The Dickinson press., 1901-10-05

"Ao~1 PAtSVS NS VA0SAkVVu
to ride alone from Santa Fe to indie
pendence inside Of six days. It was
without a thought Of fear that he I'M
dertook the terrible feat. It was to be
the supreme effort Of his life. and he
sent half q dozen Of the swiftest horses
ahead, to be stationed at different
points for use in the ride. HI left
Santa BE in q 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. It took him just 8 days
and 10 hours to perform the feat, and
it cost the lives of several Of his best
horses.
After being carried into a room in the
old hotel at Independence Aubrey lay
for 48 hours in q dead stupor before he
came to his senses He would never
have recovered from the shock had 1t
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 wal a man
Of almost perfect physique. In fact, by
military standards he was a model.
He weighed 100 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 a thoroughbred. No finer looking
man physically aver 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 a 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,
to Julesburg, q distance Of 14O miles.
Moore rode the round trip Of $50 miles
once q week. The stations yer from
10 to IA miles apart, and q 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 q 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 a dig Of the spurs
he was on q run again. This ride Of
40 miles usually was made in u hours.
On each route there were two express
riders, one going each way. AS easy as
It may seem to some for a man to be.
stride fresh horse after horse for 40
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
ailing, and Moore was anticipating and
dreading that he might have to double
the route. In this anticipation he real
lied that there is a time limit to endur-
ance, and therefore he gave the bron-
chos a 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 q few hours for rest, but
before he had time to dismount 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 40 mile 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 $50 miles, In
e hours from the time he had left
there. Ben Holiday gave him a gold
Ratch and a certificate Of his remark
able performance. Many Of the old
frontiersmen nov living knew Moore,
knew Of his $50 mile ride in % hours
and have seen the watch and certih-
cate-Spirit of the Times.