From the Kendall County Record newspaper , Volume X, No.
17, 1873.

A photocopy of this article was generously sent to me by Anne Sears of the Plano, Illinois Historical Society. It's quite a long article and too faint to scan, so with a brief intro, I'll quote some parts referring to the Canadian stallion.

( Background:The writer of the article had been invited to the Plano Stockbreeder's Society's Stud Farm to view four stallions of different breeds brought in from Canada. There was a Clydesdale, a Thoroughbred, a trotter of part Canadian descent, and a French Canadian. First, the writer viewed the Clydesdale and the trotter.

"These two horses are fine, but when Black Lion was brought out - THAT was our horse. He is magnificent. Every motion is grace; every muscle strength and endurance, and his head; small clear gentle eye and well adorned with long foretop and mane. A clear jet black with beautiful dapple spots of clearer black; he was, to our eye, the model of perfection. Black Lion is a French Canadian horse, weighs 1400 lbs, and has trotted without training in 3:10. He cost $2000 in gold in Canada, and the same party who wanted Panic offered $3000
for him, but was refused. His sire was Coeur de Lion, and his dam was a fast trotting mare by Black Diamond. The horse is splendid for general farm and road work. Failing in a better description we again refer to Turf, Field and Farm (who said)... He is seven years old, a glossy shining black, 15 1/2 hands high, and has weighed 1400 lbs. He is claimed to be a purely bred French horse, and if so, he is altogether the finest looking, most truly formed, and in every respect the best horse of the race I ever saw.

Elmer Dickson