LET 'ER BUCK 



horse is secured by the wrangler, Ben Corbett, with 

 one of his spectacular jumps for the horse, seizing 

 him by the neck as he comes in. Here Lynch gains 

 and is off almost at the same moment as Drumheller 

 but in the fore part of that moment which beats Drum- 

 heller out by a length. The crowd thunders its ap- 

 plause at such marvellous work. It's the last lap and 

 the last day. Lynch seemingly does not gain another 

 inch, neither does he lose an inch and rides over the 

 line just ahead of Drumheller by a fraction of a second. 



The quality of the riding was the finest ever seen 

 at Pendleton. That every man was an expert was at- 

 tested by the totals of the three-days' heats, in which 

 was a difference of only 2 1-5 seconds between the win- 

 ner and Drumheller and 10 1-5 seconds between the 

 winner and Armstrong who finished third. The light- 

 ning changes of all three were marvelous, off-saddling 

 nine times, on-saddling twelve, one riding a six miles 

 on the quarter mile track in 12 minutes 24 2-5 seconds 

 making third best time ever made, the record being 

 12 minutes 7 seconds made by Scoop Martin. At the 

 end of the third day the three riders have off-saddled 

 twenty-seven times, on-saddled thirty-six times, ridden 

 eighteen miles on a quarter mile track in thirty-seven 

 minutes and twenty-seven seconds. 



The relay has keyed the crowd to a pitch which has 

 but whetted its appetite for the pony express. The 

 old-time pony express with its thrills, spills and light- 

 ning changes is the ancestor of the mail and parcels 

 post of today. The primitive messenger of this mail 

 service was strong as he was light, cautious as he was 

 fearless, a quick thinker and hard rider, a man with a 

 determined soul and picked for his job. 



There were men, old and grizzled, who looked out 



182 



