Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-01-28
LoNGBoAT AND DEERFooT.
Two Indian Runners Said to Surpass
Any White Man In Speed.

There is one Indian running to-day
who is said to be the fleetest mortal
living, and Sherring, the Canadian
hero Of the Marathon race in the o.
lympic games in Greece, says he is
the greatest runner on earth. Thomas
Longboat is his name, he is a Cana
dian Indian and, says the Van Norden
Magazine, he is lean and stringy, has
long arms and big, fiat, bony feet.
He carries not an ounce of super
fluous flesh, his stride looks longer
than the broad jump of an ordinary
man and his ability to run Is inherit
ed from generations whose very ex-
istence depended upon their stamina
and speed.
Longboat trains at home on farm
upon which he is employed. Every
day he runs from five to twenty miles,
Sometimes he runs alone, but often is
paced by a horse. He weighs 14O
pounds, and is feet Z inches tall.
Until he won the Marathon race in
Toronto Longboat was unheard Of in
the world of sport. In that race he
was matched against the fastest men
in the Dominion and until the race
he was not thought to have a chance
to win.
He arrived at Toronto the day be-
fore the race from his home in Gale
donia and slept at a farmhouse. On
the day of the race he arose at o.
clock in the morning and before the
other contestants were out Of bed he
ran over the course just to see If he
could do it. When he had finished he
showed no signs of fatigue.
When the race started in the after
noon the Indian took the lead and
with a long, swinging stride that
never seemed to tire he kept the lead
to the finish and was as fresh when
the race was done as before he had
made the distance the first time in
the early morning.
When racing Longboat uses his
brain quite as much as he uses his
legs. He falls behind the leaders, but
keeps within striking distance until
the last miles, when he comes to the
front and generally wins with ridicu-
lous ease. He trails along behind the
flying leaders, matching their sprints
with a barely perceptible lengthening
of his stride until his eagle eyes see
signs of distress in his rivals run
ming.
Then he lets himself out and begins
his effort. Uphill and down he keeps
the same merciless clip, but going
along as easily as though he was out
for a practice jog.
In the distance race where he
smashed Caffrey's 1901 record by
more than five minutes the conditions
under which the Indian raced, and
won, were heartbreaking. Blinded by
dust first and then by rain and snow,
with the last ten miles Of going decid-
edly muddy, the plucky redskin bet
tered the record of Caffrey-admit-
ted to be one of the greatest Marathon
runners that ever lived-by nearly a
mile. and to do this Longboat had to
run every mile of the twenty-five in
about five minutes and fOrty-five sec
onds.
In the Historical Building at Buff
falo there hangs a picture, drawing
of Deerfoot, the greatest of all Indian
RUNNERS. He was a Seneca Indian.
On one occasion in 1861, before the
Prince of Wales, now King Edward,
he ran twelve miles in 54 minutes
and Sc seconds. Think Of it-an aver
age of minutes 33 seconds to the
mile. It takes a first class mile run
ner to do this now.
Deerfoot frequently raced with
horses; he often chased large game,
buffalo. moose and deer, on foot. His
height was 6 feet in his stockings and
he weighed 10 pounds. He never
cared for the medals he won by his
running, and as soon as he got them
he would hand them to some lady or
little girl who chanced to be standing
near by.