The Tucson citizen., 1901-12-26
TWO FAMOUS RIDERS
STRIKING FEATS OF ENDURANCE IN
THE PIONEER DAYS or THE WEST.

The greatest physical achievement
ever accomplished In this country was
the ride Of +. X, Aubrey from the
plaza Of Santa Fe. n. NJ, to the Pub
| lie square at Independence. Mo, dis
tance OF nearly 500 miles, through a
country inhabited by warlike Indians,
large part of which was then a san
dy desert 1t was about the year
1851 that Aubrey gave his wonderful
test of human endurance before which
all other attempts OF the kind pale
into inslgniicance. He was n short,
| heavy set man, 80 years of age. In the
prime of manhood and strength. His
business for ten years as Santa Fe
trader had made him perfectly fa-
mlliar with the trail and all the stop
ping places. He was n perfect horse
man. and, although there were great
riders in those days. none OF them
cared to dispute the palm with Au-
| brey.
On wager OF $1,000 he undertook
to ride alone from Santa lee to lnde.
/ pendence inside of six days. 1t was
! without thought of fear that he un-
! dertook the terrible feat. 1t was to be
/ the supreme effort OF his life. and he
| sent half IA dozen of the swlftest horses
ahead, to be stationed at different
I points for use In the ride. He left
| Santa Fe In n sweeping gallop. and
! that was the pace kept up during near
| ly every hour of the time until he fell
/ fainting from his foam covered horse
in the square at Independence. No
man could keep up with the rider, and
he would have killed every horse In
! the west rather than have failed In the
| undertaking. 1t took him just days
and 10 hours to perform the feat. and
1t cost the lives of several OF his best
| horses.
| After being carried into a room In the
old hotel at Independence Aubrey lay
| for AZ hours In dead stupor before he
came to his senses. He would never
| have recovered from the shock had II
not been for his wonderful constitu.
ton. The feat was unanimously re-
garded by western men as the greatest
exhibition OF strength and endurance
ever known on the plains.
The ride OF Jim Moore. noted from
| tiersman OF the pioneer days. is also
worthy Of mention. Moore was man
Of almost perfect physique. In fact. by
military standards he was a model.
He weighed 160 pounds. stood feet 10
| inches. straight as an arrow, with good
neck well set on his shoulders, small
waist, but good loins, and had the limbs
of n thoroughbred. No finer looking
man physically ever rode a broncho
than Jim Moore. He could run like an
Indian. was as active as q panther. the
best natured man In the world, but as
courageous as lion.
In the early sixties Moore was pony
express rider. His route was from
| Midway station. half way between
| Fort Kearney and Cottonwood Springs,
to Julesburg. a distance of 140 miles.
Moore rode the round trip Of 2S0 miles
once q week. The stations were from
| 10 to II miles apart. and fresh horse
of Spanish blood was obtained at each
station. There was little delay In these
changes of horses. as the rider gave the
coyote yelI'' half mile away. and.
day or night. the station men had the
pony ready. so that the rider had only
TO dismount from one horse and mount
the other. and with dig of the spurs
ne was on run again. This ride of
lao miles usually was made In II hours.
On each route there were two express
riders. one going each way. AS easy as
II may seem to some for man to be-
stride fresh horse after horse for $40
miles. there were few men able to
stand up to 1t.
| Upon the occasion OF which | am to
speak Moore's route partner had been
alling. and Moore was anticipating and
dreading that he might have to double
the route. In this anticipation he real
ICED that there Is time limit to endur-
ance. and therefore he gave the bron-
chos little more Of the steel than
usual and made the trip to Julesburg
In ii hours. Arriving at Julesburg. he
had his fears confirmed. His partner
was In bed. He had hoped that he
might have a few hours for rest, but
before he had time to dsmount and
stretch his cramped and tired muscles
the coyote yell' of the east going rid
er was heard.
He drank some cold coffee. filled his
pocket with cold meat and was In the
saddle again for another l40 mife ride.
In order to be able to live the route out
he sent them for all there was in them,
with the result that he arrived at Mid
way. after having ridden 2S0 miles. in
22 hours from the time he had left
there. Ben Holiday gave him gold
watch and n certificate OF his remark
able performance. Many Of the old
frontersmen now living knew Moore.
knew of his $50 mile ride In 30 hours
and have seen the watch and certif.
tatc.-Spirlt Of the Times.
Cheerful Inducements.
The following advert lSpmpnt rpcentlv