October 1, 2008
This week in SF History - Blackie Swims the Golden Gate
On a foggy Saturday in 1938, a swaybacked, 12-year-old horse named Blackie swam - dog-paddled, really - completely across the choppy waters of the Golden Gate. The horse not only made aquatic history with that trip, but he soundly defeated two human challengers from the Olympic Club, and won a $1000 bet for his trainer Shorty Roberts too.
It took the horse only 23 minutes, 15 seconds to make the nearly mile-long trip, and the short film made of the adventure shows that Blackie wasn't even breathing hard as he emerged from the waters at Crissy Field.
His trainer Shorty couldn't swim, but he made the trip, too - and this was part of the bet - by hanging onto Blackie's tail. A rowboat led the way, with Shorty's brother offering a handful of sugar cubes from the stern to keep the sweets-lovin' horse on track.
Before that plunge into the waters of the Golden Gate there had been no swimming on Blackie's professional resume. He had originally arrived in California as a rodeo horse, and after surviving that career joined the Army. He was stabled out at the Presidio, but headed out to Yosemite every spring as part of the park patrol.
Shortly after his famous Golden Gate crossing, Blackie retired from working life, and was put out to pasture in the north bay town of Tiburon. He found a particular spot to his liking in this verdant new home and stood there, rarely moving a muscle, for the next 28 years. He became a fixture of the neighborhood, often visited with gifts of sugarcubes. When Blackie finally passed, Tiburon's unofficial mascot was buried in the pasture.
A life-sized sculpture of Blackie now stands right there, his old home now known as "Blackie's Pasture Park". You may pay him your respects, if you like, at the corner of Tiburon Boulevard and Trestle Glen Road.
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OMG RACIST MUCH?
And when asked how many other bays Blackie intended to swim across his trainer replied, "All of them."
Okay, but if you actually watch the film, he walks himself in on Baker beach and appears to swim to Chrissy field. The article states that he was "safely" lowered into the water on the marin side. Hello - simple fact checking!!! Or just watch the damn video!
oh, and your last part of the article of him being the mascot of Tiburon is debunked on the article accompanying the video... hey sfist - you guys could use some simple reading comprehension classes.
Hey there, crankypants ...
I checked out the Wiki article, and it looks like it's completely up in the air about whether Blackie the swimmer was also Blackie the mascot ... I say what the hell, makes a better story. :)
And as far as that "safely lowered into the water" quote - I don't even see that in the story, what the heck are you talking about?
The link you provided for us was from the media archive and if you actually read past line two, you would read the part that said 'Please read Blackie's full story as told to Lorri Ungaretti." It's still on the media archive site, here is the link:
http://www.outsidelands.org/blackie.php
and b/c it appears you have trouble reading a full article, here is the quote:
"Roberts' Blackie is often mixed up with a Tiburon swayback horse that is now immortalized in the form of a statue in "Blackie's Pasture.""
man... just READ! That and actually watch the video!
oh, and what the hell... I'm going away after this, just so you know.
"So Shorty's friend, A. P. Paladini, used his large fishing boat troller with a sling and net, and lowered Blackie down into the water from the side of the boat," according to Al Sportorno."
Oh, I see - it's the VIDEO that has it wrong, not this old guy's memory.
Thanks, cranky dude.