The Wide World Magazine, Vol. 22, No. 128, November, 1908Various
History
The Wide World Magazine, Vol. 22, No. 128, November, 1908
Various
Adventure stories -- Periodicals; English periodicals; History, Modern -- 20th century -- Periodicals; Voyages and travels -- Periodicals
A graphic description of a wonderful six-hundred-miles "endurance
race" which took place recently in Wyoming and Colorado, arousing
extraordinary public excitement. The photographs accompanying the
article were furnished by the "Denver Post," under the auspices of
which enterprising newspaper the contest was held and the prizes
awarded.
Some time ago, while in Denver, Colorado, Mr. Homer Davenport, the
famous American cartoonist, made a statement to the effect that the
Arabian steed could travel farther and quicker than any other breed of
horse extant. To this the owners of the _Denver Post_, as patriotic
Westerners, promptly took exception. For hard, steady going, day after
day, they said, the native Western "broncho" could wear the legs off
anything that goes on four feet. This was what the proprietors of the
_Post_ believed, and so strongly did they feel it that they have since
expended nine thousand dollars in instituting an "endurance race,"
which should demonstrate once and for ever the magnificent "staying"
qualities of the broncho.
[Illustration: THE "DENVER POST" SPECIAL ABOUT TO LEAVE FOR THE
STARTING-POINT WITH PRESS REPRESENTATIVES AND COMPETITORS.
_From a Photograph._]
Prizes were offered ranging in value from a thousand to fifty dollars,
and extraordinary public interest was at once manifested in the
contest. The whole West woke up, and entries simply poured in from
Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Utah, and other neighbouring States.
The race was to be over a course five hundred and ninety-five miles
long--from Evanston, Wyoming, to Denver, Colorado, along the famous
old "Overland Trail." The rules governing the contest were few and
simple. Each competitor was to ride from start to finish on one horse.
He was at liberty to go as he pleased and keep on as long as he
pleased, but at regular intervals there were to be "checking stations,"
where veterinary surgeons would examine the horses and rule out any
animal which was not in a fit state to proceed. In this way cruel
overtaxing of the horses' strength--an unpleasant feature of some of
the military long-distance races on the Continent--would be prevented.
For the rest the rider could use his own discretion as to the best way
of covering the six hundred miles of mountain, desert, and rolling
plain that lay between the start and the winning-post.
[Illustration: THE STARTING-POINT OF THE GREAT RACE AT EVANSTON,
WYOMING.
_From a Photograph._]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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