By Davy Crockett 


1893 Native American Relay in Taos, New Mexico

For centuries, many Native Americans were known to be outstanding long-distance runners who could run ultra-distances. Their talents were used in important roles to carry messages and news to distant communities. One of the most famous ultra-messaging events took place in 1680 when a very coordinated system of message runners were dispatched from Taos Pueblo, in present-day New Mexico to Hopi Villages in present-day Arizona, nearly 400 miles away, to coordinate a successful, simultaneous, revolt involving 70 villages against their Spanish oppressors.

In the 1860s a Mesquakie runner in his mid-50s ran 400 miles from Green Bay, Wisconsin to the Missouri River to warn another tribe about an impending attack. Such runners would dedicate their lives to this role of being an ultrarunning messenger.

As Native American Talents became more widely known by Anglo-Americas, competitive wagers arose to prove their capabilities. In 1876 “Big Hawk Chief” ran 120 miles within 20 hours accompanied by an observer on a horse. In the early 1900s gifted ultra-distance runners were known to be among the Hopi, Yaqui, Tarahumara in Mexico, and the Seri of Tiburon Island in the gulf of California. The Hopi had been known to cover 130 miles within 24 hours.

The Native American runners occupied a central role in ultrarunning during the early twentieth century. Sadly, this fact has largely been forgotten or overlooked. In 1927, a 480-mile race took place on the California/Oregon Redwood Highway that received intense daily attention in newspapers across America. This article will provide the detailed story for the first time of that historic, forgotten race.

Plans for the 1927 Redwood Indian Marathon

By 1921, the running talents of the Native Americans were being noticed. The Los Angeles Herald, suggested, “If the Olympic commissioners want to find an Olympic Marathon runner who can beat the world, it might be a good scheme to look the Indian reservations over.” By 1926 In Arizona, “Indian Marathons” started to become features at local fairs and festivals. One such race was organized in Phoenix, running 25 miles from downtown to the fair grounds. “Only Indians who, in former days, ran over hot desert sands for various tribal missions will be called upon to appear in the race. The Hopi and Navajo Indian runners will serve as one of the best advertising features of the affair.” Soon this idea spread, to link exhibitions of Native American extreme running with national events.

In 1927, with all the recent national attention to Native American runners, including the Tarahumara who were coming to run in Texas, the Chamber of Commerce in San Francisco conceived of a marketing idea to focus on the newly constructed highway stretch called the “Redwood Highway.” This new stretch of mostly dirt road went from San Francisco, California on Highway 101 to Crescent City California, and then east on Highway 199 to Grants Pass, Oregon, weaving through dense forests of redwood trees. In order to get more attention to the highway, and fill hotels along the way, they had a pretty brilliant idea to hold a “Redwood Marathon” foot race on the highway stretch. To gain even more media coverage they wanted to exploit the “Indian runner frenzy” at that time by limiting the entrants to Native Americans.

Oregon Cavemen at the Oregon Caves in 1926. Members promoted Grants Pass tourism by dressing in animal skins.

In March, Clyde Edmunson, the manager of the Redwood Empire Association, announced that a 480-mile race would be held in June and that a dozen Indian tribes had agreed to enter runners for prizes of $2500. (This was a stretch, because no tribes had actually committed.) In Oregon, The “Caveman Association” of Grants Pass, a club of civic boosters, also jointly sponsored the idea and they claimed that the event would be “the longest race of its kind in history.”