Early baseball in Alaska/Club 1
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Spread of baseball: Home -> Alaska -> Early baseball in Alaska/Club 1 |
Location | Alaska |
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Year | 1868 |
Month | 7 |
Modern address | St..Paul Island AK |
City | St. Paul Island |
State | AK |
Nickname | Knock down and Skin em |
First in Alaska | Yes |
Found by | Bruce Allardice |
The Columbian Register 1-9-1869, quotes the Norwich Advertiser as saying that missionaries had brought baseball to Alaska. They formed a team on St. Paul's Island in July 1868, called the "Knock down and Skin 'em". Team members were missionaries (some from Hawaii) and local Inuits. The island is in the Bering Sea, and is used today as a stop for the fishing fleets (tv-ized in the show "Dangerous Catch".
St. Paul Island (current pop. about 550, 86% of them Alaska natives) is in the Bering Sea about 500 miles from the Alaskan coast.
Sources
The Columbian Register 1-9-1869. This article was picked up in other newspapers such as the Springfield (MA) Republican 1-14-1869, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer 1-12-1869.