The Astonishing Ride of the Abernathy Boys

Louis “Bud” Abernathy, 10, and his brother, Temple, 6, inherited their father’s spirit of adventure and set out in 1910 to ride their horses more than 2,000 miles from Frederick, Oklahoma, to New York City.

Sensational accomplishments ran in the Abernathy family. The boys’ father, Texan Jack “Catch ’em Alive” Abernathy, a United States marshal with a leaning toward picturesque behavior, was born in Bosque County in 1876 and grew up punching cows on his father’s ranch. As an adult, he astonished President Theodore Roosevelt by running down a prairie wolf on his horse, leaping from the horse onto the wolf and capturing it alive with his gloved hands. “This beats anything I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a great deal,” Roosevelt commented.

The boys’ father agreed to their cross-country ride and helped them plan the route. Abernathy postulated a few rules before they set out: They could not travel more than 50 miles in one day; they could not cross water without an adult present unless they could see the bottom; they could not carry more than $5 with them at one time; and they could not travel on Sundays. The boys’ arrival in New York was planned to coincide with the return of Roosevelt from an African hunting expedition. Abernathy, a longtime friend of Roosevelt, planned to meet them there.

On the trip to New York, Bud rode Sam Bass, his father’s wolf-chasing horse, and Temple rode Geronimo, a half-Shetland pony. Temple was so small he had to mount from a porch or tree stump, and Bud had to saddle his horse for him every morning. They left home in April, carrying a few clothes, two bedrolls, oats for the horses, and some bacon and bread. At night, Bud laid his lariat around their bedrolls, an old cowboy trick he learned from his father to keep snakes and scorpions at bay.