Arizona daily citizen., 1901-10-17

AuDrey'D Hiue WnS tho NFen'ebs
Physical Achievement Ever Accom-
plIshed In This COuntry-FrOntIer
man Jim MOOFe's Hard Ride.
The greatest physical achievement
ever accomplished in this country was
the ride OF r. X. Aubrey from the
plaza OF Santa fe, \. NJ, to the Pub
He square at Independence, No. dis
! tance OF nearly 500 miles through Il
country Inhabited by warlIke Indians,
n large part of which was then san
dy desert. 1t was about the yehr
1851 that Aubrey gave his wonderful
test OF human endurance before which
all other attempts OF the kind pale
into inslgnlficance. He was short.
heavy set man, % years Of age, In the
prime OF manhood and strength. HIS
business for ten years as n Santa re
trader had made him perfectly IA
millar with the trail and all the stop
ping places. He was 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 81. 900 he undertook
to ride alone from Santa Fe to Inde-
pcndence 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 dozen OF the swlftest horses
ahead to be stationed ut different
points for use in the ride He left
Santa Fe IN a 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 ut 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 ~ hours In dead stupor before he
came to his senses. He would never
have recovered from the shock had 1t
not been for his wonderful constitu-
tion. The feat was unanimously re-
garded by western men as the greatest
exhibition OF strength and endurance
ever known on the plains.
The ride Gf Jim Moore. q noted from
tlersman of the pioneer days. Ia also
worthy Of mention. Moore was a man
OF almost perfect physique. In fact, by
military standards he was a model.
He weighed lG0 pounds. stood 8 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 thoroughbred. No finer looking
man physically ever rode a broncho
than Jim Moore. He could run like an
Indian, was as active as a panther, the
courageous as lion.
In the early sixties Moore was a pony
express rider. His route was from
Midway station, half way between
Fort Kearney and Cottonwood Springs,
~ Julesburg. distance Of 40 miles
Moore rode the round trip Of 280 miles
once week. The stations were from
10 to IA 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 yell' half mile away. and,
day or night, the station men had the
pony reAdy. so that the rider had only
tu diSmount from one horse and mount
the other, and with dig Of the spurs
hn was Oh run again. This ride Of
lao miles usually was made In l2 hours.
ON cnch route there were two express
r!dcrs, one going each way. As easy ms
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
liling, and Moore was anticipating and
hrcadlng that he might have to double
the route. In this anticipation he real
!Aed that there is a time limit to endur-
ancc, and therefore he gave the bron-
N'N" - 'tNhS ii'NiN va tiC SLGNi
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 few hours for rest, but
before he had time to dlsmount and
stretch his cramped and tired muscles
The coyote yelf' of the east going rid
pr was heard.
lie drank some cold coffee, filled his
pocket with cold meat and was In the
saddle again for another 140 mile ride.
n order to be able to live the route out
le sent them FOR oil there was In them,
With the result that he arrived at Mid
way. after having ridden $50 miles, In
y hours from the time he had left
here. Ben Holiday gave him a gold
watch and certificate of his remark
Ible performance. Many Of the old
now living knew Moore,
snew Of his $50 mile ride In % hours
md have seen the watch and certlfl.
Ia esprit Of the Times.