Original - North Central Michigan College Library

A BALL GAME AND A MASSACRETHE morning was sultry. A Chipewacame to tell me that his nation was goingto play at baggatiway with the Sacs orSaakies, another Indian nation, for a high wager.He invited me to witness the sport, adding thatthe commandant was to be there, and wouldbet on the side of the Chipewa. In consequenceof this information I went to the commandantand expostulated with him a little,representing that the Indians might possiblyhave some sinister end in view; but the commandantonly smiled at my suspicions.Baggatiway, called by the Canadians le jeude la crosse, isplayed with a bat and ball. Thebat is about four feet in length, curved, andterminating in a sort of racket. Two posts areplanted in the ground at a considerable distancefrom each other, as a mile or more. Each partyhas its post, and the game consists in throwingthe ball up to the post of the adversary. Theball, at the beginning, is placed in the middleof the course and each party endeavors aswell to throw the ball out of the direction ofits own post as into that of the adversary's.I did not go myself to see the match whichwas now to be played without the fort, because78