The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1901-08-21
TWO FAMOUS RIDERS
STRIKING FEATs OF ENDURANCE IN
THE PIONEER DAYS OF THE WEST.

Aubrey'A Ride Was the Greatest
Physical Achievement Ever Accom-
pIfshed In This C0uDtry-Fronticra-
man Jim NI0ore's Hard Ride.
The greatest physical achievement
ever accomplished in this country was
the ride Of i. Y. Aubrey from the I
plaza Of Santa Fc, y. NJ, to the Pub
lie square Mt Independence, Mo, dis
lance Of nearly 800 miles, through
country inhabited by warlike Indians,
n large part of which was then san f
DIV desert 1t was about the year I
1851 that Aubrey gave Ills wonderful f
test of human endurance, before Which (
all other attempts of the Kind pale f
into insgnifcance. He WAS short F
heavy set man, 3S years Of age, In the
prime of manhood and strength His T
business for ten years as Santa Re F
trader had made him perfectly IA I
miliar with the trail and all the stop f
ping places. He was perfect horse
man, and, although there We're great |
riders In those days, none Of them I
cared to dispute the palm with Au- /
brey.
On u wager of $1,000 he undertook |
TO ride alone from Santa fe to indie
pendence inside of six days. 1t was
without u thought of fear that he un-
dertook the terrible feat 1t was To he
the supreme effort of his life and lie
sent half dozen Of the swiftest horses
ahead to be stationed ut different
points for use in the ride. lie lett
Santa Fe In Il sweeping gallop, aud
,hot WINS Al,a-naee kent rp duri4g near :,
| ly every hUur yffe TITne until he Ieii
falntlng from his foam covered horse
In the square mt 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
It cost the lives of several of his best
horses.
After being carried into room in the
old hotel at Independence Aubrey lay
| for 4S 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-
| garded by western men as the greatest
exhibition OF strength and endurance
ever known on the plains.
| The ride OF Jim Moore, n noted from
| tlersman of the pioneer days, Is also
worthy of mention. Moore was man
of almost perfect physique. In fact, by
military standards he was model.
| He weighed 1G0 pounds, stood feet 10
Inches, straight as an arrow, with good
neck well set on his shoulders, small
waist, but good lolns, and had the limbs
Of n thoroughbred. No finer looking
man physically ever rode II broncho
than Jim Moore. lie could run like an
Indian, was rs active as panther, the
best natured man In the world, but rs
courageous ms lion.
In the early sixties Moore was Il pony
express rider His route was from
Midway station, half way between
Fort Kearney and Cottonwood Springs,
to Julesburg, distance Of ITO miles.
Moore rode the round trip of $50 miles
| once week. The stations were from
| 10 to II miles apart, and n fresh horse
of Spanish blood was obtained at each
| station. There was little delay I'm these
| changes of horses. as the rider gave the
"coyote ycll' half Il mile away, and.
| day or night, the station men had the
| pony ready, so that the rider had only
to dsmount from one horse and mount
! the .oIAeG. and with n dig of the spurs
d lao miles Usually was made in IL hours.
ON each route there were two express
riders, one going each way. As easy AS
| 1t may seem to some for n man to be
stride fresh horse after horse for 10
miles, there We're few men able to
stand up TO It,
| Upon the occasion of which | 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
ized that there Is II time limit to cudur-
ance, and therefore he gave the bron-
chos II little more of the steel than
usual and made the trip to Julesburg
In II hours. Arriving ut Julesburg. he
had his fears confirmed. His partner
was In bed He had hoped that he
| might have few hours for rest. but
1
| stretch his cramped ana 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
% hours from the time he had left
there. Ben Holiday gave him "A gold
watch and certificate of his remark
able performance. Many of the old
frontiersmen now living knew Moore.
knew of his $50 mile ride in - hours
| and have seen the watch and certih-
| catc.-Spirit of the Times