Great Falls Montana: Its Situation, Surroundings - Montana Historical ...

Expressions of the People
Sports
Howard Cosell, a famous sports
journalist, once said, “Sports is the
toy department of human life.”
From traditional tribal games to
modern basketball tournaments,
sports have always been a central
part of community life.
On Sundays (the only day miners did
not work), mining camps held baseball
games or bare-knuckle boxing matches.
One of the longest bare-knuckle fi ghts
in history took place at Virginia City in January 1865 when
two competitors went 185 rounds.
Montana formed its fi rst statewide baseball league in 1893.
Soon nearly every town had a baseball team. Rivalries between
neighboring towns boosted community spirit. Some—like the
rivalry between Scobey and Plentywood—gained legendary
proportions. In 1925 businessmen in both towns hired former
professional ballplayers to play for their town teams. Sell-out
crowds watched two former members of the Chicago White
Sox lead Scobey to victory that season.
During the Great Depression, people needed something to
cheer about. The game—any good game—created a world in
which anything was possible. More than 1,300 people turned
out to watch the Plentywood Wildcats defend their district
basketball title in 1938.
Before World War II most boys and girls went to work
after eighth grade. But in the 1950s high school attendance
skyrocketed. High school sports became even more important.
FIGURE 14.18: More girls played sports
in the 1920s than in the 1950s. Here,
members of the Havre girls’ football
team of 1924 pose with their coach.