140 The Winning of the West 



was so little known that many of the backwoods 

 people were not aware it was a beverage, and at first 

 attempted to eat the leaves with salt or butter. 35 



The young men prided themselves on their bodily 

 strength, and were always eager to contend against 

 one another in athletic games, such as wrestling, 

 racing, jumping, and lifting flour-barrels; and they 

 also sought distinction in vying with one another at 

 their work. Sometimes they strove against one an- 

 other singly, sometimes they divided into parties, 

 each bending all its energies to be first in shucking 

 a given heap of corn or cutting (with sickles) an al- 

 lotted patch of wheat. Among the men the bravos 

 or bullies often were dandies also in the backwoods 

 fashions, wearing their hair long and delighting in 

 the rude finery of hunting-shirts embroidered with 

 porcupine quills ; they were loud, boastful, and pro- 

 fane, given to coarsely bantering one another. Bru- 

 tally savage fights were frequent; the combatants, 

 who were surrounded by rings of interested specta- 

 tors, striking, kicking, biting, and gouging. The 

 fall of one of them did not stop the fight, for the 

 man who was down was maltreated without mercy 

 until he called "enough." The victor always 

 bragged savagely of his prowess, often leaping on 

 a stump, crowing and flapping his arms. This last 

 was a thoroughly American touch; but otherwise 

 one of these contests was less a boxing match than 



some thirty-five years later is to be found in Edward Eggles- 

 ton's "Circuit Rider." 



35 Such incidents are mentioned again and again by Wat- 

 son, Milfort, Doddridge, Carr, and other writers. 



