Harry Manson

[Robert]

Having been accused of being too one-dimensional by focusing my posts solely on the shortcomings of the CSA, it has been suggested that I should broaden my horizons by writing about a Canadian player, past or present, to make myself more likeable. Of course, this goes against my better judgment, because if you really got to like me, I’m sure you really wouldn’t like me, but anyways here goes. The player I have chosen to write about is from the past, which, unless you have read my book, you probably have never heard about.

[Robert]

Harry Manson - It seemed that everyone living in the Nanaimo mining district during the early 1890s was predestined to catching a case of football-fever, as the outbreak quickly spread into the five neighbouring Snu-ney-muxw villages of Salaxal, Anwinic, Yicaxen, Tewaxan and Kwelsiwal, which were situated along the estuary of the Nanaimo River. With European encroachment onto these aboriginal territories, these communities were decreed as Indian Reverse by the Imperial government in 1877, and would henceforth be referred to as the Nanaimo Indian Reserve. It was inevitable that there would be a certain amount of social interaction between the two alien cultures, and because of their close proximity to each other, the Hul’qumi’num-speaking people received an early introduction to soccer. The first of many inter-racial matches that would follow was played on November 12, 1892, at Deverill Square, on Haliburton Street. This contest featured a team of young Indians from the Reserve taking on the YMCA Juniors. Both sides were well supported and the large crowd was treated to an exciting exhibition, which ended in a 2-2 draw.

Without a question, the most outstanding indigenous player of this era was Xul-si-malt, which translates as One-Who-Leaves-His-Mark. Xul-si-malt was born in 1879, during the period of colonization where the European presence began to impose its will and ways on the indigenous people of this land, and as a result of this Xul-si-malt was compelled to take on the anglicized name of Harry Manson at a young age.

The number of Snu-ney-muxw/European skirmishes on the soccer pitch proved to be very limited until the Nanaimo Thistle AFC were established in the fall of 1897. This formation presented the perfect conditions to start a full-fledged rivalry with a Nanaimo Indian team that included such image-provoking names as, River Billy, Red Horned Sam, Skookum, Mushface, Klondyke, Red Necktie, Clams and Kickhard.

The Snu-ney-muxw line-up also featured an 18 year old Harry Manson, whose competitive debut coincided with the first match played by the Nanaimo Thistles. The September 2, 1897 clash was contested on a parcel of land owned by the New Vancouver Coal and Land Co. that was appropriately known as the Swamp. A match report, published in the Nanaimo Free Press, makes mention of the fact that pyramids of red and white men, piled up four and five decks high, were formed regularly throughout the contest, which was marred by a heavy gale and torrents of rain. The 4-4 draw left both sides yearning for more.

(To be continued, if there are not too many objections.)

Edited February 13, 2013 by Robert

[xcalibre]

Fascinating stuff, please continue.

[madmonte]

As the one making that suggestion to you, I would certainly ask you to continue, this is pretty neat.

[Robert]

Although the Nanaimo Thistles and the team from the Nanaimo Indian Reserve would play two more closely contested matches against each other that season, only the former decided to enter the British Columbia Intermediate Challenge Cup competition. The Thistles needed to defeat both the Cowichan AFC and Northfield Violets in their final two matches to win the North End Series by a single point and advance to the best-of three final series against the Victoria YMCA. After winning the first match of the final series in Nanaimo, the Thistles were forced to make several line-up changes for their return match in the Capital City owing to sickness. Having impressed the Thistles’ brass earlier that season, Harry Manson and James Wilks from the Nanaimo Indian Reserve were hastily recruited into the Thistles’ line-up, and thus the pair became the first indigenous players to compete in a provincial championship match. Despite the fact that Harry Manson wasted little time leaving his mark by scoring the game’s opening goal after only five minutes, the Victoria YMCA team, which included the multi-sport excelling Bernard Schwengers, proved to be too strong for the Thistles, eventually coming from behind in both the game and the series to capture the intermediate provincial title.

Two years later, the Snu-ney-muxw players were convinced they had the necessary talent to compete against the best intermediate teams in British Columbia and proceeded to formally organize the Nanaimo Indian Wanderer AFC. The aboriginal club entered the intermediate provincial championship and was paired up with the Nanaimo Thistles in a best-of-three semi-final series.

Harry Manson’s athletic abilities had frequently been on display in Nanaimo, and his leadership qualities on the soccer pitch earned him the right to wear the captain’s armband for the Nanaimo Indian Wanderers, as they squared off against their cross-town rivals, the Nanaimo Thistles, in one of the most bitterly contested series recorded in the annals of provincial soccer. The Coal City series opened at the Cricket grounds, on December 16, 1899. Despite the poor field conditions, a result of intermittent snowfalls during the previous twenty-four hours, a large crowd showed up to witness the contest. After an early strike by the Wanderers, the Thistles responded with three unanswered goals to take a 3-1 lead going into the second half. However, the Wanderers were not to be denied in their competitive debut and as they managed to score two goals during the final twenty minutes to draw even. Since the game had started at 3:30 in the afternoon, on one of the shortest days of the year, the lack of natural light ruled out any possibility of playing overtime. The match was declared a draw and would have to be replayed.

The replay was held at the Cricket grounds, on New Year’s Day, with the Thistles gaining a controversial 3-2 victory. There was some doubt over the validity of one the Thistles’ goals. The Wanderers argued that the match had not been won fairly and some of the 500 spectators on hand thought that the Indians were justified in making their claim. Following the match, a number of Wanderers stopped by the Nanaimo Free Press office to complain that they had not been beaten fairly and that the final score should have been a tie. The Indians claimed they did not care who won the cup, provided it was fairly won, and all they asked for was an even show.

Consequently, the Wanderers’ protest was brought before the British Columbia Intermediate Football Association at a meeting held in Victoria, on January 6, 1900. In the end, the BCIFA upheld referee Frank English’s decision to allow the goal and the Thistles’ victory to stand.

That same day a crowd of about 300 spectators gathered for the next game between the Thistles and Wanderers. The Cricket grounds were in a wretched state as it had rained throughout the day. Mr. English was once again the man in charge and the contest remained scoreless until the second half, when the Wanderers made two magnificent rushes, scoring a goal on each occasion. Despite conceding an own goal, the Wanderers still managed to hold on for 2-1 victory and thereby forced another match.

On January 20, 1900, a crowd of 500 spectators showed up at the Cricket grounds to witness the fourth match of this series. It seemed that ever since the controversy of the second game, the momentum in the series had swung in favour of the Wanderers. When they opened the scoring, the Indians appeared to be well on their way to clinching the series. However, with their backs to the wall, the Thistles braced up and were able to score an equalizer in the second half to keep their hopes alive. The 1-1 result left the two rivals level at two draws and one victory each.

The issue of Coal City supremacy was finally decided on February 3, 1900. After four closely contested matches it seemed that a blowout was inevitable. This indeed proved to be the case, as the Thistles ended the most protracted provincial series thus far with a 6-1 victory. Amazingly, this semi-final series for the intermediate championship of British Columbia had originally been slated to be a best of three-game affair; however, in the end it took five hard-fought battles and a questionable decision before a controversial winner could finally be declared.

The fact that the Nanaimo Thistles went on to claim the intermediate provincial championship that year by defeating the Victoria Columbias 7-0 and 3-0 in the final series, made the manner in which the Nanaimo Indian Wanderers had lost to the Thistles that much harder to absorb.

(To be continued.)

Edited February 14, 2013 by Robert

[Robert]

Feeling hard done by the BCIFA’s ruling and the subsequent effect this had on the outcome of the championship may have been the cause that the Snu-ney-muxw players didn’t show much interest in soccer the following year. The only time the Wanderers did get a team together was for a Christmas Day match against the Thistles, for which they showed up in such poor condition that their rivals were able to run up the score at will.

The season thereafter proved to be a total write-off, as the BCIFA failed to receive a sufficient number of entries to justify organizing an intermediate provincial championship.

Ironically, the demise of the Nanaimo Thistles AFC in 1902 brought about the formation of the Nanaimo City Association Football League on September 27, 1902. Most of the former Thistle players joined either the Nanaimo Athletic Club or the Mosquito Athletic Club, both of which entered teams. A third team, the Temperance Strollers was comprised of players belonging to the Total Abstinence Beneficiary Brotherhood, a society whose members had taken an oath of abstinence from tobacco and alcohol. These developments renewed an interest in soccer on the Nanaimo Indian Reserve, and the Wanderers were eager to get in on the action. Captained once again by Harry Manson, the Wanderers remained in contention for the city championship right up until the final match of the schedule, which they lost 4-3 to the Athletics.

Since none of the four NCAFL clubs were considered strong enough to win the senior provincial championship, and the fact that Nanaimo organizers were bent on successfully recapturing the Challenge Cup that the Coal City had lost eight years earlier, it was decided to enter a Nanaimo all-star selection for the British Columbia Football Association’s championship instead. Robert Vipond of the Nanaimo Athletic Club was responsible for choosing the players to represent Nanaimo in this competition. Three members of the Indian Wanderers, Harry Manson, Louis Martin and Joe Peters, were selected to play on this team.

The Nanaimo team was paired with the Cowichan AFC in a home and home semi-final series. The first match was played at the Cricket grounds in Nanaimo, on February 14, 1903, and the Nanaimo all-star selection proved to be far too strong for the visitors, scoring three goals in each half en route to an easy 6-0 victory.

The return match was played on February 28, 1903, at the Duncans, and the Nanaimo team completed the series sweep with a 2-0 victory over the Cowichan AFC, and thus earned the right to take on the Esquimalt Garrison FC for the senior Challenge Cup.

The final was played on April 18, 1903, at the Cricket grounds, in Nanaimo, which had been subjected to heavy rain that day, but the weather cleared in time for the start of the game. W. Graham gave the home side a 1-0 lead just before halftime. Arthur Morrison added a second goal early in the second half, which was followed shortly thereafter by a third goal that resulted from a scrimmage in front of the Garrison’s goal. The soldiers were upset that the third goal was allowed to stand and from then on the play became very rough. Both teams had a player sent off before Louis Martin closed out the scoring. Nanaimo thus ended an eight-year senior Challenge Cup drought with a convincing 4-0 victory, and in the process Harry Manson, Louis Martin and Joe Peters became the first indigenous players to win a provincial championship.

The NCAFL proved to have a sluggish start to the 1903-04 season, as the Mosquitoes refused to show up for their initial match against the Athletics. This prompted the NCAFL to hold a meeting on October 24, 1903, at which organizers decided that Messrs. Blundell and White would be transferred from the Athletics to the Mosquitoes in order to even out the strength of the respective teams. The rescheduled game was played on October 31, 1903, and the Athletics still ended up with a 2-0 victory. A week later, the Athletics suffered their first-ever defeat, losing 4-3 to the Indian Wanderers. The race for the championship once again went right down to the wire as the Indian Wanderers held a one-point lead over the Athletics going into the final match of the season. Proving their initial victory over the Athletics had been no fluke; the green-shirted warriors demonstrated their superiority for a second time with a comfortable 4-0 victory in the return match. The mere four lines that the Nanaimo Free Press devoted to the May 21, 1904 contest reflected the measure of disappointment the Coal City experienced that the Athletics had lost to the Indians. Captain Harry Manson and his teammates had to wait until November 1, 1904 before they were presented with their medals for winning the Nanaimo City Championship, as these had been ordered from Shilcock, of Birmingham, England.

(To be continued.)

Edited February 14, 2013 by Robert

[nolando]

Love this kind of stuff. Cheers!

[Robert]

While reading the material about Harry Manson it is important to stay cognizant of the fact that all of these events occurred during a time when it was socially accepted and commonplace to publicly disrespect and mistreat First Nations people as lesser than those subjecting the abuse. Try to imagine the reaction and consequences if the following excerpt taken from the Monday, June 10, 1907 issue of the Nanaimo Free Press was published in Canadian newspaper today:

“Who shall describe that second half? Was there ever such a battle. “Ladysmith, Ladysmith, Ladysmith,” yell a large percentage of the Smelter City inhabitants who have journeyed forth to see the game. "Nanaimo, Nanaimo, Nanaimo,” “Come on Nanaimo,” arises from several thousand hoarse Coal City voices. “Kill the savages,” cries an over-excited Ladysmith man, as he notices the desperate rushes the three Nanaimo Indians are making. The savages are all past masters in the football art, however. They have taken their post graduate courses in the game out on the rancherie long ago. They are B. A.s, M. A.s, Doctors of Philosophy and everything else in the game.”

This was an era when First Nations children were abducted from their families by the federal government and placed in the residential school system. This was an era when First Nations people were segregated onto Indian Reserves. This was also era when First Nations people were introduced to the ill-effects of alcohol. It was under these dark clouds of racial intolerance that Harry Manson and his Snu-ney-muxw mates laced up their boots and took to the pitch to play a game they must have loved very much to be willing to endure such insensitivities.

(Monday, February 12, 1912, Nanaimo Free Press) - Harry Manson Killed On Track. Near the wood working shop of the Western Fuel Company on the Crescent, the body of a man was found on the colliery track early yesterday morning with the right arm and leg completely severed from the body. From enquiries made it appears that the unfortunate victim was an Indian named Harry Manson, aged 30 years or thereabouts, a well-known character in the city and district. It seems that the deceased was last seen on Saturday night about 10:30, in the vicinity of the Opera House, where he gave every indication of being thoroughly rational and sober in his manner. Thereafter his movements are unknown, although it is believed that Manson, making his way home to the reserve, had attempted to board a train in motion bound in that direction, and failing in his attempt, had fallen off, the wheels passing over him and inflicting the injuries sustained. These facts are borne out by the position of the body, rigor mortis having only set in some six hours before discovery of the accident. Coroner Drysdale was early notified after the catastrophe and empanelled a jury, who, after viewing the body, will hold an inquest tomorrow afternoon. Harry Manson was well known to football enthusiasts in the district, having been a member of the Indian team, which made quite a reputation some few years back. He was also on the Nanaimo Uniteds when they won the B. C. challenge cup, which they held ever since.

(Tuesday, February 13, 1912, Nanaimo Daily Herald) - Harry Manson Met A Tragic Death. Harry Manson, probably the best known of the Nanaimo Indians, was killed by a W. F. Co. coal train sometime between the hours of Saturday 10 p.m. and Sunday morning at 6 o’clock when his mangled remains were discovered by a miner on his way to the Protection Mine Ferry. The deceased was last seen at 10 o’clock Saturday night and it is supposed that while on his way home he attempted to board a coal train missed his footing and was ground to death under the merciless wheels. Coroner Drysdale empanelled a jury, which yesterday viewed his remains and will hold an inquest today. The deceased for many years played on the local senior soccer teams and was one of the best players Nanaimo has produced. He was 32 years of age and is survived by a widow and several children. The funeral took place yesterday afternoon.

My parents live on Vancouver Island and both are approaching their eighties. Because of their age, my mother wants me to move from Vancouver to the Island. When she sees an employment opportunity in the Nanaimo newspaper for which I might qualify, she sends it off to me. A few years back I received such an advertisement for a position with a First Nation Wellness Centre. The name of the contact person was Emmy Manson. I thought, “What would be the chances that this woman was related to Harry Manson?” After all, the Snu-ney-muxw population at the time of Harry Manson’s life was only around 300 people. I contacted Emmy and learned that Harry was her late great-grandfather. She suggested that I talk to her Uncle Gary, a grandson of Harry. I did so and was subsequently invited to visit the Snu-ney-muxw First Nation reserve. On a sunny afternoon that summer I met with quiet a number of Harry Manson’s descendants. I was shown the house where Harry lived and where he was buried. While gathered with the family on Uncle Gary’s sundeck, overlooking the ocean at the mouth of the Nanaimo River, we studied pictures of Harry and exchanged what information we had about him. At one point during the afternoon the tone of the day changed and became somewhat subdued. I was handed some papers and asked to read them, which I did out loud. It turned out that these papers were a copy of the Coroner’s Inquiry that gave an account of Harry Manson’s fatal accident. In the report, which is stored at the provincial archives in Victoria, Harry is referred to as “it” and “a drunken Indian.” What for me had been an exciting and enjoyable afternoon up until that point, abruptly chanced into feelings of intense sadness.

I learned from the family that Harry was a loving and caring father, who had gone to Nanaimo that fateful evening to get some medicine for his sick infant child. Harry was also a gifted athlete, who became a British Columbia and Nanaimo soccer champion. Harry also played first-base for the local Reliance Baseball Club. I have no way of knowing whether or not Harry had a problem with alcohol, but I do know that he deserves to be remembered in a far more respectful way than the “it” or “drunken Indian” that is stored in a government filing cabinet in Victoria.

I feel very privileged to have been able to paint a much different picture of Harry Manson through the publication of my book. Even though these achievements were accomplished during a pre-World Cup and pre-Olympic era, I firmly believe that Harry’s contributions both as a man and as pioneer of Canadian sports are worthy of being officially recognized. Perhaps an induction into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame would make an appropriate tribute to the memory of Harry Manson and serve as a source inspiration and good medicine for his people at the same time.

What do you think?

Edited February 14, 2013 by Robert

[EDM Rover]

Thanks for sharing this Robert; a great (and sobering) look at a chapter of Canadian football history that I had no knowledge of.

[jpg75]

Nice job Robert. Next, can you tell us about the Nathan Strauss Cup and the International League?

[Admin]

When I get the front end of the site cleaned up.

Lets find a place for this kind of thing in an article sense rather than getting lost in a forum over time.

[tmcmurph]

Mosquitoes and Wanderers. Now those are some great names for soccer teams! Tragic end but great to see you helping to keep his legacy alive. That was a great read. Thanks

[kj52]

Thank you Robert for that fascinating account of those long ago days, much appreciated.

[fil]

Interesting audio show on little known soccer pioneer Harry Mason on the "Current"

 

http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/popupaudio.html?clipIds=2645428429

 

http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/2014/12/30/soccer-pioneer-harry-mason/

Edited December 31, 2014 by fil

[Binky]

On 12/31/2014 at 9:15 AM, fil said:

Interesting audio show on little known soccer pioneer Harry Mason on the "Current"

 

http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/popupaudio.html?clipIds=2645428429

 

http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/2014/12/30/soccer-pioneer-harry-mason/

Updated links:

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2590728848

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz9_upfCZN4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzOdeAEhFzs

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02vn5fq

There will also be an APTN feature on Harry Manson called "First across the Line" airing sometime this fall.

Edited August 2, 2019 by Binky

[Binky]

On 2/15/2013 at 2:13 PM, admin said:

When I get the front end of the site cleaned up.

 

Lets find a place for this kind of thing in an article sense rather than getting lost in a forum over time.

Spring cleaning 2013.

[Admin]

7 hours ago, Binky said:

Spring cleaning 2013.

What do you want to do?

Is there anything article like we can put somewhere?  

[Binky]

2 hours ago, admin said:

What do you want to do?

Is there anything article like we can put somewhere?  

I am probably the least qualified member on this board to ask for ideas when it comes to websites. However, I liked your suggestion to make an improvement so that articles don't get lost in forums over time. Is it possible to create an index for each forum? It would be great to have roadmaps, listing names, teams, and competitions in alphabetical order with a link to each topic to quickly help direct members to the information they're trying to find.

Edited August 2, 2019 by Binky