Athletics: Dickinson vs. Carlisle

History 204 | History of Indian Education | The Public Relationship Between Dickinson and the Indian School | Prosopography of Indian Dickinson College Students | Insitute to Institute: Dickinson College and Carlisle Indian School | Bibliographic Information

Football Games and Scores

• Games and Scores by year:
• 1890 First Unofficial Game
• October 13, 1894 Indian School 12 Dickinson 12
• September 26, 1896 Indian School 28 Dickinson 6
• October 2, 1897 Indian School 36 Dickinson 6
• November 5, 1898 Indian School 48 Dickinson 0
• October 21, 1899 Indian School 16 Dickinson 5
• September 26, 1900 Indian School 21 Dickinson 0
• October 5, 1901 Indian School 16 Dickinson 11
• October 4, 1902 Game Canceled
• October 21, 1905 Indian School 36 Dickinson 0
• October 5, 1910 Indian School 24 Dickinson 0
• September 20, 1911 Indian School 17 Dickinson 0
• September 28, 1912 Indian School 34 Dickinson 0
• November 21, 1914 Indian School 34 Dickinson 0
• November 13, 1915 Indian School 20 Dickinson 14

The First Meeting Between the Indians and Dickinson

One fall afternoon in 1890 the Carlisle Indian School organized an unofficial football game against Dickinson College. This was the first ever meeting in athletics between Indians and whites. During the game Stacy Matlock, an Indian player, broke his leg badly and the Indian players had to carry him the two miles back to the barracks. Upon hearing this Pratt outlawed football for the Indians. Then in 1893 a group of Indians lobbied Pratt to allow them to play football. Pratt reinstated football under two conditions: one that the Indians never swing at another player. The second was that in three or four years they beat the best team in the country, which they did.

The 1902 Game That Was Not Played

On October 4, 1902 the Carlisle Indian School football team was scheduled to play Dickinson College. The captains of the two teams could not agree on the length of halves to be played and therefore the game was not played. Stanton, the Dickinson captain, wanted the halves to by twenty and fifteen minutes. Coach Warner, the Indian School coach, wanted the halves to be the normal length of thirty and thirty. The two could not come to a compromise on the length of halves. Stanton did not want to play the longer halves because of poor weather. The Dickinsonian commented on the incident in their next issue, "After due consideration, and looking at the situation in light of attending circumstances, we believe captain Stanton was fully justified in his requests for shorter halves" 1 Source. The Dickinsonian supported captain Stanton, but still hoped the issue would be resolved, "It is to be hoped that these differences may be amicable settled and that contests in the future may proceed as before" 1 Source. After this incident the two schools did not compete in any athletic events until 1905 when they resumed sports competitions.

The Towns reactions to the Teams

The Town of Carlisle sees both the Indian School football team and the Dickinson College football team as two of their own. The townspeople during the Indian School era would go and watch these teams play, especially if they were playing each other. This was the case on September 26, 1900 as the Sentinel reported it: "A game between Carlisle's star football teams is no small event in the local sporting world. Yesterday's game was a magnificent exhibition, both teams working hard" 2 Source. The townspeople would love to go and watch Dickinson play the Indian school. There would sometimes be over ten thousand fans, especially when Jim Thorpe played. These masses of fans would cheer for both teams, yet it seemed as though the Indians were often crowd favorites when traveling to different cities.

The Indians also recieved some special treatment from the town, especially the police force. Alcohol had been abandoned at the Indian School. However, every once and a while someone would give the Indian football players some alcohol, sometimes it was even Pop Warner who gave it to them. If an Indian football player was arrested Coach Warner would pay the police and let them out of jail. The Indians recieved many perks, and the team became the first big business team in college football history. The Indians had a special dorm at the School and were even given money for playing. The Indian School got this money from playing teams on the road and recieving some of the admission profits. People from all over wanted to see the Indians play.

Other Athletic Events

Track and Field Events

• May 17, 1902 Indian School 73 Dickinson 31
• May 6, 1905 Indian School 69 1/2 Dickinson 34 1/2
• April 19, 1918

The May 6, 1905 track meet was the first athletic competition between the Carlisle Indian School and Dickinson College since the length of halves dispute in the 1902 football game. Both parties were happy to have the two schools competing again and on good terms.

Baseball Games and Scores

• May 10, 1905 Dickinson 11 Indian School 7
• June 3, 1905 Dickinson 10 Indian School 4
• June 6, 1908 Indian School 6 Dickinson 1
• May 12, 1909 Dickinson 7 Indian School 4
• May 19, 1909 Indian School 6 Dickinson 1

Photos

In this section are photos from public contacts between Dickinson College and the Carlisle Indian School.