1897 Carlisle Indians football team

The 1897 Carlisle Indians football team represented the Carlisle Indian Industrial School as an independent during the 1897 college football season. Led by William T. Bull in his first only season as head coach, the Indians compiled a record of 6–4 and outscored opponents 232 to 98.

1897 Carlisle Indians football
ConferenceIndependent
Record6–4
Head coach
CaptainBemus Pierce
Home stadiumIndian Field
1897 Eastern college football independents records
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
Penn   –  15 –0 –0
Princeton   –  10 –1 –0
Washington & Jefferson   –  10 –1 –0
Yale   –  9 –0 –2
Buffalo   –  9 –1 –0
Harvard   –  10 –1 –1
Army   –  6 –1 –1
Vermont   –  3 –0 –2
Lafayette   –  9 –2 –1
Drexel   –  6 –2 –1
Colgate   –  5 –2 –1
Dickinson   –  7 –3 –2
Swarthmore   –  7 –3 –2
Fordham   –  2 –1 –1
Cornell   –  5 –3 –1
Syracuse   –  5 –3 –1
Brown   –  7 –4 –0
Carlisle   –  6 –4 –0
Boston College   –  4 –3 –0
Holy Cross   –  4 –3 –1
Bucknell   –  3 –3 –1
NYU   –  3 –3 –0
Temple   –  3 –3 –0
Trinity (CT)   –  4 –4 –1
Wesleyan   –  6 –6 –0
Tufts   –  6 –7 –0
Geneva   –  3 –4 –1
Pittsburgh College   –  3 –5 –2
Villanova   –  3 –5 –1
Penn State   –  3 –6 –0
Amherst   –  2 –6 –2
Frankin & Marshall   –  2 –6 –2
Lehigh   –  3 –7 –0
New Hampshire   –  2 –5 –0
Rutgers   –  2 –6 –0
Western Univ. Penn.   –  1 –3 –0

Frank Hudson was the quarterback. On the line were the brothers Bemus Pierce and Hawley Pierce. The two Pierce brothers, each weighing over 200 pounds, were both among the best players of their day. In 1906, The Washington Post declared them the greatest pair of linesman brothers in the history of the sport:

"But the greatest pair of brother linesmen were the Indians, Pierce. Bemus Pierce and Hawley Pierce were right guard and left tackle in the Carlisle line in the old days when the redskin booters of the prolate had everything in the country scared. Two hundred pounds apiece they weighed, and they won games for their team in 97. Tackle back and guard back for a solid half was the Indian play and it was 400 pounds of Pierce into the opponents' line pretty steady. Bemus was captain of the team and one of the best men on the kick-off football has seen. He could measure and place his kicks accurately and every red knew where the ball was going before it soared."[1]

Hudson gained acclaim for drop-kicking field goals against two of the top teams in the country—Yale and Penn.[2] Hudson accounted for all of Carlisle's points in a 20-10 loss to Penn at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. The New York Times wrote that "little Hudson showed his ability as a kicker by dropping the ball squarely between the posts."[3] The game against Yale was played at the Polo Grounds in New York, and The New York Times described Hudson's field goal as follows:

"[S]teadying himself for an instant the ball was dropped and with a delicate touch from his foot was sent sailing straight as a die toward the Yale goal. The spectators held their breath and watched the ball as it sailed on just over the heads of the Yale players and finally dropped over the bar. Then they cheered and young Hudson was the hero of the day. The goal was one of the prettiest ever seen ..."[4]

The success of the Carlisle football team was a source of great pride for Native Americans. In 1897, the Indian Helper (the Carlisle school newspaper) described a celebration that greeted the football team on its return from a game played in New York City against Yale University:

"On Monday morning after breakfast, the football team, who returned the evening before from the Yale game which was played at New York last Saturday, was treated to a free ride across the parade, in the large four horse herdic, drawn by the entire battalion. Capt. Pierce, Frank Cayou, Frank Hudson, and Martin Wheelock occupied the small phaeton drawn by boys, and went in advance of the others. The band played lively marches, as handkerchiefs waved and mouths shouted. The demonstration was a great surprise to all making a unique scene for such an early morning hour. The school is proud of the record made for clean playing, and were gratified that the boys scored.”[5]

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
October 2vs. DickinsonCarlisle, PAW 36–0
October 9Bloomsburg Normal
  • Indian Field
  • Carlisle, PA
W 26–0
October 16at Princeton
L 0–188,000[6]
October 23vs. Yale
L 9–249,000–13,000[7][8]
October 30Pennsylvania College
  • Indian Field
  • Carlisle, PA
W 84–0
November 6at Penn
L 10–2014,000[9][10]
November 13vs. Brown
  • Polo Grounds
  • New York, NY
L 14–181,500–3,000[11][12]
November 209:00 p.m.vs. Illinois
W 23–610,000–12,000[13][14][15][16][17]
November 25at Cincinnati
W 10–04,500[18]
November 27at Ohio Medical
W 20–122,000–3,000[19]

[20]

References
  1. "Unlike Baseball, Gridiron Prowess Runs in Families". The Washington Post. December 9, 1906.
  2. "Frank Hudson". American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on August 21, 2008. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  3. "Carlisle Indians Beaten: Pennsylvania Defeats Them at Football by a Score of 20 to 10" (PDF). The New York Times. November 7, 1897.
  4. "Yale Beats the Indians: White and Red Men in Mimic Warfare on the Polo Grounds Yesterday Afternoon; The Crowd with Carlisle" (PDF). The New York Times. October 24, 1897.
  5. "untitled". Indian Helper. October 29, 1897.
  6. "Indians and Tigers Fought Fiercely: Victory for Princeton Came After Much Effort and Injured Men". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. October 17, 1897. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Nine Points Scored Against Old Eli". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. October 24, 1897. p. 8. Retrieved March 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  8. "Yale Beats the Indians". The New York Times. October 24, 1897. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Indians Score On Penn's Team". The Times. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. November 7, 1897. p. 1. Retrieved March 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  10. "Indians Score On Penn's Team (continued)". The Times. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. November 7, 1897. p. 10. Retrieved March 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  11. "Brown Kicks To Victory". The Sun. New York, New York. November 14, 1897. p. 8. Retrieved March 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  12. "Brown 18, Carlisle 14". The Boston Sunday Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. November 14, 1897. p. 6. Retrieved March 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  13. "Poor Lo Will Punt". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. November 20, 1897. p. 5. Retrieved March 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  14. "Scalped By Poor Lo". The Chicago Chronicle. Chicago, Illinois. November 21, 1897. p. 2. Retrieved March 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  15. "Indians Win, 23 To 6". The Sunday Inter Ocean. Chicago, Illinois. November 21, 1897. p. 8. Retrieved March 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  16. "Is Won By Red Men". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. November 21, 1897. p. 1. Retrieved March 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  17. "Is Won By Red Men (continued)". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. November 21, 1897. p. 4. Retrieved March 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  18. "Grand Struggle on the Gridiron". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Cincinnati, Ohio. November 26, 1897. p. 2. Retrieved March 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  19. "Carlisle Red Men Surprised". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. November 28, 1897. p. 8. Retrieved March 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  20. "1897 Carlisle Indian Schedule and Results".
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