In 1908, Riverside marveled at Prince Albert, a horse with astonishing tricks, trained by James Cuthbertson. Their bond was so strong that Cuthbertson declined a hefty offer to sell him, making Prince Albert a local legend.
At the beginning of August, the Riverside Historical Society hosted a Zoom presentation entitled “Riverside Pictures in the Library of Congress.”The speaker was Leigh Gleason, the Head of the Reference Section, Prints and Photos at the Library of Congress, and formerly curator and director at the California Museum of Photography in Riverside. Leigh gave an inspiring and educational talk, pointing out some of the many treasures about Riverside in the Library of Congress collection. Among those, she showed several photos of a remarkable horse from Riverside, Prince Albert.
Prince Albert, a four-year-old dapple gray, appeared on the scene in late 1908. He was trained by James Cuthbertson, who taught him numerous remarkable tricks.
By 1907, Cuthbertson ran the Riverside Stables on the northwest corner of Eighth (now University) and Market Streets. In January 1908, he added H. A. Shedd, a former bank president from Osakis, Minnesota, as his partner. At the end of January, this new partnership took over the management of the Glenwood Stables at 767 7th Street (today would be 3767 Mission Inn Avenue). Mr. Cuthbertson faced the rampaging elephant who ravaged downtown Riverside after escaping from the Sells-Floto Circus in February of 1908. Unaware of the loose elephant, Cuthbertson was picked up by the elephant by the trunk but was able to escape.
James Cuthbertson had a much better fortune training horses than confronting an elephant. Because of health problems, he retired from Cuthbertson & Shedd and devoted himself to training horses, which he kept at the Glenwood Stables. The most remarkable horse he trained was named Prince Albert. Most likely, the horse was named for Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria, the former queen of England.
Ad for Prince Albert at the Rubidoux Skating Rink
On Thursday, October 8, 1908, James Cuthbertson and his trained horse, Prince Albert, delighted the crowds at three shows performed at the Rubidoux Skating Rink on Ninth and Market Streets. More shows followed on Friday and Saturday. The headline read: “Trick Horse of Remarkable Intelligence Has Learned to Do Most Everything But Talk Under Owner’s Training.” Among some of the fabulous tricks the gifted and trained horse did were:
-He spelled his name with letters placed randomly on a rack.
-He selected numbers called out by people in the audience.
-He picked William Howard Taft as the next President over William Jennings Bryan.
-He honored President Theodore Roosevelt by having a silk flag over his picture.
-When the numbers 6 and 5 were written on a blackboard, he lifted the number 11 from a rack of numerals with his teeth.
-He stood on his head. At least as well as a horse could.
-He untied the rope that bound his feet.
-He correctly picked out the correct colored cloth that his master instructed him to find.
Prince Albert doing math with Evelyn, James Cuthbertson’s five-year-old daughter and Prince Albert adding numbers (Courtesy of the Library of Congress)Two Patriots- Prince Albert and Evelyn, James Cuthbertson’s’ daughter and Prince Albert Holding the United States Flag in front of the picture of William Howard Taft (Courtesy of the Library of Congress)
Someone offered $8000 for this remarkable horse, but Mr. Cuthbertson refused. He had more plans for the horse.
Several weeks later, at the end of November, James Cuthbertson and Prince Albert again performed in Riverside. This time, sponsored by the local Eastern Star, they captivated the audience in a tent set up for the event on the corner of Seventh and Orange Streets. The admission was 25 cents. The local newspapers continued to rave about Prince Albert’s abilities.
Training came to a brief stop when Mr. Cuthbertson fell and suffered a concussion. He lost his footing while throwing a bale of hay from the loft at the Glenwood Stables and fell nine feet to the floor below.
Cuthbertson recovered enough to travel to Seattle in March 1909 to sign an agreement to bring Prince Albert to exhibit at the upcoming Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, which ran from June 1 through October 16, 1909. However, when the time came for the trip up north, W. E. Tucker took Prince Albert to Seattle to exhibit him.
By May 1911, when James Cuthbertson exhibited his talented horse, he had renamed him California Prince. They performed at the Colton Street Fair. At this point, Prince had a performing companion, Billy, an Alaskan moose. One new trick he had perfected was picking out the flags of various nations. When asked to locate the United States flag, he reared up on his hind legs and waved that flag. Mr. Cuthbertson, at that time, housed Prince at the O. K. Stables at 701 Market Street. (Today, that is 3701 Market at the southwest corner of Market and Mission Inn Avenue).
How long did Prince Albert or California Prince perform and live? I have not found the answer to that question so far. But we know that Riverside had a remarkable and intelligent horse.
Glenn Wenzel is a board member of the Riverside Historical Society, the Friends of Mount Rubidoux and the Riverside County Heritage Association. He is the author of two books on Mount Rubidoux.
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