Indian runner

“ On his right was a little Irishman with a four-leaved clover—the emblem of his club—embroidered on his sleeve. Behind him pounded two others, like wolves on the flank of a deer. One of them was an Indian runner from Carlisle, tall and gaunt, with an impassive face. The other [45] bore the winged-foot emblem that told of membership in the most famous athletic club in the East.
Mile after mile passed, and still they hung on. The little Irishman was wabbling, but still fighting gamely. ”

“ Rarely did she venture to kindle a fire, lest it might betray her to some migrating tribe, or some wild beast might be attracted by the flame. Sometimes her quick ear detected the approach of an Indian runner, carrying intelligence to a far distant tribe. ”

“ Major-General Currie and his staff were present, as were all the Canadian troops that were out of the line and not on duty. Our sports consisted of running, short and long distance, baseball, and football, the usual athletic performances. It was here that I saw Tom Longboat, the famous Indian runner, compete, but he was beaten for first place in a five-mile race by another Indian. ”

“ An Indian, sent for the purpose, asked him if he could run fast. Knowing himself to be an athlete of no mean ability, but guessing the object of the question, he assured the Indian that he was not a speedy runner. ”

“ We reached the Indian Settlement at Wioming; and here we were told, that an Indian Runner had been at that Place a Day or two before us, and brought News of the Indians taking an English Fort westward, and destroying the People, and that they were endeavouring to take another; and also, that another Indian Runner came there about the Middle of the Night before we got there, who came from a Town about ten Miles above Wehaloosing, and brought News, that some Indian Warriours, from distant Parts, came to that Town with two English Scalps, and told the People, that it was War with the English. ”

“ This pace, introduced for the first time into civilized contests by "Blower" Brown, Hazael, Corkey and Rowell, is the very same which the Indian runners of the forest tribes have used from time immemorial. It is the same with which the Hindoo palkee-bearers swing through the jungle for mile after mile under a tropic sun without apparent distress, and the universal method adopted by savage and semi-barbarous people whenever they wish to journey fast on foot. The civilized [20] untrained man when he tries the same pace commonly makes a mess of it. ”

“ Certain races may have been regularly trained by position and necessity in certain particular arts,—as Sandwich-Islanders in swimming, and our Indians in running,—and may naturally surpass the average skill of those who are comparatively out of practice in that speciality; yet it is remarkable that their greatest feats even in these ways never seem to surpass those achieved by picked specimens of civilization. The best Indian runners could only equal Lewis and Clarke's men, and they have been repeatedly beaten in prize-races within the last few years ”

“ One young Indian did beat every man, except Bob McKee, for whom he manifested great admiration. Many anxious ones ran bare-footed in the snow. The Indian’s motions were not impeded by any civilized garments; a modest waist cloth was all they had on. In subsequent races, after a long rest, several of our men demonstrated that their racing powers were superior to the fastest of the Indian runners. Captain Boling’s racing scheme brought out the strong points of the runners. Enough were distanced in both companies to secure an ample camp-guard. ”

“ Such were their sports, for Indian boys play games to make them sure of aim, certain of foot, quick in motion, and supple in body, so that they can shoot and fight and ride and hunt and run well. To be able to run fast is a necessary accomplishment for an Indian. What they call "runners" are important men in every tribe. They are the messenger men, and many a one among them has run a hundred miles in a day. ”

“ As he was crossing the common, a number of young fellows stripped and girt for racing—for speed greater than an Indian's saved many a life in those days, and running was part of the regular training of the young—bounded up to him like deer, giving a challenge: he too was very swift. But he named another day, impatient of the many interruptions that had already delayed him, and with long, rapid strides he had soon passed beyond the last fields and ranges of the town. Then he slackened his pace. Before him, a living wall, rose the edge of the wilderness. ”

“ Although my load was not nearly as heavy as those carried by my stalwart canoemen, yet I was utterly unable to keep up with them in the trail. Indians, when thus loaded, never walk: they seem to glide along on a swinging trot that carries them over the ground very rapidly. A white man, unaccustomed to this pace, is very soon left behind. ”

“ They can not understand why “whites lose their wind in running” and have no name for the idea in their language. They say their legs sometimes fail them in several days running, but their wind never. They are not fast, but constant runners, keeping always at the same pace over hills or on a level, in a kind of short trot about 12 or 15 miles without stopping. They will then rest a few minutes, smoke a pipe, and make as much more at the same rate, and so on, for three or four days and nights in succession if necessary, their speed on these occasions being about 51⁄2 miles an hour. ”

“ And he had his hat in his hand, as he stepped slowly, with the slow, soft, heavy tread of the Indian, unwavering in the chinks of rock, as if along a scratch in the mountain’s iron shield.
The stony slope led downwards. The Indians seemed to grow excited. One ran ahead at a slow trot, disappearing round the curve of stones. And the track curved round and down, till at last in the full blaze of the mid-morning sun, they could see a valley below them, between walls of rock, as in a great wide chasm let in the mountains. ”

“ Racing on foot is another diversion frequently resorted to by these active, restless Indians, and the women generally manage to carry off the palm, provided the distance is not too great. The officers at the post offered a number of prizes to be competed for, the fastest runner to take the prize apportioned to the distance for which it was offered. ”

“ The swinging jog trot of an Indian does not seem to be a very rapid pace, but the white man unaccustomed to it finds out very quickly that it takes long practice for him to equal it. At first the boys thought that it was because they had loaded themselves too heavily, and so they quite willingly took a rest on the way; dropping their blankets and guns, and sitting down on a rock beside the trail, they watched with admiration the Indians in single file speeding along with their heavy loads. ”

“ The fire dulls for an instant, then flares with a bright light, and a thick puff of smoke rises into the air, on which the glare falls strongly. The short, athletic form of the Indian, and his swarthy, flattened features, glittering eyes, and bushy hair, stand out for a moment in strong relief. ”

“ The race is always a running race and the Indians mount without any reference to weight, handicap, jockey or saddle. A big Indian will be seen mounted on a diminutive wooly pony, and will sail over the course like a meteor, his long black locks streaming in the wind. Bets of ponies, lodges, blankets, saddles, knives, money and everything and anything tangible and movable will be staked on the result of a race and paid with as much nonchalance as a thousand pounds Sterling would be paid on Epsom Downs. ”

“ Yet close and accurate as his observation invariably is, when the Indian sportsman begins a tale of the chase it is exaggerated beyond the wildest dreams and liveliest imaginings of the most gifted sporting Munchausen among ourselves.
When an Indian is path-finding he judges both time and distance by the sun. If not attacked by an enemy, he will win his way home from anywhere, always at a jog-trot, and will probably do his fifty miles on nothing more sustaining than coca. ”

“ It has a gripping, manly pathos that makes a direct appeal. The physical vigor of the rider, over-tried but sound, saves it from mere sentiment. An Indian brave, utterly exhausted, his strong endurance worn through by the long, hard ride, storm-spent, bowed in the abandon of helpless exhaustion, upon a horse as weary as he, has come to the end of the trail, beyond which there is no clear path. It is easy to apply the message of this statue to the tragedy of the American Indian's decline upon the continent he once possessed. ”

“ Romantic missionary work among the red Indians will soon be a thing of the past. Civilisation is reaching this people, and the iron horse rushes and shrieks where the Indian trail was once the only pathway. The picturesque garb is fast disappearing, and store clothes, often too soon transformed into rags anything but picturesque, have robbed, the Indian of the interest that once clung to him. ”

“ Great crowds gather at the contests given half a mile from the hogán, where horse-races, foot-races, groups of gamblers, and throngs of Indians riding wildly from race-track to hogán fill the day with hilarity and incidents memorable to all. ”

“ The race-stand commands a good view of the races; but one race is very much like another, except that at an Indian race-course you probably know most of the owners of the horses, or some of the gentleman-riders, so that a stronger personal feeling exists; and the young ladies will insist on betting for gloves and backing the worst horse in the race, merely because it is to be ridden by that good-looking young officer to whom they are engaged for at least three dances at the coming ball. The races usually last till about 10 o’clock, when we all go back to our camps and make ready for breakfast. ”

“ But, luckily, no Indians came.
May 30th.—I should be seventy miles from the camp I am to join; start with one man as a298 companion at three o’clock in the morning. The silver stream of light from the unclouded moon illumines the trail we follow as brightly as sunshine. The mules are to follow. As day dawns an open plain is seen, spreading far away right and left, and along it a horseman gallops towards us.
As he nears I make him out to be an Indian on a skewbald horse. We stop and parley, and I find he is a Snake scout; both horse and rider are splendid specimens of their kind. ”

“ Living as they do on horseback, racing forms one of their greatest amusements. They will ride for miles, often having heavy bets depending on the result. On this occasion we saw nearly thirty Indians start at once and dash over the plain like the winds, sweeping round in a circle of several miles.
Friday, June 1st.—The Council did not meet this morning, as the Indians wished time to consider the proposal made to them during the last few days. ”

“ Of more powerful build, as a rule, than the pure Indian, they combine his endurance and readiness of resource with the greater muscular strength and perseverance of the white man. Day after day, with plenty of food, or none at all, whether pack on back, trapping in the woods, treading out a path with snow-shoes in the deep snow for the sleigh-dogs, or running after them at a racing pace from morning to night, when there is a well-beaten track, they will travel44 fifty or sixty miles a day for a week together without showing any sign of fatigue. ”

“ I continued to suffer and grow weak. It was evident I could not keep my saddle for the long hard ride, now necessary from our delay, to overtake our friends.
It was finally decided that when we struck the stage road I should attempt to make the Indian camp at the foot of the high backbone mountains of the McCloud, about twenty-five miles distant, and there remain till recovered, while the Indian pushed on. When we came to separate, the kind-hearted Indian gave me the fresher and stronger horse, mounted his own tired and bruised mustang, and rode away in the dark and dust at a gallop. ”

“ In this manner, the players will keep running most part of the day, at half speed, under the violent heat of the sun, staking their silver ornaments, their nose-, finger-and ear-rings; their breast-, arm-and wrist-plates, and even all their wearing apparel, except that which barely covers their middle. All the American Indians are much addicted to this game, which to us appears to be a task of stupid drudgery ”

“ As soon as the issue is completed, a crowd of Indians gather in front of the trader's store to indulge their passion for gambling, and in a short space of time a number of blankets and other articles change hands on the result of pony races, foot races or any other species of excitement that can be invented. There is a white man on the ground who is, no doubt, a professional runner, and the Indians back their favorite against him in a purse of over $30.00, which the white man covers, and wins the race by a few inches. ”

“ How long the Indians would continue a pursuit in which he had the advantage of half a mile the start, he had no way of determining, but that his horse's endurance was as great at least as their perseverance, he had every reason to hope. ”

“ In a rarefied atmosphere that would almost kill a foreigner who should try to run any distance, the Indian boy only found it necessary to take short rests on the running-board of the coach, and even then he had breath enough left to keep up shrill whistling and loud shouting so as to make the mules remember his presence. ”

“ At the rock the boys would turn south, break from the forest, cross the meadow, and head for home. The first one to cross the finish line would be declared the winner and receive the coveted hunting knife.
The instructions were clear. The boys waited eagerly. When the warrior had made sure that all were lined up correctly, he gave them the starting signal. Instead of leaping forward, the racers began to mill around. Then several boys broke from the group and started to run along the course. Five young Indian braves, including Beartooth, Naltan, and Ceysoda, could be seen lying on the ground. ”