The Railroad Man Who Sold the Chihuahua Story: Hamilton Raynor and the Real History of the Breed

By Rev. T. Stringer, Lead Researcher, SIPGS

You have heard the story.

The Chihuahua was "discovered" in the Mexican state of Chihuahua.

It descends from the ancient Aztec dog.

It lived wild in the desert, in rabbit holes.

It is a wonderful story.

But stories have storytellers.

And one of the best was a railroad man in El Paso, Texas.

Meet Hamilton Raynor

Hamilton Raynor was a depot master and special officer for the G.H. railway in El Paso.

He was also a dog man.

By the early 1900s, newspapers called his operation "the only Chihuahua dog kennel in the United States."

By his own account, he had been raising Chihuahuas for nearly 15 years.

He was not selling souvenirs.

He was selling to the richest people of his day.

A pair for a railroad president

In 1903, the El Paso Herald reported that Stuyvesant Fish, president of the Illinois Central railway, came through El Paso with a party of friends, including members of the Vanderbilt family.

He bought a pair of Chihuahuas from Hamilton Raynor.

Price: $125 for the pair

Raynor's dogs went to American millionaires, to Europe, and even to a princess, a niece of the Emperor of Austria-Hungary.

Prizes at the World's Fair

In 1904, Raynor entered his dogs at the St. Louis World's Fair bench show.

He told the paper he expected to "capture every prize that is offered."

He came home with four.

The dog that cured rheumatism

Around 1905, an El Paso paper reported a new use for Raynor's dogs.

He shipped one to San Francisco "for scientific purposes."

The reason?

"It is generally believed that the Chihuahua dog possesses a power for curing rheumatism."

A tiny, rare, ancient dog from the desert, with healing powers.

That is a story that sells.

"My dogs are different"

Around 1909, Raynor asked for protection in the new tariff bill.

His only competition, he said, was "the Chihuahua dogs raised in Mexico and brought to El Paso to be sold."

Think about that.

The man with the only Chihuahua kennel in the United States wanted protection from Mexican Chihuahuas.

He was telling Congress that his dogs and the Mexican market dogs were not the same thing.

A town that knew the game

Raynor was not the only one in El Paso who understood the value of a name.

In 1899, the El Paso Herald printed a story, as a joke.

A local man sold a tourist a "famous Chihuahua dog" for a fancy price.

It was a Newfoundland puppy.

It grew "to be the size of a burro."

The paper thought it was funny.

So where did he get his dogs?

That is the question.

The only Chihuahua kennel in America.

Selling to millionaires and royalty.

Asking Congress to keep Mexican Chihuahuas out.

So where did Raynor's dogs come from?

And what were they, really?

SIPGS has now read the mother lines of 255 Chihuahuas and compared them with ancient dogs of the Americas.

The answer surprised even us.

Raynor's story, and what the DNA says about it, is in our upcoming book.

Do you have old photos, papers, or family records about early Chihuahuas, or about Hamilton Raynor?

We would love to see them.

Quick answers

Who was Hamilton Raynor?

An El Paso railroad depot master who ran what newspapers called "the only Chihuahua dog kennel in the United States" in the early 1900s.

How much did a Chihuahua cost in 1903?

Raynor sold a pair to railroad president Stuyvesant Fish for $125.

Where did Raynor get his dogs?

That is one of the big questions in our upcoming book.

When did the AKC recognize the Chihuahua?

1904, the same year Raynor's dogs won four prizes at the St. Louis World's Fair.

Key takeaways

• Hamilton Raynor ran what newspapers called the only Chihuahua kennel in the U.S.
• He sold to railroad presidents, millionaires, and European nobility.
• He told Congress his dogs were different from the Mexican market dogs.
• El Paso newspapers joked about fake "Chihuahuas" being sold to tourists.
• SIPGS has read the mother lines of 255 Chihuahuas. The answer is in the book.
• The full story is coming in our book.

Sources

• El Paso Herald, July 24, 1899.
• El Paso Herald, October 15, 1903.
• El Paso newspaper, c. 1904. Raynor enters the St. Louis World's Fair bench show.
• El Paso newspaper, c. 1905. Raynor ships a dog to San Francisco.
• "Tariff for Chihuahua Dogs," El Paso newspaper, c. 1909.
• El Paso Morning Times, January 14, 1917.
• Stringer, T.A. (ongoing). Stringer Integrated Pedigree-Genomic Study (SIPGS).

© 2026 A & A's Chihuahuas and Rev. T. Stringer. All rights reserved.

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