The Long Riders' Guild

In 1967 a Magazine editor and the Library of Congress issued warnings about the of lack of proof of Frank's exploits - and were ignored!

In 1967 American magazine writer Anthony Amaral tried to sell an article to Horseman magazine.  Amaral's story promoted Frank Hopkins' fantasy about having won a 3,000 mile race which had supposedly taken place every year for a thousand years in Arabia.

In a letter dated February 10, 1967, Bob Gray, Editor-Publisher of Horseman, expressed his skepticism about an Arabian race nobody except Hopkins had ever heard of.  Gray asked Amaral to provide proof of Hopkins' improbable equestrian exploit.

"Frankly, a lot of Arabian breeders simply won't believe that tale.  Not unless you've got some sources and some reliable authority to back it up.  So can you come up with some sort of written award, newspaper clippings, letters from somebody other than Hopkins to pin down the authenticity of that ride?" Gray wrote.

The Editor went on to warn Amaral, "You can readily understand that our magazine would be accused of irresponsible reporting if we printed a story such as this without knowing the basis of the background facts."

Amaral chose to ignore Gray's editorial concerns.

Click on image at left to read the entire letter.

Amaral, who had no proof of any kind that the Arabian race had ever taken place, had already been told by the Library of Congress that there was no reference to the 'annual endurance event' in their records. 

Nevertheless, Amaral ignored the warnings from both the Library of Congress and Editor Bob Gray.  The magazine writer succeeded in selling his story about Frank and the Arabian race to Western Horseman magazine, where it was published in December 1969.

Click on image to read the entire letter from the Library of Congress dated March 3, 1966.

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