Little Aubry's Legendary Ride
Little Aubry’s legendary ride of 1848 was perhaps the most punishing ride a person made in the 19th century.
Few people are actually able to push themselves to their absolute limits. This is something Navy Seal David Goggins touched on when he coined his 40% rule. Goggins, who is one of the world’s best endurance athletes, claims his endurance abilities are a result of his mental ability to push himself through pain and actually reach his body’s potential. Having completed numerous +100 mile races, including the 135 mile run through Death Valley, and even ran over 200 miles at the Moab 240. Needless to say, he has certainly reached his goal to become an uncommon person, in a group of uncommon people. Goggins’ main claim is that most people only reach about 40% of their potential. At that point, they begin to experience too much discomfort and shut things down to return to a state of comfort. Whether you think Goggins is talking about you or not, it’s hard to disagree that it is mostly rare individuals who are willing to push themselves into uncomfortable situations in order to reach their potential. This probably reflects a general aspect of human nature, which would make it true across time and space. One horseman of the 19th century that was certainly able to push himself past 40%, was an energetic American named Francois Xavier Aubry.
Born in St. Louis in 1824, Francios Xavier Aubry was one of those youth who was of perfect character to grow up on the American frontier. Although when grown, “Little” Aubry was scarcely over 5 feet 2 inches and weighed just over 100 pounds, records tell us he was as energetic as they come. Growing up in St. Louis, Little Aubry soon became familiar with the array of travelers coming from the West. Before long, nothing could hold him back, and Aubry began making trips out west with the freight outfits. Over time, he became familiar with the geography, people, and travel in the west, and was of high respect for his abilities as a plainsman.
One trail that Aubry became an expert in traveling was the Santa Fe Trail. The Santa Fe Trail connected Independence, Missouri in the east, to Santa Fe in the west. It was a very popular travel route that established the economies of Mexico and the United States. Before long, millions of dollars of freight was traveling over the trail each and every year. Freighters commonly transported goods over it, and it didn’t take Aubry long to learn each and every mile of the roughly 800 miles journey. His trips generally took around 30 days to make the trip one way.
Like men obsessed with travel do, by 1848 Little Aubry was guessing how fast he could make the trip. He began to take bets, and early in January, he took part in a race from Santa Fe to Independence. In this initial race, Aubry was the only man who finished from a field of 6 men. Although Aubry’s 14-day trip was called “unprecedented in Prairie life,” the energetic man knew he could do better.
In August of the same year, Aubry was back in Santa Fe. News of his first ride had spread, and he had reached a degree of fame in the territory. Still, in the back of his mind, he believed he could do better. While in Santa Fe, he began to boast that he could make the ride in just six days. Before long, he had even put up $1,000 as a bet to anyone willing to accept. It didn’t take long, and Aubry sufficient cash was put up against him, and the pieces were in place for Little Aubry’s legendary ride.
In 1934, Author J. Frank Dobie captured the details of Aubry’s historic ride in his book The Mustangs. In the book, Dobie wrote:
“Before dawn on September 12 he left Santa Fe in a swinging gallop, and he ate only six meals on the ground, stopped only once to sleep - for two hours - before he reined up his final horse, heaving and atremble, at Independence on the Missouri.”
Dobie noted that Aubry made a short written account of his ride. In that account Little Aubry wrote:
“I made the trip travelling time only counted, in 4 days and 12 hours, though the time spent between Santa Fe and Independence was 5 days and 16 hours. I made a portion of the trip at the rate of 250 miles to the 24 hours; made 200 miles on my yellow mare in 26 hours.”
So, Aubry did in fact cover the 800 miles and win his bet. In order to do that, he had to maintain the speed of nearly 6 mph for each and every hour he was gone. If you consider just the 4 days and 12 hours he claimed to have been in the saddle, the pace is more like 7.5 mph. This may not sound impressive to the modern reader,. However, when you figure that a horse walks at only 3 mph, you realize that means Little Aubry would have had to average a speed twice that fast. If he kept a constant speed, that means that for 108 hours he was riding a horse that at the slowest was traveling at a trot, and likely at a faster gait. The sort of physical endurance that would take is unbelievable. When you take into account that he actually had to sleep in the saddle, it makes the ride that much more amazing.
Another except from The Mustangs sums it up nicely:
“Buffalo Bill knew whereof he was speaking when he declared that ‘fifteen miles an hour on horseback will in a short time shake any man all to pieces.’ Aubry was made of animated rawhide.”
Although Little Aubry’s ride is absolutely an example of exceptional human endurance, it draws its share of critics. Along the way, Aubry is supposed to have killed 6 horses and lamed 6 more for life. In today’s world, endurance races do their best to ensure the welfare of the animal is in top priority. However, in Aubry’s world, the standard was just simply different. It should also be noted that in a world where a man afoot was likely in dire straights, cowboys, mountain men, and other horsemen, had the incentive to take as good of care of their horses as they could afford to.
While there were many legendary rides across the American frontier, Little Aubry’s is generally regarded as the most difficult for man and beast. In a time and place where man’s potential could only be unlocked by the power of the horse, Aubry showed the extreme limits of that potential.
