106 PAINT HORSE JOURNAL MONTH 2006 - The Long Riders' Guild

106 ◆ PAINT HORSE JOURNAL ◆ MONTH 2006COURTESYTOM MOATES

The longestridene of the most amazing equestrian journeys of alltime began in 1912 when 30-year-old loggerGeorge Beck decided that the scant living hehacked out in the forests of Washington state justwasn’t cutting it.The odyssey ultimately ended with the longestconfirmed horseback trip of the 20th century. Perhapsmost exceptionally, it provided the opportunityfor the single longest journey made by a horsein recorded history, a Paint Horse named “Pinto.”This fact is substantiated by The Long Riders’Guild (LRG, thelongridersguild.com), an internationalorganization of equestrian explorers whohave made continuous horseback journeys of1,000 miles or more. The LRG boasts being thelargest repository of equestrian travel knowledgein history, and they verify that Pinto made theentire trip, dubbed “the ride of the century.”This expedition astonishes those lucky enoughto bump into the few accounts of it remainingtoday. Beck and three other horsemen—hisyounger brother, Charles Beck; a 20-year-oldfriend, Raymond “Fat” Rayne; and Beck’s 38-year-old brother-in-law, Jay Ransome—passedthrough each capital of the 48 states thatcomprised the United States at the time. Thisrequired zig-zagging over mountains, deserts,plains, rivers and every other imaginablegeographic challenge nature can dish out fromsea to shining sea.Above: Though many horses began the expedition, only thestriking Paint Horse named Pinto completed the 20,352-mile trek.Facing: The Overland Westerners—George Beck, Charles Beck,Raymond Rayne and Jay Ransome."Let's make the longesthorse ride on record and getourselves a reputation."George BeckCOURTESYTOM MOATESPAINT HORSE JOURNAL ◆ MAY 2008 ◆ 107

Above: Afterposing for a localphotographer inMay 1912, the fourhorsemen steppedinto their saddlesand began their ride.Bottom right: Theposse started theirlong ride in Olympia,Washington, thenheaded for Oregon,eager to continuetheir journey.“What is ironic about the most logisticallyimpressive equestrian journey of the 20th century,”said CuChullaine O’Reilly, a foundingmember of the LRG, “is that it didn’t beginin Dodge City, or any other town associatedwith the mythology of the Old West. Nor wasit a legendary cowboy who completed the mostdifficult ride in 20th century American history.Though it is hard to believe, the greatest Americanequestrian journey began under the shadowof the mighty Olympic mountains, in the tinyvillage of Shelton, Washington, when four formerloggers, turned Long Riders, rode into therecord books.”Pinto may have lived half a century before theAmerican Paint Horse Association was formed,but we know he sported striking markings andcolor that would turn the head of any PaintHorse enthusiast today. Also, thanks to solidconformation and a sturdy build, he never tooka lame step in 1,127 days, as he covered 20,352miles on that continuous journey—a singularfeat worthy of praise and reflection for any horselover, and certainly qualities sought after byPaint Horse breeders today.The great journeyTo George Beck, seeking celebrity andaffluence from the saddle seemed a muchsuperior situation to laboring with an axe.“Logging is a lousy business,” he wrote inhis autobiography. “We’re lucky if we work 6months a year. In the meantime, there’s aWorld’s Fair, the Panama Pacific InternationalExposition, comin’ up in San Francisco in1915. The gold is there. We have the nags andgear. Let’s ride to every state capital in theUnion. Let’s make the longest horse ride onrecord and get ourselves a reputation. We’llwin fame. We’ll write an adventurebook. We’ll put on a show on the midway atthe Exposition. There’s a pot of gold out thereand we’ll find it!”Thus Beck assured his friends of their brightfutures and optimistically got the triptogether. Dubbing themselves the OverlandWesterners, the posse agreed with Beck and108 ◆ PAINT HORSE JOURNAL ◆ MAY 2008

COURTESYTOM MOATESfigured fame and fortune awaited them on thelong trail, building up over the journey andfinally erupting into great fanfare and abrilliant finale at their final destination.Aside from the big shows they could attend,surely newspapers would pick up their story andgovernors from every state would come to greetthem with smiles and handshakes. Their nameswould be known from coast to coast. They alsohad a few additional entrepreneurial tricks uptheir sleeves. The horsemen printed post cardsand calendars illustrating their proposed routeall over America to sell along the way. Also, theyhammered out an agreement with a Seattlebasedmagazine, The Westerner, to cover theirexpenses in exchange for their taking subscriptionsacross the country.It never occurred to the adventurers thatwhat awaited at the end of successfully completingsuch an amazing, ambitious and publicizedspectacle of equestrian endurance wasabsolute obscurity and a disinterest that wouldgreet them even upon their completion.On the morning of May 1, 1912, the originalfive horses and four riders stood still momentarilyfor the camera of a local photographer.Then they stepped into their saddles and rode18 miles to Olympia, Washington, where thegovernor greeted them. Next they headed outfor Oregon, where another member joined thegroup—Nip, a zealous Gordon Setter puppy.Twenty-three days after the trip’s warm,sunny beginnings they headed across the snowcoveredCascade Mountains. On a trail up theHackleman Pass, they had to hold up near thesummit in freezing temperatures in a desertedcabin, and then set out at 4 a.m. the next morningto travel beyond this first great obstacle.“Got to the snow line at 5 a.m.,” Beckwrote, “and then the fun began.... It held usup pretty well. But the horses went throughThrough it all, "Pinto" alonestayed sound and sure-footedon the trail.to their belly once in a while. It tired them outpretty much on the start, as it was prettytough work and new to them. But when theygot their second wind they done better andgot somewhat steadier. I thought once wewould never make her but a fellow can domore than he thinks he can if he makes up hismind and we made up our minds to gothrough or bust.”Beck and Pinto fell into many unique opportunitieson the road. While Pinto started out asa packhorse, by the time they reached the thirdstate, Idaho, he already was becoming Beck’sfavorite mount. In Boise, the pair accepted aninvitation to ride in the famous traveling 101Ranch Real Wild West Show. Already, many ofthe group’s horses were showing signs of fatigueand trouble, and the need for swappingout horses along the way began. Yet,through it all Pinto alone stayed soundand sure-footed on the trail.The Overland Westerners did makea little money by selling their printedmaterials, and the magazine sponsorshiphelped at first, but as the journeyproceeded the publication folded andwith it went their only regular sourceof income. As they ventured east,they often found themselves penniless.What scant income came fromthe sale cards and calendars alwayswent to caring for the horses first.Mostly, their nightly accommoda-The OverlandWesterners madea little money sellingtheir printed materials,such as postcardsdescribing theiramazing voyage.COURTESYTOM MOATESPAINT HORSE JOURNAL ◆ MONTH 2006 ◆ 109

What scant income camein went to caring forthe horses first.Far Right: Throughmonths of travelover horrendousroads, the tenaciouscrew managed toaverage 22 milesa day.tions were haystacks, barns or just the greatoutdoors. Once in a rare while they couldscrape together the change to get a room. Eventhen straws were drawn to see which one ofthem would get the bed, leaving the others tosleep upon the hard ground yet another night.The men even sold their winter coats to getan extra $1.75 as they navigated eastward.Through months of travel over horrendousroads (often little more than glorified trails)the tenacious crew still managed to average 22miles a day. They put thousands of milesbehind them, enduring every imaginablehardship and long, lonely expanses, but theroad was always dotted with brilliant adventures.Pinto did not manage the trip withouthis share of near brushes with death. In one ofthese, he was nearly swept away and drownedin a treacherous river crossing. Beck wrote:“We had forded dozens of busy rivers. Jaytested the stream with a long pole, then rodefared well for a while after the trip, caredfor by Beck. In fact, he was so gentle he was allowed to wanderat large through a neighborhood near Port Angeles, Washington,to the delight of children, many of whom remembered thebeautiful, freely roaming gelding for decades to come.Beck, unfortunately, did not fare so well. He wrote an autobiographyof the great trip, but, as with all the other attempts toturn the experience into a dollar and a reputation, he admitted:“I wrote it sweet enough, but it came up sour.” On one dreadfulnight, the man who spurred “the ride of the century” endedup dying, dead drunk, drowning in six inches of muddy waterin a roadside ditch.Soon afterward, it is known that Pinto wassent off to work as a pack animal in the harshterrain of the Olympic Mountains. It is all thatis certain of his fate except that, like his formermaster, all his unsurpassed glorious deeds wentabandoned to obscurity...until recently.The LRG recently re-discovered the truthabout Pinto and the Overland Westernersand corrected their sentence to oblivion. Notonly is their story now returned topublic attention, the pair even gracethe cover of a book, The Long Riders, one ofaround 300 titles put out by the LRG’s publishing armsover to show us how it could be done. Everythingwent find until he got in midstream whenPinto, carrying our pack, which slipped, flippedover and couldn’t flip back. I thought he was agone horse, but Jay hung on, flipped him overright side up, headed him upstream and snakedhim to shallow water. I don’t know how. We allrushed in and after slashing the diamond hitch,got Pinto on his feet. We lost some grub and afew utensils but we were very glad to escape thateasy by saving Pinto.”The glorious end?Two years passed, as did many states, theircapitals and jolly plump politicians. Photographsfrom the trip show the wiry crewclad in dusty clothes contrasting against thebackdrop of grand buildings and clean, smilinglocals with an ever-changing string ofhorses—except for one, the always-present,sturdy Pinto.Thanksgiving came during their time onthe trail, and the Overland Westerners still remainedfar too poor to even stop for a restaurantdinner.“Having no invite for a turkey feed,” Beckrecalled of the time, “we moved down theroad. Although we were practically busted,we were thankful for our good health and forthe willing horses which had taken us so faralong our trip. To celebrate, we had a hobostew which we prepared on the road. It seemsa good-sized rooster got in the way of a rockwhich Fat happened to throw.”On May 24, 1915, three years and a monthafter setting out from Shelton, the OverlandWesterners and Pinto rode into Sacramento,California—the 48th and final capital—thuscompleting their heroic journey. Their photo-110 ◆ PAINT HORSE JOURNAL ◆ MAY 2008

graph with California’s governor was takenmarking the momentous event. Then, they setout for one final leg of the trip, the PanamaPacific International Exposition in San Francisco.Finally, with the longest ride on recordcompleted, they thought surely that the boisterouscrowds gathered there to celebrate theopening of the Panama Canal would welcomethem too as adventurous American legends!At last, their moment of fame had arrived.“Get them hayburners off the street!”however, was the greeting they receivedfrom a policeman. Their momentous, historicaladventure utterly failed to spark publicinterest.Within a few days, all mention of the conclusionto the ride of the century also passedfrom public view. The news was focused onthe outbreak of World War I, not on one ofthe greatest equestrian feats of all time.Beck’s three saddle companions, depleted ofmoney and energy, sold their horses and tookthe train back home to Washington State.Beck, however, wasn’t ready to give up. Hestayed in San Francisco working hard to bringthe amazing story of this unequalled horsebackodyssey to the public by approachingeditors and authors. It still failed, and he wasturned down by many, including Jack London.Without hope for the fame and fortunehe was so certain awaited him, and now completelybroke, he managed one last great act—to care for his horse, Pinto.Beck and the 900-pound gelding hadbonded over more miles of a single journeythan any other horse and man have ever takentogether throughout all of history. The horsemanmanaged to scrape together the moneyto get himself and Pinto (and Nip, as well)back home on a tramp steamer.There, Puget Sound awaited in the calmnessof its regular workday routine, and thepair came full circle from one of the mostamazing adventures of the era to the same regularstatus with which they had left—richeronly for the experience.Ending their journeyon May 24, 1915—three years and amonth after theybegan—the OverlandWesterners arrivedin Sacramento,California, their 48thand final capital.COURTESY NATIONAL COWBOY MUSEUMPAINT HORSE JOURNAL ◆ MAY 2008 ◆ 111