The Mud-Slicked Battle for Pacific Northwest Football Supremacy
Multnomah Athletic Club defeats Seattle on a rain-soaked gridiron, claiming the unofficial title of regional champion.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Seattle eleven and the Multnomah Athletic Club of Portland met on the field at Vashon Park yesterday afternoon in a struggle for the Pacific Northwest football title. The field was a sea of mud, making fast running impossible. Multnomah showed superior strength and activity, playing lower in the line and breaking up Seattle's plays with quick, mass interference. Capt. Smith led the Multnomah attack, with Ellsworth and Lasawell driving through the center. While Seattle fought valiantly, their lack of practice showed in their inability to coordinate their machinery. After a gruelling two-hour struggle, Multnomah emerged victorious, 10 to 0. Despite the defeat, the fight was considered brave, though the gloom of the weather seemed to settle over the home crowd. The players retreated to the theater that evening as guests of Manager Cordray to witness a performance of the 'Bohemian Girl.'
“The blue diamond is at half-mast and draped in mourning... Capt. Smith and his band of long-haired braves have left Seattle with conscious pride of their conquering heroes.”
Football in the 1890s was a brutal, ground-based game of 'mass plays'—a far cry from the high-flying passing attacks of modern Seattle sports. Yet, the regional rivalry between Seattle and Portland remains one of the oldest and most consistent civic traditions in the Pacific Northwest.
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