INDIAN GAMES. 169 



" I have delayed acknowledging your kindness in send- 

 ing a copy [of Indian Games] to me, to get some facts 

 about the Oregon game of Koho played by the Indians of 

 that section. Mr. Simpson, a friend of mine, a lawyer 

 here, passed much of his youth on an Indian reservation 

 in Oregon, of which his father was the head. He tells 



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me that the favorite game with the various tribes stationed 

 there, was one which was played sometimes by members 

 of the same tribe, and at others by different tribes, and 

 called as if spelled k-o-h-o. A wooden ball whittled out of 

 the knot of some tree, maple I think, was placed in the 

 ground midway between the goals which were usually 

 three-quarters of a mile apart. A hole about as large as 

 a man's hat was dug in the earth and lightly filled with 

 dust and leaves. In this the ball was placed. The chiefs, 

 each with one koho stick, about as long as a walking-cane, 

 widened to two or three inches perhaps, at the end, and 

 bent upward, stood on either side of the hole ; and, at a 

 given signal, struggled to get possession of the ball with 

 their sticks. The men on either side were at liberty to 

 take what stations they pleased anywhere in the field. The 

 goals were not like those in lacrosse, but were arbitrary 

 lines, the length of the whole end of the field, and across 

 one of these lines the ball had to be driven. The game, 

 as it was described to me, was extremely rough ; tripping, 

 pushing and catching men by the legs with the koho stick 

 being permitted. Striking one another with the stick was 

 even resorted to, although the last was supposed to be for- 

 bidden. The players were often severely hurt, but my 

 informant knew of no case where any one was killed, or 

 where bones were broken. He tells me of different in- 

 stances where the heat of the game led to fights among 

 individual players and says that on one occasion when the 

 game was between different tribes, and the losing party be- 



