The Tucson citizen., 1902-08-01
TWO FAMOUS RIDERS
STRIKING FEArs OF ENDURANCE IN
TIE PIONEER DAYS OF THE WEST.
AWbr~y's Ride Wa the Greatest
PhyEfcRf Achievement Ever Accom-
pIished Iu This COuntry-FrOntlers-
man Jim MOore's Hard Hide.

]
The greatest physical achievement
ever accomplished in this country was
the ride of +. y. Aubrey from the
plaza Of Santa Re, y. NJ, 10 the Pub
! lie square at Independence. Mo. dis
! tance Of nearly 500 miles, through a
! country inhabited by warliGe Indians
a large part Of which was then san
! DIV desert. X was about the year
! 1851 that Aubrey gave his wonderfn!
| test Of human endurance, before which
all other attempts Of the Kind paie
! lntG insiGnifcance. He was short
heavy set man. IS years Of age IN the
prime of manhood and strength. His
business for ten years as Santa re
| trader had made him perfectly ta-
miliar with the trail and all tie stop
ping places He was a perfect horse
| man. and. although there were great
riders in those days. none Of them
! cared 70 dispute Tie palm with Au-
! brey.
On wager OF $1,000 he undertook
/ to ride alone from Santa lie TO inde.
pendence inside of six days. 1t was
without a thought of fear that he un-
dertook the terrible feat. 1t was 10 be
! the supreme effort OF his life. and he
! sent half dozen 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
/ Ix- pF he fifDa until hn 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 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 al Independence Aubrey lay
for 4S 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.
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 II Jim Moore. noted fron.
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 lG0 pounds, stood feet 10
inches, straight as an arrow. with good
neck well set on his shoulders. small
waist. but good lons. AMI bad the limbs
Of n thoroughbred. Nc finer looking
man physically ever rode q broncho
than Jim Moore. He could run like an
Indian. was as active as 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 kearnsy and Cottonwood Springs.
to Julesburg a distance OF 40 miles.
Moore rode the round trip OF $50 miles
once week. The stations were from
10 to II miles apart, aud 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 yeil'' half a mile away. and
day or night. the station men had the
pony ready. so that the rider had only
to d!smount from one horse and mount
the other and with a dig Of the spurs
ue was on run again. This ride Of
'40 miles usually was made in IL hours
On each rou there were two express
elders, one gong each way. AS easy rs
Il 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 tht occasion or which | am to
speak Moore's route partner had been
alIing. and Moore was anticipating aud
ireadng that be might haye to double
The route. In this antic. patton he real.
'zed 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 .Iulesburg
IN II hours. Arriving at .Iuesburg. he
had his fears confirmed. His partner
was in bed. He had hoped that he
f
before he had time to- dlsmount and
| stretch his cramped and tired muscles
the coyote yeli' of the east going rid
er was beard.
lie drank some cold coffee filled his
pocket with cold meat and was in the
saddle again for anothe l40 mite ride.
in order 10 be able to Iivt the route out
q g.. ,h
With the result that he ar, ived at Mid,
way. after having ridden $50 miles. in
- hours from the time be had left
tAcre. 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 bis $50 mile ride in ~ hours
and have seen the watch and certifl.
tate.-Spirit Of the Times.