Fergus County argus., 1902-01-22
TWO FAMOUS RIDERS
STRIKING FeATs OF ENDURANCE IN
THE PIONEER DAYS OF THE WEST.

lHe PlONGGh DSrS OF l1e WGol'
Aubscy's Ride Was the Greatest
Physical Achievement Ever Accom-
plished In This Country-Erontiers-
man Jim Moore's Hard Ride.
The greatest physical achievement
ever accomplished In this country was
the ride OF Il. y. Aubrey from the
plaza OF Santa Fe. y. NJ. TO the Pub
lie square at Independence. Mo-. dis
tance Of nearly 500 miles. through a
country inhabited by warllke Indians,
large part of which was then a san-
dy desert. 1t was about the year
1851 that Aubrey gave bis wonderful
test Of human endurance, before which
all other attempts Of the kind pale
into lnslgnitcance. He was a short.
heavy set man. 80 years OF age. In the
prime OF manhood and strength. His
business for ten years as n Santa Fe
'rader had made him perfectly IA
.Iillar with the trail and all the stop
ping places. lie was perfect horse
man. and. although there were great
tlders Ia those days. none OF them
cared to dispute the palm with Au-
brey.
On a wager of $1,000 be undertook
to ride alone from Santa Fe TO lndc-
pendence inside Of six days. II was
without thought OF fear that he un.
dertook the terrible feat. II was TO be
the supreme effort OF his life. and he
sent half dozen OF the swirtcst horses
ahead. to be stationed at different
points for use In the ride. lie left
Santa l'e IN a sweeping gallop, aud
that was tile pace kept up during near
ly every hour OF the Tine until Lc 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
IL cost the lives Of several of his best
horses.
After being carried into n room In the
old hotel AT independence Aubrey lay
for IS hours IN dead s'upor before lac
came TO his senses. lie would never
have recovered from the sh1"h nafl II
not been for his wonderful constliu.
tlon. The feat was unanimously rc.
garded by western men as the greatest
exhibition Of strength and endurance
ever known on the plains.
The ride Of Jim Moore. noted from.
tlersman of the pioneer days. is also
worthy Of mention. Moore was a man
of almost perfect physique. In fact. by
military standards he was n model
He weighed 1G0 pounds. stood feet lC
inches. straight as an arrow. with good
neck well set on his shoulders. small
waist, but good loins, and had the limbs
OF q thoroughbred. No finer looking
man physically ever rode a broncho
than Jim Moore. He could run like an
Indian. was as active os a panther, -
best natured man In the world, but as
courageous as a lion.
In the early sixties Moore was pony
express rider. Ills route was from
Midway station, half way between
Fort Kearney and Cottonwood Springs
TO Julesburg. a distance Of 40 miles
Moore rode the round trip OF $50 miles
once week. The stations were from
~ TO II miles apart, and n fresh hOrsi
OF Spanish blood was obtained ut cacl
station. There was little delay In thes,
changes OF horses. as the rider gave ih,
coyote yell" half mile away. and
day or night. the station men had III,
pony ready. so that the rider had onl,
| 10 dlsmount from one horse and mount
the other. and with dig Of the spurs
he was on run again. This ride o
! 40 miles usually was made In 10 hours
/ on each route there were two express,
riders. one going each way. As easy a,
II may seem 10 some for a man to hc
stride fresh horse after horse for II
miles, there were few men able Il
stand up 10 II.
Upon the occasion Of which am {,
speak M0ore's route partner had hcol
ailing. and Moore was anticipating ant
dreadlng that he might have to double
the route. In this anticipation he real
lied that there Is q time limit to endur
ance. and therefore he gave the brou
chos little more OF the steel thar
usual and made the trip to Julesbur,
in II hours. Arriving at Julesburg, IN
had his fears confirmed. His partne
was In bed. He had hoped that IA,
might have a few hours for rest. bu
before be had time to dismouDt an,
stretch his crampcd and tired muscle
the coyote yell' OF the east going rid
er was heard.
He drank some cold coffee. filed hl
pocket with cold meat and was In tn
saddle again for another 40 mile ride
In order to be able to live the route on
he sent them for all there was in them
with the result that he arrived at Mid
way. after having ridden $50 miles. Il
90 hours from the t.inc he had lci
there. Ben Holiday gave him n gol
watch and n certificate OF his rcmarl;
able performance. Many OF the oil
frontersmen now living knew Moor,
knew Of his 80 mile ride In 80 hour
and have seen the watch and certil