Full-Court Quest: The Girls from Fort Shaw Indian School, Basketball Champions of the World

by Linda Peavy, Ursula Smith

Overview

Most fans of women’s basketball would be startled to learn that girls’ teams were making their mark more than a century ago—and that none was more prominent than a team from an isolated Indian boarding school in Montana. Playing like “lambent flames” across the polished floors of dance halls, armories, and gymnasiums, the girls from Fort Shaw stormed the state to emerge as Montana’s first basketball champions. Taking their game to the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, these young women introduced an international audience to the fledgling game and returned home with a trophy declaring them champions.

World champions. And yet their triumphs were forgotten—until Linda Peavy and Ursula Smith chanced upon a team photo and embarked on a ten-year journey of discovery. Their in-depth research and extensive collaboration with the teammates’ descendents and tribal kin have resulted in a narrative as entertaining as it is authentic.

Full-Court Quest offers a rare glimpse into American Indian life and into the world of women’s basketball before “girls’ rules” temporarily shackled the sport. For anyone captivated by Sea Biscuit, A League of Their Own, and other accounts of unlikely champions, this book rates as nothing but net.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780806144696
Publisher:	University of Oklahoma Press
Publication date:	04/26/2014
Pages:	498
Sales rank:	397,572
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 6.00(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Linda Peavy has published fiction, poetry, and drama in numerous literary journals and anthologies. She began collaborative work in women's history and biography with coauthor Ursula Smith in Bozeman, Montana. Since then Peavy and Smith have coauthored ten books, including Women in Waiting in the Westward Movement, Pioneer Women, Frontier Children, and Frontier House. Currently residing in Vermont, Peavy has given presentations and workshops with Smith across the nation, including at the Library of Congress and the White House. With Smith she has been awarded a Redd Center for Western Studies Independent Research Award, a Smithsonian Short-Term Visitors grant, two nonfiction writing residencies at Centrum, Port Townsend, Washington, and two Paladin Awards for excellence in writing western history.

Ursula Smith pursued graduate work at San Francisco State University under a Ford Foundation Fellowship and taught in the San Francisco school system. She began collaborative work in women's history and biography with coauthor Linda Peavy in Bozeman, Montana. Since then Peavy and Smith have coauthored ten books, including Women in Waiting in the Westward Movement, Pioneer Women, Frontier Children, and Frontier House. Currently residing in Vermont, Smith has given presentations and workshops with Peavy across the nation, including at the Library of Congress and the White House. With Peavy she has been awarded a Redd Center for Western Studies Independent Research Award, a Smithsonian Short-Term Visitors grant, two nonfiction writing residencies at Centrum, Port Townsend, Washington, and two Paladin Awards for excellence in writing western history.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

St. Louis World's Fair, Saturday, October 8, 1904 3

A Confluence of Cultures 5

End of an Era 12

Birth of a Game 15

Phoenix Rising, 1892 18

Routine and Ritual, 1892 26

Recruitment, Runaways, and Reinforcements, 1893 36

Foreshadowings, 1893 46

Future Prospects, 1893-1894 49

"Basket Ball for Women," 1894 59

Elusive Dreams, 1895-1896 62

A Wise Investment, 1896-1897 72

Widening the Circle, 1897 83

Transitions, 1897-1899 91

More to Be Learned, 1899-1900 100

Gateway to a World's Fair, 1900 107

School Spirit, 1900-1901 122

New Connections and Old, 1901 129

Staking Out the Fair, St. Louis, 1901 137

The Team Takes Shape, 1901-1902 140

"Basket Ball Is the Thing," Fall 1902 147

Testing Their Mettle, Thanksgiving 1902 157

Samuel McCowan's Indian Exhibit, December 1902 167

"Like Lambent Flames… across the Polished Floor" Winter 1903 170

Like a Wall of Fire through a Cane Break," Winter 1903 182

McCowan in St. Louis, April 1903 193

Montana's Champions, Spring 1903 198

Taking the Gospel Back Home, June 1903 204

"In All Ways Most Deserving," Summer 1903 212

Looking to the Future, Fall 1903 219

"A Great Thing for Girls' Sport," Fall 1903 230

Getting Ready, Winter 1903-1904 232

Showcase Season, February-April 1904 240

"Open, Ye Gates! Swing Wide, Ye Portals!" April 30, 1904 250

"Everybody Is Going," May 1904 253

"Something to Remember," June 1, 1904 269

The Adventure Begins, June 1904 274

"A Veritable Fairyland," St. Louis 281

"Eleven Aboriginal Maidens" 295

The Observers and the Observed 309

A Silver Trophy 320

Champions of the World's Fair 324

"Forget Me Not," 1904-1910 336

Epilogue 343

The Years Thereafter 347

Acknowledgments 363

Notes 373

Bibliography 443

Index 461

Illustration Credits 480

Editorial Reviews

A compelling narrative. . . . Highly recommended.”—Choice


“Bravo to Peavy and Smith for an excellent account of these Native heroes who deserve to be honored.”—Indian Country Today


“A monumental achievement that deserves a wide readership among women, sport, and Indian historians.”—David W. Adams, Western Historical Quarterly

From the Publisher