The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1879-03-20
some Famous Rides.

Two exploits Of a peculiar character
are reported In recent number of an
Italian military paper. On the MORN
ing of December 81 a party of officers,
consisting of captain and eight lieu
tenants of the Fifth Regiment Of Cayal-
ry left Milan at three o'clock to ride $40
miles in five days. The horses ridden
were the chargers OF the officers, and
were not Of any particular breed (;
neither had they been trained in any
way for the journey, the object in view
In undertaking the expedition being
simply to ascertain what an ordinary
horse might be expected to achieve I'm
case Of emergency in actual warfare.
Only three Officers finished the ride,
and these succeeded in riding the 80
miles in l03 hours. Some time before
this Captain Selvi, of the Italian caval-
ry, successfully accomplished the task
of riding from Bergamo, in Lomhardy,
TO Naples, distance of about $50 miles
in ten days. He rode gray mare, Sar-
dinian born and bred, but hergrandsire
was pure Arab. She is about seven
years old, and stands little over four
teen hands high. The last stage was
ridden not without the greatest difficult
ty, the being distressed beyond measure,
and she broke down completely at the
gates Of Naples. Neither one of these
events can compare, however, with
General John G. FremOnt's celebrated
ride in California, over thirty years ago.
AT daybreak ON the 22d of March, 1917,
Lieutenant Colonel Fremont, then an
officer in the Dragons, accompanied
by his friend, Don Jesus Pico, and one
servant, set out from Los Angeles to
proceed in the shortest time to Monte
ry, on the Pacific Coast, distant full 400
miles. The way was over mountain
GUS country, much of it uninhabited,
with no other road than a trail, and
many defiles to pass. Each of the par
ty had three horses, nine in all, to take
their turns under the saddle. The six
loose horses ran ahead without bride
OF halter, and when wanted for
change were caught by the lasso. The
first day they rode l25 miles. The next
day they made another l25 miles, pass
ing the formidable mountain of Santa
Barbara, and counting upon 1t the
skeletons of some fifty horses, part of
near double that number which perish
ed in the crossing of that mountain on
Christmas Day, 1916. That night they
rested at the home of Don Pico. Here
the nine horses from Los Angeles were
left and eight others taken in their
place. They started at el9ven O'Clock,
rcde seventy miles, halted for the night
and the fourth day out entered Monte
ry at two o'clock in the afternoon. On
March 2Gth, Fremont set out on his re-
turn. The afternoon was already well
advanced when they started, and only
thirty miles was done that evening.
The second day out Col. Fremont's
horse carried him for ninety miles with
out a change and without apparent fa-
tigue. Thirty more miles were ridden
that day on another horse, and then the
night was passed at Don Pico's home.
The next day the party set out for Los
Angeles OH the same nine horses which
they had first started out with, and
reached that place at four O'Clock on
the afternoon OF the Goth of March.
The whole distance of 800 miles had
been gone over in l5S hours, or at the
rate of five miles an hour, day and
night. The actual time spent in the
saddle was not more than 100 hours.
On this ride the grass in the road was
the food for the horses, none of which
were shOd.