Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1900-06-20
OLD INDIAN SPORTS.
OUR RED MEN OF EARLY DAYS WERE
GREAT ATHLETES.

Among Their Favorite Pastimes
Were Bowling. Running, wres-
cling. sham Fights and Football,
and They Bet the Limit on Their
Games.
Tho American Indians were great
bowlers. Alleys of greater length than
any in use today were built in the
open fields Balls hcwn out of stone
were rolled by genuine Indian muscle
IN fact. there is scarcely n popular
kind OF game played in this country
today but that its counterpart can be
found in the age of the red man. They
were gamblers, too, even to FORGETTING
the clothes upon their backs, their
wives or their liberty. Strange to say.
the average school history has abound
cd i'm n description of the Indian in
nearly every point except in the de-
tails OF the games he played
Relics OF the Indian bowling alley
are rare except in n few sections Of the
country. thus showing that the game
was not a universal one, and of all the
games which the Indian played bowl
ing is undoubtedly the most remote.
The Western Reserve OF Ohio was one
OF The ccnters for the Indian bowlers.
In several parts Of Ashtabula county
some of the older residents have these
relics preserved. which they have pick
cd up themselves in their carly farm
ing. usually in the open field.
The balls used. instead of being
large wooden ones, like those in use
today, were made Of light colored
stone and ranged in size from an or
binary league ball down to the COM
mon small toy rubber ball The al
lcys were built of wood, carved out TO
make "a reasonably smooth surface.
The game was more TO see how far
one could roll rather than accuracy in
striking the tenpins at the opposite
end of the alley. The alleys were
built SO long that. it is alleged, 1t was
q hard matter 10 roll one Of these stone
balls SO that il would reach the end.
The Indians, too. kept n score and,
like i'm all other games. they gambled.
The Indians were inveterate ball
players and excellent ''roOters" Their
game lasted usually from o'clock in
the morning till shutdown. 1t was par
ucipated in by from coo to 1000 young
men. divided into two sides. and the
games were witnessed by from 5000
TO 5000 men. women and children.
who formed an immense ring around
the entire field. The enthusiastic In.
dian yells were not altogether unlike
the noises of the modern ball park.
There was scarcely an intermission of
five minutes during the entire day.
The game. however. rcsembled our
football rather than baseball. When
the ball was in the air. there were
kicks and struggles. manned limbs and
bruised bodies. 4 prescribed line di-
Vided the "rOOters" Of the two sides,
and across this line the gambling took
place. old men were selected as UNI
uircs. Women on both sides brought
the crude household goods of the fam.
ily TO the ball park to be staked on the
game. Stockholders guarded the goods.
The scene resembled two distinct
camps, although there was not neces-
s0rily more than one tribe engaged
in the game.
There was 4 feature Of the Indian
game which will be new TO the ball
players of the present day. Several
medicine men among the Choctaws sat
all night on the spot where the ball
was 10 be started next day and smoked
to the Great Spirit who was to witness
the game. The night before there also
occurred what was known as the "balI
play dance"
Prior TO the game each Indian was
provided with two instruments which
rcsembled our tennis rackets of today.
The judges threw the ball in the air,
and Immediately hundreds Of Indians
started after it. One finally succeeded
in catching it between the large ends
OF the two tennis rackets'' and threw
ii "home." or between two poles, the
limit of one side or the other This
would count one point toward the
game, and the side getting 100 points
first won. Often in the terrible strug.
gle for the ball difficulties would arise
between two slightly injured contest
ants, and the game would stop until
they settled the dispute. The women
also played ball. When the men were
tired, they would announce a game be-
tween the women, and prizes would be
awarded to the winning wives.
Among the popular amusements dear
-'SANCA S'US VI lHS ALueIICdH, a
parallel for which has been found
among the Indians, are the following:
Bowling, ball playing, horse racing,
foot racing, dancing. wrestling, check
ers, dominos, quOits, sham fights.
Many things which some Of us today
may believe are contemporaneous only
with the age in which we live by re-
search may be found to have existed
in the everyday life of the American
Indian. Polygamy was practiced by
certain tribes long before Joseph
Smith founded the Mormon belief. Va
por baths were enjoyed by the Indian
before the white man came to disturb
his hunting ground.-Chicago Chron-
icle.