BROTHERS AND THEIR INDIAN
THE ABERNATHY BROTHERS BY: T. R.
You may have never heard of them or their story, but the Abernathy brothers will surely go down in history with owners of Indian motorcycles as a favorite. They started adventure touring at a very young age. Bud and his brother Temple at the ages of 10 and 14 bought their Indian Motorcycle with money they earned from horseback riding across the USA.
Their father, a US Marshall and good friend of president Roosevelt, decided he wanted his boys to be tough as nails and plotted their first adventure for them on horseback when they were only ages 5 and 9. He sent them on a ride from Oklahoma to New Mexico on July 10, 1909, eight years after Indian Motorcycle was founded.
One year later, leaving from Oklahoma again, they headed for New York where they met Roosevelt as he returned from a hunting trip. It was then that the boys started receiving a lot of attention from the media and the rest of the country.
They arrived in New York on June 11 th 1910 and were greeted by a cheering crowd of thousands of people, along with their father. Their trip home( alone), was in a Brush Motor car that they had purchased in New York City. In 1911, the boys accepted a challenge with other riders, to ride horses from New York City to San Francisco in under 60 days. They were not allowed to sleep or eat indoors and the winner of the challenge would get $ 10,000.
They arrived in San Francisco two days late, but they earned enough cash for their unique journey and story, so they bought their first motorcycle, an Indian as you see pictured here. Their last documented adventure was in 1913 where they rode from Oklahoma to New York. Bud grew up and graduated from law school, and his brother Temple flourished in the oil field.
I don’ t know about what your kids are doing right now, but I can bet he or she is probably playing X box and texting on his cell …. Wow, has time
changed.
6 Thunder Roads Magazine Louisiana | April 2017 | www. thunderroadslouisiana. org