Sensational accomplishments occurred in the Abernathy family. The boys’ father, Texan Jack “Catch ‘Em Alive” Abernathy, a United States Marshal with a penchant for the picturesque, was born in Bosque County in 1876 and grew up herding cows on his father’s farm. As an adult, he surprised President Theodore Roosevelt by running down a prairie wolf on his horse, leaping from the horse onto the wolf, and capturing it alive with his gloved hands. Roosevelt commented, “It surpasses anything I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot.”
The boys’ father agreed to their cross-country ride and helped them plan the route. Abernathy made some rules before leaving: they could not travel more than 50 miles in a day; They could not cross water without the presence of an adult unless they could see the bottom; They could not carry more than $5 with them at a time; And they could not travel on Sunday. The boys’ arrival in New York was planned to coincide with Roosevelt’s return from an African hunting expedition. Abernathy, Roosevelt’s longtime friend, planned to meet him there.
On a trip to New York, Bud rode his father’s wolf-chasing horse Sam Bass, and Temple rode the half-Shetland pony Geronimo. The temple was so small that he had to climb onto the porch or tree stump, and Bud had to saddle his horse for him every morning. They left home in April with some clothes, two bedrolls, oats for the horses, and some bacon and bread. At night, Bud laid out his lariat around their bed, an old cowboy trick he had learned from his father to keep away snakes and scorpions.
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