>Says
Roth: > "A modest man, Mr. Hopkins does not
list himself in the great riders, >but in my opinion he not only belongs
in the list--he belongs at the head >of
it. > "Look at his record:
In over 400 long distance races he was beaten >but once, and then by
foul; he finished first, but was disqualified. These >races varied in
length from 50 to 3,000 miles. Three times he won the title >of 'The
World's Greatest Horseman,' in competition with picked riders from >the
cavalry of the world...His most famous race was held in 1886. It was
>1,799 miles long. The starting point was Galveston, Texas; the finish
line >was Rutland, Vermont. The race was backed by Lucky Baldwin and
Richard K. >Fox, owner of the old "Police
Gazette"." > > So, perhaps the "Police
Gazette" followed Mr. Hopkins subsequent career.
Well, I just spent 3 hours in the Boston
Public
Library looking at microfilm of the 1886
issues
of the National Police Gazette.
Richard K. Fox frequently touts all the
diamond
belts and similar prizes that
he donates to promote
"manly sports" of all kinds.
Lucky Baldwin is mentioned frequently.
Horse
racing--flat and harness--is mentioned
frequently.
All kinds of various distance
events (like bike
riding and "pedestrian" races)
are mentioned frequently.
There's even a story in May about the
"world champion equestrian" named Charles
M.
Anderson from California who arrives in New
York and challenges a local
trainer that Fox
knows to a "distance"
race. Evidently,
what
they meant by a "distance"
race was a set
distance (minimum 25 miles)
where each man has
five horses and he rides each
horse one mile
in succession around a race
track. Whoever
finishes the distance first
wins. This
Charles Anderson person had
won races of this
sort at distances of 50,
100, and 200 miles
(riding 20 horses). They get together
at Fox's office and issue a challenge and
Fox
holds the purse and they have the race and
there's a big writeup about it in the
Gazette
and an engraving of the race.
There's even mention of an R.A. Haggin who,
with E.J. Baldwin, owns a
stallion named
Hidalgo (TB racehorse) in
California in 1886.
But nowhere is there any mention of any
distance
race sponsored by Lucky Baldwin or Fox--
or sponsored by anybody else, for that
matter--that runs from Galveston,
Texas to Rutland, Vt. in
1886.
No mention whatsoever. And, it is *exactly*
the
kind of thing the National Police Gazette
would
play up.
Maybe we have the year wrong. (Hopkins
makes
a mistake and says 1886, when it's actually
1887
(or 88 or whatever) and everybody just
repeats
the error.)
Or maybe Frank Hopkins is a Big Fat Liar.
Maybe
this Galveston to Vermont race never
happened
either--never mind the Aden to Syria race.
Working one's way through the Police
Gazette
on microfilm is tough going. The type is
*tiny*
and one constantly has to refocus to read
different
parts of the page. After three hours I
wasn't
in the mood to continue searching after
1886.
The National Police Gazette has been scanned
in
in what I gather may be searchable form by a
company
