Harper's Young People, November 8, 1881 / An Illustrated Weekly

by Various

Basil Hall, Catlin, and Lanman, who have written some of the best books about Indians, tell how the Creeks of Alabama, the Cherokees of North Carolina, and other tribes, played the game years ago, and their accounts show that then it was a fierce, hard game to play, in which the young Indians displayed wonderful skill and strength and pluck, and where broken bones were no rare thing.

"But," says one writer, "there never appears to be any spite or wanton exertions of strength to affect them, nor do disputes ever happen between the parties." These last words should be printed in large letters, that they may be easily read by all boys nowadays who play lacrosse.

In those days the game was not the scientific one that it is now. Then it was a matter of brute strength, and sometimes as many as six hundred, eight hundred, and even a thousand, players took part. The Canadian Indians claim to have invented the present game, and when the French first saw them playing, they gave it the name "La Crosse"—the bat—from the bat, or crosse, used in the game.

For a long time only the Indians played it; then the young Canadians took it up; and finally, in 1867, the game was formally adopted as the national game of Canada. Naturally the Canadians play well their own game, and the best clubs in the world are said to be the Toronto Club, of Toronto, and the Shamrocks, of Montreal.

They are great rivals, and which is the best it would be hard to say. Not long ago they played one hour and thirty-six minutes without either getting a goal, and then they were stopped by the darkness.

Lacrosse is a simple game, and easy to understand. A large level piece of ground is required, the smoother the better, but smoothness is not necessary. A goal is simply two poles driven into the ground, so that the tops, where wave little flags, shall be six feet high. The poles are six feet apart. Each side has a goal, designated by the color of the flag. These goals may be any distance apart, just as the players decide.

Now the great thing to do is for one side to throw the ball through the goal of the other side. At the end of the play, the side having thus made the most goals is the winner. By throwing, it is not meant that the ball is thrown with the hands, as in base-ball. The ball is never to be touched by the hands. All the work is done with the crosse, which is made of a frame of bent wood, on which are woven thongs of rawhide or catgut. This has a long handle. With this crosse the ball is caught, carried, and thrown.

So expert do some players become that they will throw the ball straight and swiftly from goal to goal. Mr. Lally, of the Shamrock Club, is able to throw the ball four hundred and fifty feet. The ball is of India rubber sponge, not less than eight nor more than nine inches in circumference. As the game is now played, twelve players are on each side, placed according to the best judgment of their captains for working the ball toward the opposite goal, or keeping it from going through their own goal.

All the play, the running, dodging, leaping, twisting, throwing, is simply to get the ball through the goal. This part of it is easily learned. Of course it requires practice to enable one to handle the crosse well. But any active lad can soon get the hang of that, and once learned, it is doubtful if he will give up lacrosse for base-ball, with its broken fingers and sprained thumbs, or for foot-ball, with its kicked shins and sometimes broken ribs.

But lacrosse is no girls' play. There is sufficient hard work and danger to make it quite exciting enough for anybody; but there is not much danger of a player's getting maimed for life, as has often happened in these other games. There are no spiked shoes worn, no wrestling, no holding, no intentional tripping, no striking. It is simply a game of agility and endurance.