Hidalgo and Other Stories

By Frank T. Hopkins

Book Overview

It started as a search for heroes. It became a hunt for the most elusive equestrian charlatan of all time. If Frank Hopkins is to be believed, he led one of the most exciting, challenging and colorful (albeit unrecorded) lives in the late nineteenth century. No one rode more miles, eluded more danger, or befriended more famous people than he did. During the 1930s and 40s the self-proclaimed legend told a na ve American public that he had won nearly five hundred endurance races, including an imaginary race across Arabia on a mythical mustang named "Hidalgo." Hopkins' remarkable career supposedly began when he became a dispatch rider for the US government on his twelfth birthday in 1877. According to his mythology, this Renaissance Man of the Old West went on to work as a buffalo hunter, Indian fighter, African explorer, endurance racer, trick rider, bounty hunter, Rough Rider, big game guide, secret agent, Pinkerton detective and star of the Wild West show. Experts beg to differ. This book contains an unprecedented study, undertaken by more than seventy experts in five countries, ranging from the Curator of the Buffalo Bill Museum to the former Sultan of Yemen. These academics investigated the historical improbability of Hopkins' claims and weighed him on his merit, not his myth. The resulting exhaustive study revealed that Hopkins had maintained a spirited disregard for the truth, plagiarized material from famous authors, slandered genuine American heroes and perpetrated a massive fraud for nearly one hundred years. Far from being the star of Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West show for 32 years, for example, the counterfeit cowboy was discovered working as a subway tunnel digger in Philadelphia and a horse-handler for Ringling Brothers Circus. It is his endurance racing pretensions, however, that have brought Hopkins his greatest notoriety and made him the hero of a Hollywood movie. Yet there is not even a documented photograph of Frank Hopkins in the saddle Here then are all the known writings of Frank T. Hopkins, published in their entirety for the first time in history.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1590482735
• ISBN13: 9781590482735
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Long Riders' Guild Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A VERY interesting read

I bought this book because I am interested in the Old West, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.Frank Hopkins' writings read like a dime-store novel, and are entertaining in a highly implausible way. The footnotes are really interesting, and demonstrate without a shadow of a doubt that what Hopkins didn't make up, he took from books and other publications of his day.I am surprised to see some of the other reviews, which seem to be muddying the waters by telling everyone what fantastic horses Mustangs are! Maybe they are - they certainly have a great reputation for hardiness - but that has nothing to do with whether or not Hopkins wrote the truth.I take great exception to the Walt Disney company telling us their movie is "based on a true story" when it is so clearly based on one man's ridiculous fantasies. Shame on you, Disney - we used to be able to trust you with our children!

Entertaining and enlightening

This is a very good book. Hopkins stories are entertaining in a purple prosy, old fashioned way and the historical comments by the various historians and experts are very informative. It is too bad that Disney has chosen to market their movie (which I liked, by the way) as a true story, rather than just a movie based on a story. And story it is, there doesn't seem to be a shred of truth in anything he says. Hopkins would have had to be about 300 years old and 3 different people to have met everyone he met and done all he claimed to have done.His stories would be pretty amusing, if they weren't so filled with things that didn't happen and slanders against genuine American hero's and blatant untruths about historical events. Kind of reminds one of the book and movie LITTLE BIG MAN, which never claimed to be anything but entertainment. The editors are to be commended on their research and their committment to the truth. It is too bad the negative reviews tend to focus on some obscure argument about horse breeds rather than on the book and it's author and his supposed exploits.Highly recommended.

Don?t be fooled by Frank Hopkins!

This is a fascinating book. When I saw the preview for the Disney film about Hopkins, it seemed like a thrilling adventure, especially as I am a dedicated horsewoman. I wanted to learn more about Frank Hopkins and that is how I found this book. Hopkins' own words read like a dime-store novel, and the footnotes from the historians make it very clear how he fabricated just about everything he wrote. The editors have included short biographies of the famous people Hopkins pretended to know, which are very useful for someone like me who doesn't know all that much about late nineteenth and early twentieth century American history. I am horrified to learn that the Walt Disney company is promoting this as a "true story" - the idea of racing for 3,000 miles in those conditions should make any true horseman's blood boil. And how could anyone fall for Hopkins' claim never to have lost an endurance race? Life's not like that! Even the greatest horse in the world loses a shoe sometimes, and the most brilliant rider can have a bad day and get lost. Walt Disney company should just say the film is fiction. By pretending the film is "based on a true story" they are misleading millions of people - and putting parents in the position of inadvertently lying to their children.

Cowboys Should Be Screaming

Paul Bunyon and Babe the Blue Ox come to mind after reading this scathing book about Hopkins. Except we all know Paul Bunyon is tall tale. As an equestrian I am upset that Hopkins has lied his way into the history of the West and horsemanship. Shame on the reporters and writers of the early 20th century who never checked the facts. As one who just finished riding one horse 3100 miles from Georgia to Oregon, to have a movie glorify a liar makes me angry.Those who really have gone on long rides and endurance rides will be outraged.The authors of Hidalgo were meticulous in their research, almost painstakingly so. I was amazed at how much and often they were able to show that Hopkins was simply a braggard and liar. I hope more equestrians will read this book. At least our sub-culture will know that Hopkins was a fraud, pure and simple.

This Book is an Eye-Opener!

I rode 12,000 miles alone from the Arctic Circle to the Equator between 1984 and 1986. Now, at nearly 70 years old, I am on a 20,000 mile non-stop ride to all 48 state capitals of the USA.I have read this book in the evenings, after I have finished riding for the day. And what I have read has left me deeply disgusted. In fact, the writings of Frank Hopkins should alarm anyone who loves horses.No horseman would brag about riding a horse to death like Hopkins did. And nobody who knows anything about horses would say that all horses are born blind. He may have been a successful liar but Hopkins certainly wasn't a horseman.I believe that American history is important. Hopkins said he was Buffalo Bill's best friend, that he taught Billy the Kid how to survive in the wild, and that he was a half-Lakota who witnessed the Massacre at Wounded Knee. These are lies, as the experts in this book have proved. Our country's history should be honestly written and Hopkins' writings do not portray the truth in any way.Finally, I was born in Texas, so it's fair to say I know a bit about cowboys and horses. It upsets me to learn that folks in Hollywood are now defending Hopkins by saying that all cowboys told tall tales. Some of the most honest people I have ever known are cowboys. So holding up Hopkins as a hero is slandering the image of the American cowboy.This is a very important book and I think that anyone who wants to know the truth about Frank Hopkins should read it.Gene GlasscockFellow of the Royal Geographical Society