Across the fence: Celebrating the 120th anniversa!Y of The Chadron to Chicago Cowboy Race (Part 2)

It is little wonder that

the Humane Society had

grave concerns over the possible

mistreatmen t of the

horses that would be ridden

in the 1,000-mile race from

Chadron to Chicago. There

was, among the supporter

s of the race, one J ames

C. Dahlman who was well

known throughout the panhandle

a s an avid racing

promoter. Dahlman came to

Nebraska under the name

of J im Murry, a cowboy on

the Texas Trail, with the

first h erd of Longhorns to

be trailed to the Red Cloud

Agency near White Clay

Cr eek in South Dak ot a . Jim

Murry (Dahlman) brought

with him a stud horse named

'Fiddler ' which he put up

against a ny and all comers

in numerous match r a ces.

Eventua lly Jim settled in

Ch adron and took what

i s a s sumed to be his l egal

n ame, J ames C Dahlman.

By 1887 James C. Dahlman

was elected sh eriff of the

booming town of Chadron.

Dahlman wa s the organizer

of an earlier Chadron

horse race, though this one

was much shorter. A 100-

mile race was promoted

in the late 1880s or early

1890s. The details about this

particular horse race are +

scant and little is r ecorded

of the events of Ch adron's

100-mile r a ce. It is said

that on the day of the r a ce

a scorching wind blew in

from the south and raised

the temperature to unbearable

h ighs. Before the r ace

had finished more than half

of the competing horses

succumbed to exhaustion

and lay dead on the field.

The winning horse, in that

despicable race, was owned

by Dahlman.

So perhaps Chadron's

unsavory r eputation for the

mistreatment of horses was

not entirely unfounded. I

suspect that the 100-mile

r ace was run with thor oughbreds

and judged by

speed alone. No doubt it

was stubborn pride and the

deadly combination of h eat,

gr eed and disr egard for the

welfare of the horses that

resulted in disa ster

However, in the Chadron

to Chicago r ace, the horses

and the men who rode them

were of a completely differ ent

breed Sturdy western

bred horses, whose bloodlines

carried gen e tics of

str ength and stamina, were

u sed daily in workin g s tock

and traveling lon ger dis tances

over rugged terrain.

Speed was not their most

important trait. Equa lly

significant were the men

who rode them.

The men who signed up

to ride the 1,000 miles to

Chica go wer e horsemen .

These were men who knew

the value of the partnership

that can exist b etween

huma ns and hor ses. These

were men who depended on

a good horse to h elp them in

their daily work, work tha t

demanded long days in the

saddle, stamina, strength

and endurance in both horse

a nd h orseman. These were

men who, on a daily basis,

put the h ealth and wellbeing

of their horses above

that of their own. Paul

Fountain and W.W. Ta tro of

The Humane Society and

the S P G A. would discover

that the r eality of the "wild"

cowboy and his treatment

of the h or se were far differ

ent than the h orrendou s

depiction of cruelty that

was rumored.

It was obvious that ea st ern

expectations and misinformation

were far removed

from r eality and common

sense One news article in

the O'Neill Editor carried

this quote: "A gen tleman

f r om the east r emark ed ...

th a t everything possible

should be done to prevent

this t errible r a ce . "Just

think," said he , "of k eeping

a h orse on a dead run [from Chadron] to Chicago."

The riders and their

horses were as follows:

Dave Douglas rode horses

owned by Mike Elmore

of Hemingford, Neb. "Wide

Awake" was a bay gelding

and "Monte Cristo" a

brown stallion. Dave was

the youngest rider and no

doubt some of the 'older'

men either viewed him as a

potential threat or scoffed

at his lack of maturity.

However, Dave became seriously

ill and at the O'Neill

check-station declared his

official withdrawal from the

race.

Doc Middleton, Chadron's

favorite to win, rode a brown

gelding named "Geronimo"

and a bay gelding named

"Bay Jimmie". By this time,

Doc had become a model

citizen of Chadron and had

settled into a reputable life

of businessman and family

man. Even so, local reporters

joked that it was hoped

that Doc actually owned

the horses that he was riding.

Doc started last from

Chadron and finished last

in Chicago. Doc's strategy

was to ride hard from the

start and gain a lead sufficient

to keep himself ahead

of the others all the way to

Chicago. He maintained a

significant lead to the banks

of the Missouri River when

Bay Jimmie came up lame

before crossing into Iowa.

Doc continued with his second

horse Geronimo but fell

further behind as the riders

crossed Iowa. By the time

he eros sed the Illinois border

Doc was dead last and

when he reached DeKalb,

the last checkpoint before

Chicago, Doc withdrew

from the race and along

with Geronimo covered the

last leg by train to Chicago.

Despite not finishing, Doc

received $25 of the purse

from Cody and $75 from the

Chadron purse.

Abe Jones from

Whitewood, South Dakota

entered a bay gelding named

"Romeo and a black gelding

named "George". Abe's horses

were ridden by George

Jones, whom I suppose was

a relative. George, the cowboy,

arrived in Chicago a

day after the leaders had

finished. History did not

record if George rode in on

"George" or "Romeo".

Emmett Albright, the

Crawford cowboy whose

overzealous spirit of exaggeration

set the wheels in

motion for the race, was

backed into a corner and

practically forced to participate

since the whole idea

stemmed from his outlandish

boast. He rode horses

owned by P. G. Cooper of

Crawford, Neb. "Outlaw"

was a buckskin gelding

and a sorrel gelding named

"Joe Bush" were his horses.

Albright was running in

forth place near the end of

the race but miraculously

finished second. When

Emmett crossed the finish

line he did so at a high lope

and a sliding stop then leapt

from his horse in a dramatic

gesture well suited

to Buffalo Bill's Wild West

Extravaganza. Suspicious

of his good humor and the

remarkable freshness of his

horses, the judges inquired

as to his ability to pass

two frontrunners. Emmett

replied that he had come

by a different road. Indeed,

that different road just happened

to be the railroad

where he and his horses

enjoyed a restful ride in a

boxcar. Emmett reluctantly

conceded to a withdrawal.

Joe B. Gilles pie, from

Coxville, Neb., rode his

own horses "Billy Mack",

a chestnut gelding and a

gray named "Billy Schafer".

Joe was the oldest of the

nine entrants and had no

doubt earned the affectionate

moniker of 'Old Joe".

Considerably over aweight

at nearly 190 pound~ Joe

was considered the least

likely to finish the race.

However, of the eight

sanctioned riders, "Old"

Joe Gilles pie finished

first and lost close to 40

pounds during the ride. Joe

was awarded $250 in prize

money and also received

the Colt Peacemaker that

had barked the start of the

great race.

James (Rattlesnake)

Stevens from Ness City,

Kansas stayed with the

leaders for the entirety of

the race, falling back only

after suffering from heat

exhaustion, loss of vision

and hemorrhaging of the

lungs. James finished fourth

among the sanctioned riders

and fifth overall. His

horses, "General Grant" and

"Nick" finished the race in

fine condition.

Joe Campbell from

Denver, Colorado was the

only rider to enter the race

with a single horse, "Boomde-

aye", a gray gelding.

Joe arrived in Chicago on

the morning of June 29.

Although two days behind

the winners, Joe had ridden

a single horse the entire

1,000 miles in little more

than 15 days. His horse was

in excellent condition when

checked by the Humane

Society at the finish line

in Chicago. This is a feat

by man and horse that had

never before been accomplished and has not been

done since.

Charles Smith of Hot

Springs, South Dakota drew

very little media attention.

Charles, a working cowboy,

finished in second place

among the eight sanctioned

riders. He rode a sorrel gelding

named "Dynamite" and

a bay gelding, "Red Wing".

John Berry, a stagecoach

driver from Sturgis South

Dakota was the races'

protested winner. Berry

had been on the committee

responsible for establishing

the route that the

race would take and the

other contestants disputed

his participation. The race

committee ruled that Berry

could ride but denied him

the right to participate

in the awarding of prize

money. Buffalo Bill, on the

other hand, recognized him

as a legitimate participant

and awarded him $175 from

his purse. Montgomery

Ward had also put up a new

saddle as a prize to the winner

and awarded it to Berry.

Barry rode horses owned

by Jack Hale of Sturgis.

A stallion named "Poison"

was Berry's mount when he

was first to cross the finish

line and shake the hand of

Buffalo Bill Cody. Berry's

relief mount was a gelding

named "Sandy".

It was rumored that the

winning horse would command

a high price, perhaps

as much as $2,500. I would

imagine that Mr. Hale

was eyeing the possibility

of handsome stud fees for

Poison's services.

The significance of the

Great Chadron to Chicago

Cowboy Race is best

summed up by veterinarian

and Humane Society

spokesman W.W Tatro when

he said:

"It started in foolishness

and was foolish business all

through, but it has been

an educa tor of the people,

showing them that the soca

lled cowboys a re not a

set of horned animals, a ll

wild brutal men, and t he

Huma ne Society discovered

it was wrong supposing that

the r iders would t r eat t heir

a nimal s badly."

The Chadron to Chicago

Cowboy Race was an historic

display of western horsemans

hip and an uns ur passed

feat i n the endu ra

nce of horses and riders. It

was a ccomplished by men

who va lued their horses

above all else and who sacrificed

t heir own comfort and

amb itions for the wellbeing

of their fai th fu l steed s.

No greater legacy could be

bestowed upon t hose who

ca ll t hemselves "cowboy".

M. Timothy Nolting is an

award w inning Neb r aska

columnis t and freelance

writer. To contact Tim,

email; [email protected]