SWINGING THE TURNS LIKE GALLEONS IN A GALE 



The stagecoaches, those old caravels of the plains, are guided 

 in their courses around the quarter-mile track with no slowing 

 down at the turns and horses on the dead run from start to 

 finish. It is little wonder that only one year in Round-Up his- 

 tory has seen the three days running go through without one 

 or more accidents. 



Wells Fargo, one of the first and the first thoroughly organized 

 express, ran their leather, thoroughbraced, Concord coaches with 

 four to six horses in the finest Concord harness wherever a train 

 did not go and there was enough of a demand. Their first 

 stagecoach came around the Horn in 1852 and may be seen in 

 their stables in San Francisco. 



In the old days a stagecoach generally made forty to sixty 

 miles a driver, with a relay every fifteen miles or so. Some of 

 the well-known Wells Fargo six-line stringers like Dave Horn 

 and C. W. Barger of Pendleton have gone one hundred and 

 eighty miles, being "on the seat" two days and three nights. 



The "stages" in the stagecoach race are genuine old timers 

 and are furnished by the Round-Up management. Each race 

 goes to the "best time," winning each day. Each contesting 

 driver is allowed as many assistants as desired. These comprise 

 the driver or stringer, the "lasher" who wields the whip, as may 

 be seen on the near and winning coach driven by Jim Roach, 

 and the passengers. The passengers are the two or three extra 

 cowboys who barnacle on the side of the coach nearest the arena, 

 from where they hang far out to keep it from capsizing at the 

 turns. 



H. W. Smith is the veteran driver here having driven off and 

 on from the first contest in 1912 until 1920 with a once around 

 the track record of 32 seconds. The race is a half mile, the 

 record being 1 minute 14 seconds made by John Spain in 1913, 

 with E. O. Zeek second in his 1912 record of 1 minute 14 1-2 

 seconds. Joe Cantrell, who thrice won the championship, is a 

 close third on time with 1 minute 18 seconds. 



The race is purely a Round-Up product. Although wanted the 

 first year it was considered too dangerous but finally made its 

 appearance the third year being established before the safety 

 first idea. 



