St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-01-19
The Story of the Most Re-
y markable Foot Race Ever
Run in America.
An Exciting Contest in the
State Of Wisconsin Nearly
Fifty Years Ago.
The Wonderful Feat Per-
formed by Ten Fleet
Footed Savages.
Thousands Of Dollars Change
Handsome Man Loses
His All.

"Did you ever hear of the most re-
markable race ever run in Wisconsin, or
anywhere else, for that matter?n asked
an oid-timer the other day of the Mil
waukee Sentinel. mo? Well, I will
tell you about it, for 1 saw it myself.
In the summer of 1871. with my uncle,
was making a business trip to what is
now the Oneida reservation. A ST.
Louis sportsman, Henry Stanton. was
stopping there at the time, having been
taken sick while on hunting trip, and
the Indians were taking care of him.
Stanton one day witnessed a fast race
by some of the young bucks, and an
idea struck MIN. 1t afterward
struck others, to their sorrow. He
had the bucks try their speed. and
soon was sending letters to his
friends East and South. They were
confidential letters, but the answers
promised him ali the money he needed.
lie then sent out notices to the sporting
fraternity that on certain day of that
summer QS44 he would wager his pile
that foot race of ten miles could be
made in ten minutes. 1t seemed pre-
posterous. But few locomotives had
ever made such time.
"Stanton, however, knew what he
was about. With trusted buck, Peep
O-Day.' he engaged ten Indians and put
them on the trail. on half-mile straight
stretch and return, the Indians to re-
lieye each other at the end of each mile.
He had them practice i'll secret at night.
One day 'Peep-o-Day' informed Stanton
that stranger had offered him bribe
| to let him see trial race. All right.
said Stanton: take his money and let
him see it, But Stanton had his men
make poor time, and thus deceived the
| briber.
The day of the race arrived, and with
IT about fifty of the sports of st. Louis,
| New York and other cities. The bet
ting rah high, with odds against the
| feat being accomplished. Among the
| party was young man named Desnoy-
ers, from Detroit, on his way to Green
| Bay with 100000 in money and accepted
| paper to pay bebts and contract for furs.
! The race was duly opened, the first
| young buck making his mile in sixty
four seconds. just four seconds short.
| The next young buck was about TO start
when 'One-Eye-Gon
| him in his arms and said he was his
son. and the run would kill him.
| Stanton hastily explained that in their
attire, with cloutS like circus riders,
| and belt tightly strapped over their
stOmachs. no harm could he done them.
| But time was wasted in the controversy,
and the young buck reached the stand
| with Stanton thirty seconds behind.
1.-The betterS against Stanton and his
crowd now began TO laugh and jeer, and
| freely offered ten to one. Stanton and
his friends locked sad and detected
enough. But they took all the bets
| offered just the same, and right here
| young DeSnoyerS lost his head and put
up $4,000 of his money against the max
| ing of the race on time. 1t is said some
! 100000 changed hands there and then,
| but 1 don't know about that. The sum
| is probably exaggerated, but it was
| large enough. The race went on. The
| third buck made his mile in fifty sec
| onds, reducing the losses to twenty sec
| onds. This was kept about the same
| until the ninth buck stepped to the
| front. with total gain Of five seconds.
| The last buck must make up the
| fifteen seconds now lacking. He
was tall, gaunt, wiry Indian. and
seemed to be all legs. The betters
| against Stanton began to waver and
now calls for even bets and even odds
| by Stanton and his friends failed to
| Dl1llS lCSpOIlSCs IllC OuCh vi
| time. And such strides! From six to
| eight feet each, and he went like q
whirlwind let loose. He must make his
mile in forty-fiye seconds or ali was
lost. 1t was an exciting moment. But
| the buck got there with both feet and
| had just two seconds to spare. There
was no great excitement over the re-
suit. The gamblers present were ac-
| customed to winning and losing large
amounts. One st. Louis man, however,
did make remark about "a put
| up job and even drew a
derringer and demanded his money
returned. Stanton raised his arm. and
the fifty or more bucks who stood
around to witness the race dropped
| their long blankets and stood calmly
leaning on ugly-lOoking guns. That
settled it. The race was over. The
young racing bucks spent money freely
| for awhile, as did also the chief who
interfered with the race. Young Des-
meyers was never seen again. either in
Green Bay or Detroit. 1t was said he
went South to redeem his lost thou
| sands. 1t was the most remarkable
foot race ever held in the world, and
We're the newspapers of that day what
| they are now, columns upon columns of
| its report would have followed As it
is, this is, believe, the first time it has
| been in PRINT"