Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1901-08-22
TWO FAMOUS RIDERS
STRIKING FEATs OF ENDURANCE IN
THE PIONEER DAYS oF the WEST.
Ride Was the Creates
Physical Achievement Ever Accom-
!, plished In This Country-Frontiers-
! man Jim Moore,s Hard Ride. 4

- PAA8AkCU = Lilac ~ UnIAGE6.&
man Jim Moore's Hard RIDE
The greatest physical achievement
ever accomplished in this country was
the ride of f. X. Aubrey from the
plaza of Santa Fe, N. NJ, to the Pub
lie square at Independence, No., a dis
lance Of nearly 800 miles, through a
country inhabited by warlike Indians,
a large part of which was then a san
dy5 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 in~signifcance. He was a. short,
heavy set man, 3s years of age, in the
prime Of manhood and strength. His
business for ten years as q Santa Fe
raider had made him perfectly ia
miliar with the trail and all the stop
ping places. He was a perfect horse
man, and, although there were great
riders in those days, none Of them
cared to dispute the palm with Au-
,brey. va t%
On a wager Of $1,000 he undertook
to, ride alone from Santa Fe to indie
pendence inside Of six days. 1t was
without a thought of fear that he un-'
dertook the terrible feat. 1t was to be
the supreme effort of his life, and he.
sent half adozen of the swiftest horses
ahead, to be stationed at different
points for use in the ride. He left
Santa Fe in a sweeping gallop. and
that was the pace kept up during near
" every hour Of the time until he fell
~r,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. It took, him just 5 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 IS hours In a dead stupor before he
came to his senses. He would never
cave recovered from the shock had it
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. a noted From
tiersman of the pioneer days, is also
worthy Of mention. Moore was a man
of almost perfect physique. In fact, By
military standards he was a model.
He weighed l60 pounds, stood s feet 10
inches, straight as an arrow, with good
neck well set on his shoulders, small
waist, but good Joins, and had the limbs
OF 9 thoroughbred. No finer looking
man physically IL rode a broncho
8 than Jim Moore. He could run like an
Indian, was as active as a panther. the
best natured man in the world, but as
courageous as a lion. .
In the early sixties Moore was a pony
expires rider. His route was from
Midway station, half way between
Q Kearney and Cottonwood Springs,
to ~Julesburg. a distance of 140 miles.
Moore rode the round trip of $50 miles
once g week. The stations were from
80 tod miles apart, and a 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 yelf' half a mile away, and,
day or night, the station men had the
pony ready, SO that the rider had only.
TO dismount from q horse and mount
the other, and with a. dig OF the u
ne was on a run again. This ride of
40 miles usually was made in u hours.
On each route there were two D
riders, n going each way. AS easy as
tft may seem to some for a man to be-
stride fresh horse after horse for lao
miles, there were few men able to
stand up to it.
Upon the occasion of which I am to
speak Moore's route partner had been
all1n hing and Moore was anticipating and
dreading that he might have to double
3 route. In this anticipation he real
lied that there Is a time limit to endtutr-
ance, and therefore he gave the bron-
chos q little more Of the steel than
usual and made the trip to Julesburg
insll hours. Arriving at Julesbuurg, 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 dismou1lnt and
stretch his cramped and tired muscles
the coyote yell" Of the east going rid
Ter was heard.
He drank some cold coffee, flied his
pocket with cold meat and was in the.
saddle again for another 40 mile ride;
ln order to be able to live the route out
he sent them for all there was Id them,
with the: result that hesarriped at Mid
after having ridden 2So miles, III
~ hours from the time be had left
there. Ben Holiday gave him q gold
watch and a certificate Of his remark
able performance Many OF the old
fronfiersIlen now living knew Moore.
kIneW4ef bis $50 mile ride 10 % hours
and have seen the watch and certif-
cate.-Spirit of the Times.
s---------------
Cheerful Ind ceIn pts.
The following advertisement recently
appeared in the London Morning Post:
rock bull. crenelafed castle. buff
feted By the Atlantic surge. az one of
"A k1,AS 1899 21AGaA E& .4Ha #S$&.g &