A Horse,
of Course
with Don Blazer
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There are some horsemen-heroes I just
can’t accept.
Francois Xavier Aubry is one of them.
They’ve named cliffs after him, and a
valley in Arizona and a fort in Kansas. He did some miraculous things. And yes,
he was a hard little critter, without fear and he got tougher as the going got
rougher.
But for my money, they gave him credit which
belongs elsewhere. And the names of the real heroes are mostly forgotten.
Aubry set an endurance speed record that was
unbelievable when he did it, and is unbelievable now. He rode from Santa Fe,
New Mexico to Independence, Missouri, a distance of 832 miles, in five days and
sixteen hours.
That’s impossible, you say. That’s
also what those who bet against him said.
To accomplish the fantastic feat he had to ride
an average of 140 miles per day for nearly six consecutive days. He had to ride
through hostile Indian country, during storms, and across swollen rivers.
He made his ride and set his record in
September of 1848.
Aubry was a trader who packed goods from Santa
Fe to Independence. He made many trips, was nearly killed by Indians several
time and he gained quite a reputation. He was, without question, the hero of
the day.
Aubry was 24 years old, stood 5 foot 2 inches
and weighed about 100 pounds. He bet Kit Carson and some other friends $1,000
he could make the ride in under six days. The bet, a whole lot of money in
those days, nonetheless, was quickly accepted.
At the time, Aubry was riding a Palomino mare
named Dolly. His plan was to rider Dolly the first 75 miles out of Santa Fe. At
that point he expected to overtake a wagon train with which he had already send
a number of fresh horses. He would ride the fresh horses to other points along
the trail where he had remount horses waiting.
But things went wrong almost immediately. Dolly
raced the first 75 miles, but the wagon train was long gone. Dolly had to race
another 75 miles before they overtook the wagons. The mare traveled 150 miles
in under 24 hours.
Dolly saved Aubry then, and later she would die
to save him again.
With fresh horses, Aubry pushed on day and
night. He broke down all the horses before he reached his remounts. Two of the
horses ran themselves to death.
The names of the horses aren’t known.
Aubry walked 20 miles to his next horse.
Late on Sunday, September 17, Aubry rode a
sweating, panting horse into Independence. He won his race for fame with eight
hours to spare.
The celebrations were wild, and the praise for
Aubry was great.
But no one seemed to care, mention or give
credit to the horses Aubry rode.
Dolly, who somehow survived that famous ride,
was Aubry’s favorite mount for the next five years as he scouted new
trails to the west coast.
On one of the scouting trips Aubry and his
followers were attacked by Indians. Aubry suffered seven wounds in one battle;
Dolly was also wounded.
In his diary of the trip, Aubry wrote: "We
are on half rations of horse meat; and I have the misfortune to know that it is
the flesh of my inestimable mare, Dolly, who had so often, by her speed, saved
me from death at the hands of Indians."
Aubry was stabbed to death by a Major Richard
H. Weightman in a bar brawl in 1854. The major was later acquitted by a verdict
of "self-defense."
Yeah, Aubry was a rider. I’ll be among the
first to say he was.
I won’t say he was a horseman.
And I’ll reserve the word "hero"
for the horses he rode.
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