454 GAMES OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS [ETH. Ann. 24 
Aracuge (Wuitr Mountain). White river, Arizona.. 
Mr Albert B. Reagan gave the following account of the game in a 
communication to the Bureau of American Ethnology in 1901: 
The pole game is the Apache national game. It is played by the men every 
day from early morn to late in the afternoon; sometimes to pass the time only, 
Fig. 591. Plan of pole ground; White Mountain Apache Indians, Arizona; from sketch by 
Albert B. Reagan. A, base; B B, sliding grounds, length 9 steps; C C, counting fields, length, 
3 steps, width 5 feet; spaces between counting fields and end of playground, 1-2, 7-8, length, 6 
steps; total length, 1-8, 36 yards; width, 9-10, 6 yards. 
sometimes for “ medicine,” but almost always for gain. They sometimes bet all 
they have on it, in former times even their women and children. 
The pole ground is a level space 36 yards long and 6 wide, laid off in the 
directions north and south [figure 591]. In its center is the base, usually a 
rock, from which the poles are hurled. Nine yards from this base, both 
north and south, are three hay-covered ridges, the center ridge lying on the 
Fig.592. Crosssection of counting field in pole game; White Mountain Apache Indians, Arizona; 
from sketch by Albert B. Reagan. A A, furrows into which the wheel runs; B B B, ridges on 
sides of furrows; C C C, earth; D, hay or straw. 
center line of the pole ground [figure 592]. These ridges are 3 yards long, with 
a total width of 5 feet. There are two narrow furrows between the ridges, into 
which the wheel is rolled. 
The two poles are willow, about 15 feet long, made in three sections, which 
are spliced and tied with sinew. They taper from the butt to a point, being 
about 14 inches in diameter at the butt end. The first 9 inches of the butt, 
Fra. 593. Counting end of pole for pole game; White Mountain Apache Indians, Arizona; from 
sketch by Albert B. Reagan. 
ealled the “ counting end” [figure 593], is marked with grooves. The counts 
on this butt are nine in number: The little circular knot, A; the edge, B, of the 
pole; the lightly cut groove, C; the lightly cut groove, D; the space between 
the two heavily cut grooves, E F; the space between the two heavily cut 
grooves, G H; the lightly cut groove, I: the lightly cut groove, J; the space 
between the two heavily cut grooves, K L. The hoop or wheel [figure 594] is 
made of willow, about a foot in diameter, the ends being bound with sinew. A 
