected” pigs from port in the Canary Islands along with him on his voyage to Cuba because they were very hardy animals that could survive the voyage with minimal care and also provide a valuable food source for future colonists. But, according to the book, Wild Pigs in the United States, “Thirteen years after Columbus introduced domestic swine to the West Indies, the Spanish colonists that settled on these islands found it necessary to hunt the now free-ranging descendants of these animals because they were killing cattle! The pigs also destroyed crops and were even reported to have attacked people! However, it was Hernando de Soto that was the true founder of the American pork industry because, in 1539, he delivered 13 domestic pigs to Tampa Bay in what is today, the state of Florida and began breeding them as a food source for his explorers. Of course, as is bound to happen with pigs, at some point in time, some part of de Soto’s growing herd escaped captivity and became feral and, the some were inadvertently released in raids by Seminole Indians who were reportedly so fond of the taste of pork that some extremely violent assaults were made on the expedition to simply to obtain pigs! However, despite the number of pigs eaten by de Soto’s crew, the number lost to Indian raids, and the number lost to escape, by the time of de Soto’s death just three years later, his pig herd had grown to a conservative estimate of over 700 animals!

But, de Soto was not the only one to blame for the proliferation of pork in North America. You see, Cortés (another Spanish explorer) introduced pigs to New Mexico in 1600 and Sir Walter Raleigh imported sows into the Jamestown (Virginia) colony 1607. In addition, semi-wild pigs were terrorizing New Yorkers and razing their colonists crops such that the colonists passed a regulation that required every pig 14 inches in height or greater to have a ring placed in its nose to prevent them from rooting and, on Manhattan Island, the colonists were forced to build a long wall along the northern end of the colony to protect them from rampaging pigs which eventually lead to that particular area being known as Wall Street! Consequently, by 1660, the Pennsylvania Colony alone had a pig population that numbered in the thousands and the modern American pork industry was starting to emerge. In fact, by then end of the 1600’s, every farmer had a small herd of pigs which he used to feed his family and any surplus was processed as “salt pork” which was then packed in wooden barrels and sold commercially.

Then, near the end of the 1700’s, American pioneers started heading west and, of course, they took the utilitarian pig with them. Thus, due to the imported population of Eastern pigs combining with those imported by Cortés, the Western population of domestic pigs exploded and processing plants began appearing in all of the cities across the country. In fact, pigs were first commercially processed in the city of Cincinnati, OH. (which thereby gained the misnomer “porkopolis”) and, by the 1850’s, Cincinnati actually led the nation in pork processing!

Next, in 1887, Swift & Co. introduced the refrigerated railroad car which was chilled by a solution of ice and salt (mechanical refrigeration wouldn't appear until 1947) and this simple invention immediately created a revolution in pig farming because slaughterhouses could now be centralized near production centers so that processed pork meat could be shipped to cities nationwide instead of having to ship live hogs. Therefore, large terminal markets developed in Chicago, Kansas City, St. Joseph, and Sioux City and centralized packing plants were located adjacent to the stockyards. However, the logical progression for the pork industry was to eventually relocate to the Upper Midwest where the majority of the grain was raised; consequently, when the industry finally did move, it transformed the Corn Belt into the Hog Belt and thus, Iowa is still the top, pork producing, state today.

So, as you can see, history provides us with irrefutable proof that Americans have an insatiable appetite for pork! But, it also seems that our attempt to cultivate a favorite food source has now backfired on us! In fact, due to the free range practices employed by our forefathers combined with domestic hogs escaping from both private and commercial enclosures, at present, nearly every state in the U.S. has reported as least some damage to agricultural crops and forest lands caused by nuisance populations of feral hogs and, some states, like Texas, are so overrun with feral hogs that the Texas Wildlife Resources Commission has declared Feral Hogs an invasive species and thus, Texas has no bag limit, no possession limit, no rule against baiting them, and no closed season! To make matters worse, due to the lack of large, natural predators, feral hog populations are likely to continue growing and spreading since they are extremely adaptable animals and are thus able to survive in all of the lower 48 states wherever they can find suitable habitat.

Consequently, if you have a desire to try your hand at hunting these highly intelligent and wily animals in your state, then try contacting the wildlife biologist for your area employed by the Wildlife Resourses Commission in your state and ask them about any nuisance hog populations causing local farmers to complain about the damage to their land and crops. But, regardless of where you find them, you will very likely be hailed as a hero rather than a villain if you hunt feral hogs!