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Aimé Tschiffely - Long Rider |
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The Tschiffely Literary Estate Articles by and about Tschiffely |
Heroes of the Pampas - Page 4 by CuChullaine O’Reilly The Young Pancho VillaThe Darien Gap of Columbia was a trackless jungle, so along with Mancha and Gato, he took ship to Panama. Here he was welcomed as a hero by the Americans in charge of the Panama Canal. During the course of his journey, Tschiffely had been sending letters back to friends in Buenos Aires, never suspecting that some of his hastily-scribbled messages were being printed in newspapers, or that they might appeal to a wide reading public in both North and South America! His fame was growing, though he was still totally unaware of any of these developments. Instead, with more than 5,000 miles of horrific travel already behind him, he was beginning to believe he would see the trip through to the end. The hearty American response in Panama helped justify that belief. He now made his way through the jungles of Central America, avoiding bandits, poisonous snakes and hostile revolutionaries. However, after crossing into Mexico, Gato went suddenly lame, and Tschiffely, taking pity, shipped him to Mexico City to await his arrival. Tschiffely and Mancha now marched north alone, past Tehuantepec, Oaxaca and finally into Mexico City, where they retrieved their comrade.
In northern Mexico, awash in revolutionary fervour, lawlessness and banditry, he was forced to travel with a military escort provided by the Mexican government. One night he was approached by a secretive man who asked him in a hushed voice if he wished to purchase the skull of the infamous and recently assassinated Pancho Villa. Before Tschiffely had a chance to say “no,” the man produced what was obviously the skull of a child. When Tschiffely pointed this out, the black-marketeer informed him, “Quite right, Señor, this is the skull of Pancho Villa when he was a baby.” Victory in SightAt last the trail became easier. They crossed into the United States at Laredo, Texas and during their travels in that state were the guests of the Texas Rangers. They continued northward, past Oklahoma, the Ozarks, and on to St. Louis. From there the trio crossed the Mississippi and journeyed to Indianapolis, Columbus, across the Blue Ridge Mountains. Just short of their final goal an American motorist took deliberate aim at them, hit Mancha and sped away. Luckily the tough Criollo was unhurt. “But if I had still been armed,” writes Tschiffely, “which was never the case after I crossed the US border, there is no telling what I would have done to that man.” At long last, after more than three years in the saddle, the amateur horseman and his two “old” horses arrived in Washington D.C. Word of his remarkable travels had been sent to the National Geographic Magazine, via the Argentine press, who now contacted Tschiffely about writing an article regarding his trip. The Ambassador from Argentina and other dignitaries took him under their wing. His greatest coup was when President Calvin Coolidge threw open the doors of the White House for him. After making a speech at the headquarters of the National Geographic Society, he decided to ship Mancha and Gato to New York, rather than ride there. There was too much traffic on the roads and he considered riding that short a distance as “only a vulgar publicity stunt.”
In New York, Major James Walker received him at City Hall and presented him with the New York City medal in honour of his ride. During the course of his stay there he booked passage for Tschiffely and the horses back to Argentina on board the “Vestris” but they missed the departure. The ship sank a few days into her voyage with a loss of one hundred and ten lives. Three weeks later he and the horses escaped the whirlwind of New York society and boarded the “Pan-American”, sailing for twenty-eight days, before finally docking in Buenos Aires, almost three years since their rainy departure. The Heroes of the Pampas ReturnHe returned to a hero’s welcome, this novice who the Buenos Aires hidalgos had predicted would die on the trail and embarrass their Criollo horses before international eyes. Now no praises were grand enough for the three heroes of the pampas. The Argentines, who had initially failed to support him, now took him into their hearts. They saw a reflection of themselves in Mancha and Gato. Like the tough Criollos, what they lacked in refinement and elegance, they made up for in vigour and independence. Mancha and Gato were pensioned off to an estancia in the south of Argentina. Tschiffely’s book, “Southern Cross to Pole Star,” is considered the most important equestrian travel book of the 20th century. Since its publication in 1933, it has inspired countless equestrian travellers to saddle up and explore the world from China to Canada. In the mid-1930s Tschiffely rode across England and wrote about this trip as well. Then in the 1940s he returned one last time to Argentina to visit “my old pals.” Though they had been running wild on the pampas since his departure, Mancha and Gato remembered him and came when they were called. As he stroked Mancha’s mane he recalled their long ride, the climb to the top of the Andes and the many challenges they had all three conquered together. “I remembered sitting out there on a mountain all alone, my thoughts began to wander, as they had often done before when I was on some lonely Andean peak. The soft, cold, silvery light of the moon gave the mists below a ghostly appearance. I felt lonely but happy and did not envy any king, potentate or ruler. Here was I between two continents and two mighty oceans, with my faithful friends of thousands of miles both making the best of a bad meal beside me. But I knew they were satisfied, for the experience had taught the three of us to be contented, even with the worst."
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