Evening star., 1932-08-17

4 h sport 1OT SOME american
Indian tribes during the
past century.
They have left authentic rec
ords Of feats CT endurance almost
beyond credence. DR.. Walter
Hough, veteran curator of an
thropology of the Smithsonian In
stitution, recalled today some Of
these which came under his per-
sonal observation. These become
of special interest in connection
with The Evening Stars National
A. A. U. Marathon championship
race, a feature of the District Bi-
centennial Celebration, which will
be run from Mount Vernon to the
White House Saturday.
For example, when BOSS" Shepherd
finished his career in Washington he
went to Northern Mexico and opened
q silver mine in the mountains, approXi-
mately 100 miles from the nearest post
office. He employed an Indian runner
to bring the mail. DR.. HOugh saw this
man in the square outside his hotel
one morning, Just in from the mine.
He was. says the anthropolOgist, almost
naked, his body blackened by the sun,
and altogether the widest looking
human being I ever have SEEN"
LIE verified the report that this man
i l. made three trips to and from the
mine each week, or 1G0 miles each
day for six days. He took Sundays off.
He kept up this schedule month after
month and Gid not regard his job as
unusual. He crossed two fairly high
mountain ranges each way, ascending,
as DR.. Hough expresses 1t. from
bananas to pine trees" and then back
again. Most of the trips were made
at night, morning and late afternoon.
the runner resting during the heat of
the day. Thsre were plenty Of horses
at the mine but none of them could
endure such a schedule.
The runner was one of the Tara
humare tribe Of professional runners.
He was not considered exceptional in
his tribe - merely a good, reliable,
routine man.
Another time DR.. Hough was at a
hotel in Winslow, Ariz, and was in
formed that an Indian outside wished
to see him. 1t was just after day
break. He found the man was mes
senger who had brought him a mes
sage from the superintendent of an
Indian reservation 80 miles away. He
had started out over the high noun
tains at 3 O'Clock the previous after
noon, but, he told Dr. Hough. had
stopped as soon as it began to get dark
and waited until the moon came up.
He apparently had been in the town
for scme time before DR.. Hough was
awakened. The man was given a re-
ply to the reservation superintendent
and started back Immediately. The
reply was delivered. DR. Hough ascer-
tanned. by 8 O'Clock that afternoon.
That is. the runner covered 160 miles
in % hours, but with one long rest,
The trail covered was almost inpassa-
bic. II the message had been en-
trusted to a man on horseback several
1ays might have elapsed before it was
felivered..
LIE has known Indians, DR.. Hough
l. L says. who ran total of so miles
day to and from their fields,
besides doing hard days work. They
would keep this up practically every
day through the growing season and
considered the feat as merely routine
committing"
Among the most extraordinary in
stances, Dr.. Hough says, was related to
him as personal experience by Fran
els La Flesche, an Omaha Indian and
for many years a member of the staff
of the Smithsonian Institution. Mr.. La
F'lesche, now retired, was brought up
with his tribe.
Once, he tod DR.. Hough, the tribe
had lost touch with the buffalo, a seri-
GUS matter since they depended on them
almost entirely for food and clothing.
The obvious procedure would have been
to send out mounted men to locate the
herd, but it happened that there were
three boys whose endurance the elders
wished to test. One of them was La
Flesche himself. They were told to fol-
low the trail Of the buffalo and not
come back until they found them.
All day long, La Flesche says, he and
his comDanions ran steadily and finally
came within sight of the herd. Then
they started back without any rest. His
two companions collapsed on the way
lie kept on and arrived back in camp
lie does not know how far he ran
except that it was for practically "a
hours without pause. When he started
he had thick hair, but the grueling eX-
perience. he says, caused it to become
thin. The same thing happened to his
conpanions.
COME Of the most remarkable cases
- Dr.. Houeh says, are to be found
among the Fopi Indians, although
the distances are short. During th5
annual snake dance ceremony one OF
the chief events is a race from a sacred
spring to the mcsa--a distance of about
miles DR.. Hough once witnessed
approximately so boys cover this dis
tance like jack rabbits" He was
standing at the finish line. The winner
he says took one deep breath and
then began breathing more normally
than I, who had stood still but was
excited over the outcome Of the race
The youths practiced for weeks for
this race, Dr. HOugh says. One useo
to run at night with q, bell attached tf
him. The bell could be heard ringing
about the settlement almost all night
long. Or. HOuqh estimates tilat the
man ran about 40 miles a night.
There Is che record in the reports o.
the Bureau of American Ethnologv OF
n woman Of the Seri tribe of Northern
Mexico whose child was taken i'll. SHt
started running with the child in he
arms and few hours later arrived a
the village, rs miles away. Sh'
brought the doctor a rabbit she haf
run down on the way. =
Chasing down rabbits and deer Is TN
popular sport with these people.
O-onr IrAI IAN ATu! ETEC