10 Jul: Adventures of the Boy Horsemen
The ‘Abernathy Boys’, Temple and Louis, were aged just 5 and 8 respectively when they departed Guthrie, Oklahoma for a 1,300-mile horseback trip to Roswell, New Mexico on July 10th, 1909. Alone.
Sons of widower John Abernathy, himself the youngest-ever U.S. Marshal, the boys encountered wolves, outlaws and vast stretches of untamed plains on their journey – but survived the trip and became national celebrities and friends with Teddy Roosevelt.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how, in another adventure, the brothers ended up commandeering a motor car back from New York City; consider the extent to which the boys were being exploited to provide their Dad with publicity; and reveal John’s arresting technique for capturing wild wolves…
Further Reading:
• ‘Free-range kids: Louis and Temple Abernathy rode horses from Oklahoma to New York to meet Teddy Roosevelt’ (The Washington Post, 2019): https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/10/19/ultimate-free-range-kids-two-boys-rode-horses-new-york-oklahoma/
• ‘How The Abernathy Boys Became The Most Adventurous Kids In History’ (Fatherly, 2016): https://www.fatherly.com/love-money/abernathy-boys-solo-cross-country-1909
• ‘America On Their Own: The True Adventures and Explorations of the Abernathy Boys’ (Holly Culver, 2016):
#US #Strange #Child #1900s