In the book, The History of Bartholomew County (1888), General William Henry Harrison Terrell recalled one particular form of amusement that was popular in 1838. “Probably about the year 1838, some reckless and heartless fellows about Columbus conceived the idea of “gander pullings” – a pastime, which if not the offspring of their own minds, was probably invented by some barbarous band of savages, or handed down to posterity as one of the graces which adorned the character of some ancient and worn-out pugilist, no longer able to fight. It shows how sluggish public opinion was in those days which may truthfully be denominated the Dark Age of Columbus. On the corner of Walnut (Fourth) and Jackson streets, and opposite a retail liquor store, a slender, supple hickory pole some thirty feet in length, was securely planted obliquely in the ground in such a manner as to elevate the small end about eight or nine feet in the air. This was the ‘gander pole.’ On Saturdays, about the middle of the afternoon, a crowd would collect – having previously been willing votaries at the shrine of Baccus over the way – and arrange the preliminaries for the ‘sport.’ A fine, full grown, full feathered gander was selected from a flock close at hand collected for the occasion; a strong thong of leather was fastened to both his feet and securely tied to the elevated end of the pole, leaving the poor bird suspended, head downwards. A gantlet or open column of bystanders was then formed some fifty or seventy feet in length, terminating a few yards beyond the suspended gander. A vaunting hero would then mount a horse, and starting in at the extreme end of the gantlet, ride full tilt up the open column, while the bystanders on either side would belabor his steed with clubs, canes and bludgeons most unmercifully. Of course the horse ran as fast as his legs would carry him; the rider, on reaching the gander, elevated himself a little in his stirrups and grasped for its neck, endeavoring to wring it off, which constituted the feat. This, however, was extremely difficult to accomplish, requiring considerable skill and strength owing to the go-ahead nature of the horse under such circumstances leaving but little time to get hold of the bird, and still less to give the wring. All competitors were required first to deposit a certain amount in the hands of a banker, which in the aggregate constituted a prize fund to be distributed at the conclusion of the game among those whose prowess had enabled them to accomplish the feat. Great excitement prevailed in the crowd. Bets were freely made on the gallant pullers; and from the general excitement prevailing a “looker-on” at a little distance would have supposed that the Olympian feats of Achilles and Ajax never caused more exultation among the throngs of ancient Greece than did these brutish madcaps. The disgusting and uncivilized brutality brought forth a scathing article in the editorial columns of the Advocate, a newspaper which had been started a short time before. This had the desired effect – it checked the ‘pullings’ entirely.
Posted on: Tue, 28 Jan 2014 15:02:03 +0000
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