To be a good player, one must be able to run well and to run long. It is remarkable what speed and endurance some of the players possess. To have these, they must take good care of their health, and good lacrosse players are careful seldom or never to touch tobacco or strong drink, nor to eat unwholesome food at unnatural hours.
Lacrosse is a good game, because it cultivates courage in a boy, knocks the timidity out of him, gives him confidence and pluck, and teaches him to govern his temper. It develops judgment and calculation, promptness and decision, and gives him a healthful and manly recreation. Besides, it is a cheap game. It can be played on almost any vacant lot. In Canada it is played in the streets of the towns and on the village greens. The balls are not expensive, and last well, and the crosses do not cost a large sum.
It is a pretty game. It is very interesting to watch twenty-four players, especially if they are wearing tasteful uniforms, all rushing, leaping, dodging, over the green grass, each side intent upon driving that little black ball through the goal.
There have been games of lacrosse that were not so pretty. History tells of one that ended in a fearful tragedy. It was played over one hundred years ago, in 1763. One of the British chain of forts in the North was Fort Michilimackinac. On the 4th of June, 1763, it was garrisoned by thirty-five soldiers, and contained about ninety other persons, men, women, and children. It was the birthday of King George, and the soldiers were celebrating the day.
There had been rumors that the Ojibway Indians had conspired with Pontiac, the great chief, to capture the fort, but Captain Etherington, the commandant, paid no attention to them. So, when on this day the Ojibways sent an invitation to the fort to see a grand game of "baggataway," or lacrosse, between them and the Sacs, on the plain in front of the fort, the soldiers gladly accepted.
"The gates were opened wide," says Mr. W. G. Beers, in his account of the game; "the soldiers were lying and standing about in groups, the majority without arms. Captain Etherington and Lieutenant Leslie stood close by the gate, betting on the game.
"A large number of squaws were collected near the fort. Then the game began. The players, nearly naked, yelling, with leaps and dashes, chased and fought for the ball, kicking, wrestling, rolling over each other. The spectators roared with laughter. No one thought of anything but the game. But slowly the ball neared the fort. Once or twice it shot into the air, and fell inside the pickets, and was thrown out. Gradually the great body of players neared the fort, all playing with might and main.
"Suddenly the ball was thrown high into the air, and as it fell near the gate, the players made a great rush, followed by all the warriors who had not been playing.
"The war-whoop rang over the plain; the ball sticks were thrown away; the squaws threw open their blankets, and the players snatched the tomahawks and other weapons they had concealed there."
Then the massacre began, and of that little band of English but twenty escaped alive. So you see when you play lacrosse you are playing a purely American game, and a historical game too.