Pagosa'a Past: The race is on, with Billy Kern in the running

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By John Motter, Pagosa’s Past

We continue with Pagosa pioneer Billy Kern’s involvement in the Denver Post’s Great Endurance Horse Race in 1908 from Evanston, Wyo., to Denver, a distance of 600 miles. As we finished last week, the 25 horses lined up on Main Street in Evanston had just received the command to “Go!”

The first of many checking stations along the way was Carter, Wyo., about 47 miles from the starting line in Evanston. A rider by the name of Workman reached Carter by 10:30 a.m., followed closely by J.A. Doling riding Little Minnie. The winners of the first lap had averaged about 10.5 miles an hour.

The next station was Green River, about 65 miles beyond Carter. Workman checked into Granger, about halfway to Green River, at 4 p.m. Doling had dropped back, but Smith on Dick Turpin and a man named Trew on Little Archie were only eight minutes later. The three men drank two glasses of milk each and by 5 p.m. were on the road again. Several of the riders who came into Granger decided to spend the night...

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