Wednesday, September 17, 2014

COWBOY DREAMS--THE ADVENTURES OF THE ABERNATHY BROTHERS by Cheryl Pierson


In the summer of 1909, two young brothers under the age of ten set out to make their own “cowboy dreams” come true. They rode across two states on horseback. Alone.

It’s a story that sounds too unbelievable to be true, but it is.

Oklahoma had been a state not quite two years when these young long riders undertook the adventure of a lifetime. The brothers, Bud (Louis), and Temple Abernathy rode from their Tillman County ranch in the southwest corner of the state to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Bud was nine years old, and Temple was five.



They were the sons of a U.S. Marshal, Jack Abernathy, who had the particular talent of catching wolves and coyotes alive, earning him the nickname “Catch ’Em Alive Jack.”

Odd as it seems to us today, Jack Abernathy had unwavering faith in his two young sons’ survival skills. Their mother had died the year before, and, as young boys will, they had developed a wanderlust listening to their father’s stories.



Jack agreed to let them undertake the journey, Bud riding Sam Bass (Jack’s own Arabian that he used to chase wolves down with) and Temple riding Geronimo, a half-Shetland pony. There were four rules the boys had to agree to: Never to ride more than fifty miles a day unless seeking food or shelter; never to cross a creek unless they could see the bottom of it or have a guide with them; never to carry more than five dollars at a time; and no riding on Sunday.



The jaunt into New Mexico to visit their father’s friend, governor George Curry, took them six weeks. Along the way, they were escorted by a band of outlaws for many miles to ensure their safe passage. The boys didn’t realize they were outlaws until later, when the men wrote to Abernathy telling him they didn’t respect him because he was a marshal. But, in the letter, they wrote they “liked what those boys were made of.”


One year later, they set out on the trip that made them famous. At ten and six, the boys rode from their Cross Roads Ranch in Frederick, Oklahoma, to New York City to meet their friend, former president Theodore Roosevelt, on his return from an African safari. They set out on April 5, 1910, riding for two months.

Along the way, they were greeted in every major city, being feted at dinners and amusement parks, given automobile rides, and even an aeroplane ride by Wilbur Wright in Dayton, Ohio.

Their trip to New York City went as planned, but they had to buy a new horse to replace Geronimo. While they were there, he had gotten loose in a field of clover and nearly foundered, and had to be shipped home by train.

They traveled on to Washington, D.C., and met with President Taft and other politicians.

It was on this trip that the brothers decided they needed an automobile of their own. They had fallen in love with the new mode of transportation, and they convinced their father to buy a Brush runabout. After practicing for a few hours in New York, they headed for Oklahoma—Bud drove, and Temple was the mechanic.

They arrived safe and sound back in Oklahoma in only 23 days.


But their adventures weren’t over. The next year, they were challenged to ride from New York City to San Francisco. If they could make it in 60 days, they would win $10,000. Due to some bad weather along the 3,619-mile-long trip, they missed the deadline by only two days. Still, they broke a record—and that record of 62 days still stands, nearly one hundred years later.

The boys’ last cross country trip was made in 1913 driving a custom designed, two-seat motorcycle from their Cross Roads Ranch to New York City. They returned to Oklahoma by train.

As adults, Temple became an oilman, and Bud became a lawyer. There is a statue that commemorates the youngest long riders ever in their hometown of Frederick, Oklahoma, on the lawn of the Tillman County Courthouse.

What's the most daring thing you ever did as a child? Come on, everyone--'fess up!T

17 comments:

  1. I know I've posted this before a long time ago. Sorry for repeating--my day slipped up on me. But this is a story that bears re-telling, and we have a lot of new members who might not have seen it. I hope you all enjoy--I'm still amazed every time I read about what these boys did at such a young age.
    Cheryl

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  2. This has always been one of my favorite stories and I appreciate you reposting it. Thank you. Doris

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    1. Thanks, Doris. It's one of mine, too. I cannot wrap my head around letting boys so young go off into the big ol' world on such adventures.
      Cheryl

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  3. Most daring thing for me was at age 7 when my girlfriend (age 8) and I -- tired of sharing a Shetland pony -- stole two cutting horses from the local stockyards. We had a great day riding all over the county.

    And then we heard the siren of the one and only police car in our hometown and decided to follow it to see what was going on.

    The squad car went straight to the stockyard, where it had been reported that two horses were missing and presumed stolen.

    We were more scared of the cowboys that worked the yards than the chief of police, probably because old Tully was building a hangman's noose with his lariat, and softly chanting "we hang horse-thieves where I come from..." Sad end to a glorious day.

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    1. LOL KIT! That is one great story! Whew, you must have been a handful, growing up, my friend! Maybe you should write this as a story???
      Cheryl

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    2. So many stories, so damned little time... The upside of the adventure was we continued to "steal" the horses for the next five summers. And Tully turned out to be a great friend and was a great story teller, But he was soooo old. Like 35 or something.

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    3. Gosh...I remember when 35 was old. Back when I was like 10 or so. Yes, you do have a lot of great stories to get down! Here's the title...The Summer of Horse Thievery. LOL

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  4. Some stories bear repeating. :) Once again a great read and a fascinating tale. I can't imagine.

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    1. I can't either, Kirsten. I just think about myself and my own kids at those ages and wonder how in the heck a parent could sleep at night with their kids gone like that, and not knowing where they were. That guy must have had a ton of confidence in his boys!
      Cheryl

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  5. I wasn't into daring as a kid; I was into reading. The most daring thing I did as a kid was to go for an impromptu hike with friends in the undeveloped land of eastern Spring Valley, CA. We started at the back fence line of my across-the-street neighbor. We saw lots of interesting plants, rocks and cow pies. I didn't even consider that we were in rattlesnake country until my mother freaked out about it when we returned.

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    1. Oh, wow, Robyn! My mom would have freaked out over the rattlesnakes, too. I guess most moms would, though. LOL There wasn't a lot for us to get into growing up where I did--we lived in "small town America".
      Cheryl

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  6. Gives a new definition to childhood independence!

    Charlie

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    1. It sure does! I can't even imagine that. I bet it would never have happened if their mother had still be living.
      Cheryl

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    2. Cheryl,

      I was a full-fledged tomboy and somewhat of a daredevil, so I had a plethora of broken bones, lots of stitches, a couple of concussions, and a host of other scrapes and bruises. Probably the most dangerous activity I engaged in was killing rattlesnakes by whatever means was available at the time. Usually, this happened while I was out riding and all I had to use as a weapon was the back cinch on my saddle or a bridle rein to beat the snake with (didn't carry a gun/rifle on horseback).

      Ahhh... those were the days *sigh* ;-)

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    3. Kaye, I'm noticing a pattern here--rattlesnakes! LOL I probably would have just sat petrified. You're braver than me.
      Cheryl

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  7. Great information Cheryl. I guess that I missed it the first time. I can't believe that those boys did all those things but the world was a gentler place back then.

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    1. Glad you caught it this time around, Lynda! It's a story worth reading--so memorable, and so unique! Yes, you're right--in many ways, the world was much gentler then.
      Cheryl

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