The Washington times., 1911-12-21
INDIAN PROMINENT
IN ALL ATHLETICS

indian uprisings are no longer con-
nned to- the bad lands" of the West
or to the pages chronicling the deeds of
Dead Eye Dick. And neither is 1t 10,
the poor Indian" for our redskin broth
er Is pretty able to take caro- Of him
SELF This leads up to the plot of "hecp
big InJuns" In the world Of sport. such
as. for instance, Mighty Bender of the
diamond; Longboat, man Of endurance;
Thorpe, Of the bewitching toe and
speedy legs; Meyers. the stole behind
The mask: Metoxen, the planger, and
scores Of others who have put the pale
faces to rout without the necessity of
hitting the scaIplock.
It has only been a comparatively few
years since curves footwork. speed. and
science took the place of the tomahawk
and the bow m arrow. AS the years
have rolled by the former have proved
more deadly than the latter, as mas
been illustrated on the country's gric-
irons. diamonds. cinder paths. and Mara
thon highways. The child OF the prairie
has grown. UP, and with his years his
stride has Increased until toucndowns,
ample evidence Of the fact that he has
ton of the Caucasian. '''t'
The stride Of the red man has been
rapid. In many cases It has outstripped
the brawny man of lighter hue. The
Indian takes to sports as duck to
water, He rs, in his element where
battles rage, but he is more quiet about
1t than the whittier Indians who are
turned loose on the diamond and grid
Ia h4,x ~ SnxD L.
methodical way and In a straight line.
His natural cunning is rapidly being
sacrificed 10 the science of the game,
and in this he has proved great
adapter. ..s-r -. ~, ~ w..
Deerfoot Only Star.
Twenty years ago there was hardly an
Indian athlete of note, with the excep-
ton of the one solitary figure-Deerfoot
The fame of this son of the Canadian
prairies almost became a legend as he
shot across the athletic sky like a
meteor only to be snuffed out after a
few brilliant performances on this con-
tinent and later in England. Discovered
somewhere west OF the Red river coun-
tr" by an Englishman, ne was per-
suaded to cross the big water, and at
once became the sensation of the
English sporting world. He was fast
on on his legs but 1t was his remarkable
Wild stories fioated around his per-
sonality. such as being able to follow
relays of ponies on the Western prai-
ries for hundred miles or more with
out resting, and running the time twice
fatigue.
AS time went by and with the Gov
eminent taking a hand In the training
of the Indian the development was
rapid, and here Is where the Indian
school at Carlisle comes into promi-
hence. The great majority of all the
pest indian athletes have come from the
pennsylvania institution.
AS there are no restrictions as to the
number of years an athlete may pursue
the calling of gridiron. baseball field,
or the running track. those inclined that
branches of sport impossible in the
white mans college. where scholastic
requirements put brakes en- the athletes
ambition as soon as he begins to get
That is one of the main reasons a Why
Carlisle produced such football stars as
Metoxen. Wheelock. Pierce. Hudson.
Libby, Mount Pleasant, Rogers. War
Tor track athletics and baseball, al
though the latter has not secured the
foothold at Carlisle that the former has.
Then Indian Counts.
1t is where speed, endurance cunning,
and pure grit counts that the Indian
athlete shines. That Is what makes the
red man the greatest of football players.
That yellow streak" tagged on the av-
eraRc Indian has been proved to be gem
orally lacking. and the generally accent
ed opinion that the aborigine is unwili-
ing to stand the gam in an emergency
has also been shown a myth. There has
never been greater nerve" shown than
by indian football players. An Indian
does not usually Quit. He is carried to
the side lines.
In picking out individual stars Charles
Albert Bender, pitcher of the Athletics,
crowds pretty close to the front among
Indian athletes. Bender. who halls from
the tribe OF ChippeSas. has been rated
game. For time Bender. like many
another copper-tinted Apollo. came near
going the way of the rest. but he braced
and has been q good Indian" for sew