The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1930-05-23

fresh water there and
suggested it as a good place for
fort. Although the outpost which
once bore his name kas long since
passed away, the fame of Felix Nav
Ter Aubrey, French-Canadian by birth
but an American hunter, trapper and
trader by occupation, has endured be-
cause he was the hero Of one of the
greatest long distance rides in history
from Santa Fe, N. NJ, to Independ-
ence, Mo-, distance of more than
800 miles, in five days and sixteen
hours.
Early il the morning of September
~, 1876, Aubrey rode out of Santa Fe
for the start of this classic of the
plains. From the morning of the start
until Independence was reached he
stopped neither to eat or sleep, and
on at least three occasions during his
ride narrowly escaped capture and
death at the hands of Indians. He
ate while riding, and after the second
morning out he tied himself into the
saddle and snatched bits of sleep at
times.
Late at nigl4 on September II, five
days and sixteen hours after leaving
Santa Fe, Aubrey rode up to the old
holland House in Independence. He
had traversed 800 miles by horseback
in that length of time by 1876 hours
of continuous riding and travelling 40
miles each "a hours.
Fort Aubrey was established in
September, 1856. about four miles east
During it's brief career it was an i'm
portant post on the historic Santa Fe
Trail, for it was the only refuge Cor
wagon trains, harassed by Indian at
tack, in the 150-mile stretch between
Fort Dodge, Kan, and Fort Lyon.
Colo. 1t was garrisoned by United
States troops for time and then, the
necessity for its being there having
apparently passed away, it was aban-
doned. At least it passed out of the
army records about 1858 or 1859.
Interesting as Fort Aubrey was as
a haven for those who traversed the
Santa Fe Trail by stage coach, COW
cred wagon or pack train when the
savage tribesmen swooped down, it is
even more interesting because it is
the scene of tragedy of the plains
which is still one of the unsolved mys-
teries of the Old West. For here one
day in December, 1868. party of 90
Missouri militiamen froze to death in
a fierce blizzard which swept over
western Kansas What their names
were and just how they met their
death no one knows. Local tradition
has preserved part of the story and
the military records throw some light
on the tragedy, but there is still
enough left untold to make 1t true
mystery of the plains"
The local tradition part of it has
been preserved by a Syracuse mer-
chant, H. Helfrich, pioneer home
steader and the Socialist candidate
for governor of Kansas in 1926, whose
hobby is the history of his county.
He got the story from r. T. Goans,
who was a member of the party
caught in the blizzard and who as
sisted in the burial of the dead.
Mr.. Goans told Mr.. Helfrich three
companies of cavalry, an escort of
Governor Goodwin of Arizona, left
Fort Leavenworth in the fall of 1868
to accompany the governor to Fort
Union, N. M. He said they arrived
safely at their destination, but were
separated on their way back and that,
while camping in the ruins of Fort
Aubrey, % men of Company 1 froze
to death.
Records of Fort Leavenworth and
the Arizona Historical society show
Governor Goodwin, the first governor
of Arizona, left Fort Leavenworth
September %. 1868, escorted by Com
panies A and H of the regular cav
airy, and Company of the Fourth
Missouri militia. The expedition was
in charge of Maj. James A. Phillips
of Kansas, with Lieut.. Peter f. Clark,
Capt. John H. Butcher and Capt. Dan
lei Rice in command of the COM
panies. They arrived at Fort Union,
N. NJ, November 8 and left November
IL. They reached Fort Lyons, Colo,
November %, in snowstorm. On
this part of the trip they lost several
horses and some of the men were
frostbitten. The party remained at
For. Lyons eight days and from that
time there are no more records of
Company /.
Mr.. Helfrich believes that a dis
agreement among the soldiers at Fort
Lyon caused Company to split from
the rest of the command. Companies
3 A and H reported at Fort Riley on
December %, having lost one by freez-
ing. They also reported much suffer-
ing from the heavy storms which they
encountered.
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