The Tucson citizen., 1902-09-22
TWO FAMOUS RIDERS
STRIKING FEATS OF ENDURANCE IN
THE PIONEER DAYS OF THE WEST.

Awbrey's Ride WA the Greatest
Physician achievement Ever Accom-.
pIished IN This COuntry-FrOntiers-
man Jim Moore's Hard Ride
The greatest physical achievement
ever accomplished in this country was
the ride Of +. y. Aubrey from the
plaza of Santa Fe, N. NJ. to the Pub
lie square at Independence, Mo, dis
tance Of nea>.y 500 miles, through a
country inhabited by warIike Indians.
a large part of which was then a san,
dy 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 insigniicance. He was a short,
heavy set man, 50 years of age. in the
prime of manhood and strength. His
business for ten years as Santa Fe
trader had made him perfectly IA
miliar with the trail and all the stop
ping places, He was a perfect horse
@an, and, although there were great
riders in those days, none Of them
cared to dispute the palm with Au-
brey.
On wager of ST 900 he undertook
to ride alone from Santa Fe to Inde-
pendence inside Of six days. 1t was
without a thought of fear that he IN.
dertook the terrible feat. 1t was to 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
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. 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 As hours ina 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 Cf Jim Moore. noted from
tierSman OF the pioneer days, Is also
worthy Of mention. Moore was a man
Of OH nh In f0o NJ fr1
military standards he was a 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 loins, and had the limbs
Of thoroughbred. Nc finer looking
man physically ever rode a broncho
| thanIJim 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
4 express rider. His 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
| 10 to II miles apart, and fresh horse
Of Spanish blood was obtained at each
station. There was fittle delay in these
! :hanGes Of horses. as the rider gave the
coyote yell" half 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
ne was on q run again. This ride of
40 miles usually was made in u hours.
On each rou there were two express
riders. one going each way. AS easy as
Il may seem to some for n man to be-
stride fresh horse after horse for 10
stand up to 1t.
Upon the occasion Of which am to
speak Moore's route partner had been
ailing. and Moore was anticipate and
dreading that he might have to double
the route. In this anticipation be real
lied that there is 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
bad his fears confirmed His partner
was In bed. He had hoped that he
night have a few hours for rest, but
before be 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 anothe l40 mite ride.
In order to be able to nvG the route out
he sent them for all there was In them,
with the result that he arrived at Mid
way. after having ridden 2SO miles. in
% hours from the time be had left
there. Ben Holiday gave him gold
watch and a certificate OF his remark
able performance. Many of the old
frontiersmen now living knew Moore.
knew OF his 2SO mile ride In - hours
and have seen the watch and certifi-
eate.-Spirit OF the Times.