368 LIFE WITH THE TROTTERS. 



I believe Anderson told me he had driven him a mile in 2:30 

 on a trot. I divide the honor of having driven him to his 

 best record with Joe Coates, he having done likewise with 

 Mm. In a race at Kansas City against Mike Wilkes and 

 others, I took the second heat with Argyle in 2:14f . Mike- 

 Wilkes, driven by his owner Abe Rorhbach of Stillwater, 

 Minn., often called "the Dan Mace of the Northwest" from 

 his general appearance and style of driving, won the race- 

 and also making his best record that day of 2:15^. Mike 

 Wilkes is one of the few I have seen that can both trot and. 

 pace fast. In his younger days he was rather unreliable, 

 passed through the hands of several trainers, and was driven; 

 by George Voorhies on a trot a mile in 2:20. He was after- 

 ward sold to Rohrbach at a very moderate price, and in the^ 

 hands of Spencer made quite a reputation as a pacer. But 

 his owner put the finishing touches to his reputation when 

 he beat Argyle and he and his friends from the lumber dis- 

 trict won aU the money and left my partner Frank Herdic- 

 and myself to hold the sack. In my opinion there is not as 

 much difference between pacers and trotters as most people 

 imagine. I am sure that Johnston could be driven fast on 

 a trot with but little trouble. When I first got him, I often 

 saw him step off better than a three-minute gait at that way 

 of going, and with light shoes on. In fact would often try 

 to score up with me on a trot in his work. 



Colonel Lewis, a gray gelding with a record of 2:18 that- 

 I brought from California in 1879, was a; very peculiarly 

 formed horse and had rather a strange history. He was not. 

 a trotting-bred horse, and in Lis younger days was harshly 

 treated and given no chance to show or develop the speed 

 ■ which afterward made him quite famous. Before bringing^ 

 him to this country from California, he showed me a good 

 deal of speed with ability to stay the route. On this side of 

 the Rockies he did not do as well. The climate seemed to 

 effect him wonderfully, he lost his speed and his ability to 

 stay a mile out. This I believe has been the case with a, 

 number of other horses brought from California, and the'. 



