In 1905, Jack Abernathy’s life took an unexpected turn when President Theodore Roosevelt requested that Jack demonstrate his unique hunting skill. It seems Jack had learned to capture prairie wolves with only his hands. Teddy was so impressed when he witnessed, first hand, Jack’s ability that he appointed him U.S. Marshal to the Western district of Oklahoma Territory – the youngest U.S. Marshal in history.
In 1909, 9 year old Louis “Bud” Abernathy wondered what he would do for the Summer now that school had let out. He decided to saddle up his horse and ride the 1300 miles from his home in Frederick, Oklahoma to Santa Fe, New Mexico. And since it would be a long & lonely ride, he took his 5 year old brother Temp with him.
The following April, their dad said that he was riding up to New York City to see Teddy Roosevelt when he docked there on his way back from Africa. That sounded like a grand adventure, so they decided to tag along, making stops along the way to see the Wright Brothers and President Taft. Teddy was impressed by their adventurous spirit, and asked them to ride behind him in his ticker tape parade. When it came time to leave, the boys, now 10 and 6, decided that they had quite enjoyed the open air and rejected their father’s suggestion to take the train home. They were fascinated by the automobiles they saw in the city, so they bought one, and after a day’s training, drove it home.
Their story made them somewhat notorious and the following year (1911) they were challenged to ride horseback from New York to San Francisco. To make things more interesting, they were promised $10,000 if they did it in 60 days, camping and preparing all of their meals by campfire. They missed the deadline by two days.
An independent movie was made in 2007 about their adventures but I’d never heard of it until I was gathering information for this post. Seems to me there’s cause for a big budget feature. Sure as hell would put Dora the Explorer to shame, and maybe it would give today’s parents reason to think that it’s safe for the kids to leave the driveway without training wheels. Heck, it might even convince Mom to rough it on her way to Starbuck’s and roll down the windows in the family truckster.
What good does it do a single parent to reject helicopter parenting if it will just cause society to come down hard on them, maybe losing their kids after the authorities have gotten involved?
As a pre-cell phone kid who was allowed to wander my town, mountains, rivers and neighborhoods at will since age 5 or so in the late 70’s and 80’s, I’d love to read it to my child, so I’m ordering now. Thanks for bringing this to my attention, Nunzio Tavulari, sounds like an awesome story!
As for the other replies, yes, things are different now, and not necessarily for the better. I’m sad that my child will not have the freedom her dad and I had. We encountered the same amount of hazards less distracted cell phone drivers: flashers and other assorted creepy old men, snakes, bees, nosy neighbors who called the law on unaccompanied kids; we wandered too far into the mountains and came home briar-scratched and hungry. We did it without cell phones and epi-pens. We lied about where we were headed or simply wandered off course, we waded in fast water, hiked in rattlesnake infested woods, climbed trees, we both rode dirt bikes for miles through the woods. Sometimes with friends, sometimes without. Our bodies stayed bruised, scarred, stung, poison ivied, scraped, and we broke a few bones. Not describing over-romanticized halcyon days here; it’s what most of the kids we grew up with experienced. And we can’t get it back. Even if my kid won’t know the wildness I did, I can help her to feel strong, independent, and resourceful so that when she is finally old enough, savvy enough, and I’ve strapped beacons, cell phones, a bandolier of mace, a tall orange flag, and flashing lights to her… she’ll experience her own very watered down version of independence and discovery.
Now please excuse me, I’m going to go weep over her crib now. Gee, thanks, Nunzio
Why, has Apple they come out with a new version of children? In a million years, the only thing that’s changed about parenting is the books that tell you how to do it.
I think that if a 9 year old could handle bears and indians and rough weather in 1909, one could do the same now. It’s not like their parents were neglectful. I’m sure they gave both the kids a gun.
You are basing this opinion on biased reporting. All the kids who survived that sort of lifestyle are quick to tell you how awesome it was but all the kids who died because they were left alone to take care of themselves all day like their parents thought they were Mowgli or something aren’t here to dispute your claim. The same thing happens with people who bitch about needing seat belts and car seats. As you can seein these reports, the biggest cause of death in kids 5-14 is accidental injury and the mortality rate of kids between 5-14 has dropped every year since the 1930’s. Some of that is going to be improvement to medical care as we become better able to heal injuries but much of that is that children are no longer expected to work and no longer expected to care for themselves all day long.
I don’t think any helicopter parent would have their minds changed by a story that’s not only over 100 years old, but even then was so exceptional that it made the news.
