If Hidalgo is all some made up story, then we as a viewing audience shouldn’t be surprised. Hollywood has become horible for their movies “based on true stories”. The word “based” gives them a lot of room to fiddle with the facts (A Beautiful Mind is just one example). Should we be outraged about this? Well, actually, NO. Hollywood isn’t in the historical education business, it’s in the entertainment business. The main goal for them is to produce the most entertaining product they can that will bring in as much money as it can. We can’t fault them for that. It’s their business. I usually only take issue when a film purports itself to be historically accurate, and then ends up being as fictional as George Bush’s Weapons of Mass Destruction fairy tale. But back to Hidalgo:
Critics charge that the new Disney movie “Hidalgo” is not based on a true story. They say legendary cowboy and horseman Frank T. Hopkins, the movie’s main character, invented many of his feats. Here’s a list of those feats – and what his critics say.
Won a race from Galveston, Texas, to Rutland, Vt., in 1886. Casey Green, head of special collections at the Rosenberg Library in Galveston: “We’ve referenced every newspaper between 1880 and 1890, but there is absolutely no mention of Frank Hopkins or his race from Galveston to Vermont.”
Starred in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show for 32 years. Juti Winchester, curator of the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody, Wyo.: “We are unable to find any Frank T. Hopkins in our database of known cast members, acquaintances, employees or friends of Colonel Cody.”
Won a 3,000-mile race across the Arabian Desert. Dr. Awad Al-Badi, director of research at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: “There is absolutely no record or reference to Hopkins with or without his mustangs ever having set foot on Arabian soil. The idea of a historic long distance Arab horse race is pure nonsense and flies against all reason.”
You can read the entire Billings Gazette article here
as i watched da movie, i fink it is a true story…but somtimes they would sum more facts to make da movie more intrestin.. so dat the audience wont br bored….im doin this character for my science project in da skool.
soma
okay, what is up with you people. saying that a horse can’t make it on a 3000 mile journey, when i have relatives who did, and read articles, talked to people, who did. It is possible, and Frank is real. And maybe the reason why there are no articles on Frank, is because he did not want to be famous, he wanted to win the race to win the money, to buy the land back to raise the horses, that his half blood relatives wanted. And also because they probably didn’t want Frank to be believed, they thought it was a tall tale, but it is not, so get your facts straight. He is not selfish, he cares about other people besides himself. And any way if you’re going to criticize a movie on something as small as that, then there is something wrong with you. You watch the movie because it’s enjoyable, and it was. It inspired me to follow my dreams of becoming a horse back rider, and to not be so selfish. So think about this, it might do you “critics” some good. It was a great movie, I recommend you watch it. And also one more thing, make sure you get your facts straight, before you post things about it, and tell lies about it so people won’t watch the movie, and won’t believe what he has done.
We saw the movie Hidalgo- whether or not it is fiction is of no consequence- it is a Great story of endurance in all of life, physical and spiritual.
We loved the movie and are grateful for a film that you can take your family to. It proves that Hollywood can make good films!!!
Last Night we saw this wondeful movie and it sent me to my computer today. I am so glad to read your story and hope many more people see this site. My one regret is that no map was posted in the movie to give us an idea of route and distance, we did see the terrible conditions and greedy side of men[and women]. Thank you for your insight.
Whether or not the man lived i find it hard to believe that somewhere in the world there existed a storied 3000 mile horse race that no one ever heard of or can even prove. And to make matters worse these parts in which the Hopkins fella was supposed to have won this mythical race were pretty much well covered historically even by the british. (And The persians/arabs/saudis were good at keeping records some of which date back thousands of years. I am not easily convinced that such a storied competition could have fallen through the cracks of history.
Ps.. Racing on a horse through 3000 miles of desert terrain is absolute hogwash. You wouldnt even make it 1000 miles on a horse in a desert. (Read up on why the camel is referred to as the “ship of the desert” and you will find out why a 3000 mile horse race is about as ridiculous as crossing the atlantic on the inside tube of a tire)
The following Email was sent to a Lincoln, NE newspaper reporter who wrote an article on Frank Hopkins:
“Kevin:
Was doing some research on the Internet, further to a television show I watched this evening, and found your article very interesting.
I just finished watching the History Channel once again attempt to re-write history. First with the expose on Hidalgo, and then a subsequent story about the US Marshalls. In truth, did you know that Wyatt Earp was never in fact a US Marshall? He was temporarily appointed as a DEPUTY US Marshall, which is a far cry from the proverbial lawman of lore the History Channel would have you believe him to be.
I was both angered and frustrated by the “authorities” the History Channel used to dispute and debase Frank Hopkins’ claims. Being a native of Wyoming (my family have been here since 1878), whose great grand father built the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (Wounded Knee to you liberals), I am distantly related to Frank.
Pine Ridge is just north of the Nebraska borderlands in South Dakota, up between Chadron and Crawford. Chadron (for your information), is the home of old Fort Robinson, where Crazy Horse was murdered. While doing this contracting job using bricks from his kiln at the rail head in Alliance, Nebraska, my great grandfather sired a half-breed “buck” with a “squaw” while building the place. This man, who was a welcome member to our family throughout his life and up to the point he died in 1948, was Frank’s cousin via his mother’s family. This was not a unique situation or circumstance in the history of the west.
As a Nebraska newspaper you are no doubt aware that the “Wyo-braska” area runs together as more of a location than the various State’s boundaries allow. For instance my family are scattered in ranches from Valentine (NE) through the Sand Hills/Cherry County (NE) to Sidney (NE) to Buffalo Gap (SD) to Huelett (WY) to Jackson Hole (WY) to Douglas (WY), etc… We’ve been out in this area since the two sides of the family (Confederate and Union) re-joined in Indiana and came west in 1878.
My point in telling you this is that most of my family’s history is verbal. Probably because we’re Danish and you know us dumb “Vikings” never wrote a damn thing down. Got in the way of raping, pillaging and plundering. The bottom line is Frank Hopkin’s story, and that of many of his horses, is legendary to us.
For more information on Frank, his family, and the horse Hidalgo, all these experts should try starting with a map and then driving to speak with the locals in these various regions. No doubt I will not be the only one upset by all this controversy over Frank’s alleged lack of creditability.
Frank IS NOT buried back east; he’s buried in a private family plot near Torrington, WY (the town just east on the North Platte River from Ft. Laramie). As for not being on any census or tax roles, that’s because the stupid assed researchers have never been to Wyoming and learned that the City of Laramie and Ft. Laramie are almost 100 miles apart!
My 80-year old mother and I were joking that if they thought Frank’s life story was a long stretch, we’d sure hate to see my paternal grandfather’s life story be made public. He was there when Tom Horn was hung, participated in the Johnston County range war, rode with both Black Jack Pershing as a mule skinner and later Poncho Villa as an insurgent, was a US Deputy Marshall (who shot his own horse stealing cousin in a shoot out!), went to Spain and fought with the Lincoln Brigade against the Fascist (“For Whom the Bell Tolls”), and had a hundred more incredible, and provable feats to his claim.
But in those days it was not uncommon to have a gambling man’s horse race unpublished and un-mentioned in the newspapers. They also did not advertise the bordellos in them, the wanton horrible treatment to both the Indians and the Chinese, the terrible conditions of life in the military outposts, the opium dens, ad naseum…. How many things does your paper not report because they would be deemed inappropriate by today’s standards? Bubba the Love Sponge is paying a $750,000 for this very reason right now in Florida.
Please see the movie – you will not be disappointed. As someone who has known this story his entire life, lived and ridden in the country where part of it was based, and knowing all too well that life is often stranger than fiction, I am very concerned that the negativity being bantered about will overshadow a truly great family film.
Hope this information helps you set the records straight. Next time don’t go to a bunch of eastern “cowboy wannabe’s” for your sources!”