CHAPTER XIX 



TURF AFFAIRS OF CALIFORNIA 



The next events which attracted national 

 attention after these contests between Long- 

 fellow and Harry Bassett were the four-mile 

 races of California. The early pioneers, going 

 out to that new country and travelling across 

 the plains, took with them some of the best 

 stock that had been bred in America. Just as 

 it took a man of unusual quality to stand the 

 pains and distresses of the overland journey, so 

 it required a horse of unusual stamina and 

 courage to face the fatigue and the trials 

 attendant upon such a long and arduous trip. 



The majority of the early movers to Cali- 

 fornia were Southerners, and when they started 

 on the dim trail from Saint Joe, Missouri, it was 

 the habit of each Southern man to have for 

 himself as a mount the best horse available. 

 It occurred, then, that many thoroughbreds were 

 taken across the plains to the Pacific coast in 



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