Omaha daily bee., 1909-02-21
RECORD RIDES ON HORSEBACK
President Roosevelt's Feat a Good
r. One, but Not a Beat.
NOTABLE RIDES BY OFFICERS
observation-disclosures Trips Nothing Un-
usual for Cavalrymen--Fast and
Regular Rides on the
"POny Express"

usual for Cavalrymen--Fast and
Regular Rides on the
"POny Express"
President Roosevelt's horseback ride
from Washington to warrenton. Va. and
back. a distance OF ninety-eight miles, in
seventeen hours. is considered a notably
good one for a man Of so years. 1t was not
30 much a try for a record as a reply 20
army officers who criticised the presidents
order requiring officers to cover fifty miles
in three days.
There are or record many rides by army
officers, which overshadows that Of Presi-
dent Roosevelt. Five years ago, last July,
General Miles rode horseback from Fort
Reno to Fort Sill. ninety miles away, in
nine hours and ten minutes. The trip was
made to prove tins General Miles at the
age Of retirement, "a years. was still IN
good physical condition. On the trip the
general had nine mounts. Captain sayres
OF the Eighth cavalry made the trip with
him. Forty minutes after reaching Fort
Sill, General Miles reviewed the troops
there, and showed no signs Of being tired.
Here are a few Of the notable distance
ElQ6h ~ AIutTACdh hOA1DAAAGAp W. eAHN
men, taken at random from the list COM
piled by Lieutenant cosonel Theodore
Ayrault Dodge:
In 1879 several single couriers rode from
Thornburg's rat hole with news OF hat
officers danger to General Merritt's
column, a distance OF 10 miles, which each
courier covered in less h twenty-four
hours.
Colonel Lawton rode from Red CSud
agency, Nebraska, to Sidney Station, Ne
braska, with dispatches for General Crook
in twenty-six hours. The distance was 16
miles. That was in 1876.
Captain Fountains Feat.
In 1891, Captain Fountain Of the Eighth
cavalry rode eighty-four miles In eight
hours and ITO miles in twenty-three hours,
while two troopers Of the Eighth. bearing
dispatches, covered no miles in twenty
hours.
Rides OF from 10 to $50 miles within the
day and the night. says Colonel Dodge,
have been made repeatedly by ordinary
United States troop horses, when not spe-
cially prepared for the work, and over very
bad ground, and. as a rule, the animals
have not been injured by the test.
Thirty-six years ago Colonel Mackenzie
rode his command into Mexico after Lepan
and Kickapoo Indians, defeated them In q
sharp fight, and returned across the border,
making 16 miles and winning q BATTLE all
within twenty-eight hours. The following
year Colonel Mackenzie rode into Mexico
again, this timo in pursuit OF a band Of
horse thieves, and covered eighty-five miles
In fifteen hours. In averaging these rides
of regiments or troops. the fact must not
be lost sight Of that a large body OF horse
men. carrying equipments and in column
formation cannot begin to get over the
ground SO rapidly as a group OF three or
four riders without luggage of any sort.
-Four men Of Company II. First cavalry,
carried dispatches from Fort Harvey to
Fort Warner In 1870. Their time was eish-
teen and a half hours. and the distance
was 40 miles. twenty Of 1t through deep
sand. But the horses were in such good
condition that, after one days rest the
troopers started back and made the return
trip at the rate of sixty miles a day.
Lieutenant Wood, with q troop OF the
same regiment, did seventy miles In twelve
hours in 1873, and Captain Dodge. that same
year, rode his troop eighty miles in sixteen
hours
captain E0CncNp III COhAhAAoAN1 Va
and @ Of the Eighth cavalry, left Fort
Yates on a December midnight In 1880 and
reached sitting Bulls camp, forty-nve miles
away, at 7:1 o'clock in the morning. Then
the troopers dispersed the ndian In q
skirmish, rescued the survivors OF the band
which had killed Sitting Bull, secuted the
country a distance of ten miles beyond. and
then rode to camp at Oak creek. covering,
all told, a distance Of eighty-five miles, be-
sides fighting the Indians, in fourteen hours.
General Merritt, in 1873, with four troops
of cavalry. and hampered by a battalion Of
infantry In wagons. rode 1O miles to the
relief Of Payne in sixty-six and one-half
hours and reached his destination in prime
condition and ready to go at once into q
fight
-Four Troops, o Miles,.
General Guy v. Henry rode los miles in
% hours with four troops in 1880. The
actual riding time was twenty-five hours.