It was a fire in the barn on her fourth-generation family farm in Iowa that led alumna Beth Lueth to a long-forgotten suitcase. Inside was a century-old scrapbook her grandfather kept in college. Of note was his documentation of a 1916 train trip to Oregon with the football team — that he won by the luck of a draw.
Edited by Kirstin Wilder (’89) | Interview by Randy York (’75)
The 1916 and 2017 football teams are separated by 101 years. And while much about them is different, they both traveled to Oregon to play ball.
Sam Kellogg (’20) was a freshman on the 1916 Cornhusker football team and was not invited to make the train trip to Oregon. Luckily, one more seat became available the day before the train was to depart. Unable to decide which freshman to take, the team manager drew a name out of a hat. That’s how Kellogg got his ticket to ride.
Luck again struck when Kellogg’s granddaughter, Beth Lueth (’77), discovered his college scrapbook decades later while replacing shingles from a barn fire. Lueth, who lives on the same family farm as her grandfather, was ecstatic to uncover the time capsule.
“It must have been up there since the 1950s,” Lueth says. She marvels about the emphasis placed on one Nebraska game. “It helps you appreciate all the advancements in travel, uniforms and stadiums,” says the longtime, season-ticket holder.
Kellogg’s notes and page-after-page of photos and memorabilia also depict how momentous the trip was for him and for the team. He documented the entire eight-day trip, from Lincoln to the West Coast and back home to Nebraska. “He took a lot of photos and saved them all,” Lueth mused.
The Huskers (undefeated for the previous four seasons) traveled by Union Pacific train for a 17-7 win over Oregon Agricultural College (which would become Oregon State).
The 1917 Cornhusker yearbook mirrored Kellogg’s emphasis of the historic cross-country journey.
“What made the football season of 1916 unique in Nebraska annals was the trip to Portland, Oregon, to meet the Oregon Agricultural College. This is the first, and from the light of later developments, probably the last, long trip to be made by a Nebraska football team. The two thousand miles were covered in a special train over the Union Pacific, carrying besides the team, the coaching staff, and the band, a special car of Nebraska business men and alumni. There were, too, tucked away in odd corners, several loyal students who were willing to risk the wrath of train officials and desert-town marshals for the ultimate pleasure of seeing Nebraska play in historic Multnomah field against a strong coast team.”
The closing excerpt reads, “Nebraska was coming to the coast with a mighty reputation behind her, and outdoing herself to live up to that reputation, she sent joy to those alumni who had migrated to the coast and the students waiting back home by winning a brilliant victory from the Oregon Aggies.”
DISPATCHES FROM THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
The trip was well documented in the Daily Nebraskan which sent reporter Dwight P. Thomas on the trip who filed dispatches via telegram from train depots. Nine days of front page coverage tell some of the tales.
Tuesday, Oct. 17, 1916
Twenty-two Varsity Men to Make Oregon Trip
Hard practice Monday preparing for the Aggies
Sam Kellogg was lucky freshman — drew winning number for 4,000-mile jaunt
A squad of twenty-two men will be taken in addition to one freshman. The freshman who is to go is Sam Kellogg, the ex-Nebraska City star. It was decided that the choice should be made by drawing numbers. Manager of athletics (Guy) Reed wrote numbers on pieces of paper and shoved them up his hat. Then amid deafening silence each one of the three finalists sneaked up and coaxed the lucky number out, but Kellogg proved to have the only horseshoe.
Wednesday, Oct. 18, 1916
2,000 Cheering Students Bid Godspeed to Team
As the band played, the thousands poured out of the Armory to get into the procession to the train. The torchlight parade which escorted the team, riding in state in a decorated carryall was, in the opinion of onlookers, the biggest thing that has ever been gotten together to give a Nebraska football team a rousing sendoff.
Thursday, Oct. 19, 1916
Cornhuskers in Snow as Train Crosses State Line, Laramie, Wyoming
The westward progress of the special train has been in the nature of a triumphal march, crowds turning out at each town on the itinerary to greet the Cornhuskers and wish them luck. Alumni of the university, who have in a measure lost touch with their alma mater, have seized the opportunity to get again a taste of Nebraska University spirit, and to join again in the varsity yells and songs.
Friday, Oct. 20, 1916
Band Men Nearly Miss Train and Have to Run to Get It, Nampa, Idaho
One of the best incidents of the trip so far happened when the train pulled out of Laramie, Wyo., yesterday. Two of the members of the band, B.F. Pitman and E.F. Bush, had strolled off down the street to examine the Wyoming weather, or perhaps in some softer pursuit. Whatever they were looking for, they had difficulty in placing it, for it had not been found when the whistle blew and the train began to snort in preparation to pull out. Pitman and Bush started toward the depot on the run, and as they entered the yards the engine began to pull out. They fired up, but the stoker was doing likewise. With comrades on the rear of the observation shouting and waving encouragement, Pitman put all the speed he possessed into his long legs, and Bush came following after. They gained, and as the train left the siding, they simultaneously grabbed the step rail on the tail end car, and pulled themselves aboard.
Monday, Oct. 23, 1916
Missouri Valley Triumphs over the Pacific Coast
Nebraska Scores 17 while Oregon Aggies Make 7, Portland, Oregon
Strangers in a strange land, Nebraska University’s football team this afternoon (Oct. 21) outplayed the eleven representing the Oregon Agricultural College, and won the greatest intersectional football game of the year, 17 to 7, before a crowd of more than 6,000 people, including a few hundred alumni of Nebraska University and former citizens of the state by the Big Muddy.
Thursday, Oct. 26, 1916
Cornhuskers Reach End of Long Journey Today
After traveling 4,000 miles or more, the trip including a victory over the Oregon Agricultural College football team, a dip in the ocean and a glimpse of Glacier National Park, the Cornhuskers football team, band and rooters, will reach Lincoln this noon. The special train will be met at the station by a crowd of hundreds of students, anxious to do honor to the victorious team and coach. The freshman band will toot in welcome to the band of forty who made the western trip.
The trip to the coast and back has taken just a day longer than was originally planned. The extra time was made necessary by the insistent demands of loyal Nebraska alumni, who would not accept a refusal of their invitations to stay awhile and exchange stories of the school.
Friday, Oct. 27, 1916
Students Welcome Homecoming Huskers
Impromptu Parade and Celebration Rally Yesterday
The football team, returning from their victorious journey to Portland, was greeted by one of the largest spontaneous demonstrations in Nebraska football history. Although there were no definitely-arranged plans for receiving the team, over 1,000 students gathered at the Burlington station to greet the train upon its arrival, to march behind the team and band down O Street, and to overflow the Armory in an impromptu rally which for enthusiasm rivaled the memorable occasion one week ago when the team was sent on its journey of conquest.
More Articles from Fall 2017