Pagosasun.com - Full Article
By John Motter
PagosaSUN.com columnist
Thursday, February 16, 2012
We are continuing the story of The Great Endurance Horse Race, sponsored by the Denver Post in 1908.
One of the entrants was William H. (Billy) Kern, a pioneer of Pagosa Country.
It was six in the morning of May 27, 1908, when the Denver Post sponsoring train dubbed the “Pony Express” pulled into Evanston, Wyo., the starting point of the race.
The finish line was 600 miles away, in Denver.
Late season snow flurries covered the ground. Evanston seemed determined to set a new Wyoming record for rip-roaring Western hospitality.
Out of the freight cars came the horses, some loaded at Denver and others at various stops along the way.
Dick Turpin, a coal-black half-breed thoroughbred came out bucking and, with his rider, Jack Smith, the only entry from New Mexico put on a miniature rodeo for the enthusiastic crowd.
Adding to the excitement were two white broncos: Bob Brennan’s Luxus, and Otto Rush’s Scotty; and another thoroughbred called Archie. Almost unnoticed by the gaggle of reporters was a chunky strawberry roan, picked up in Severance, Colo., and led by a big, unassuming cowboy...
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http://pagosasun.com/archives/2012/02February/021612/pagosapast.html
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