The History of Greyhound Racing in New England

Chapter One Greyhound Racing Comes To New England Before pari-mutuel greyhound racing came to New England in the mid-1930's it had a long uphill battle to overcome the region's puritanical resistance to gambling and what many felt was a moral injustice inherent in the sport which was promulgated by the image of dogs hunting down rabbits in what was known as coursing. With these objections in mind it is necessary to write a brief history of the reasons why the greyhound first came to...
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Chapter One Greyhound Racing Comes To New England Before pari-mutuel greyhound racing came to New England in the mid-1930's it had a long uphill battle to overcome the region's puritanical resistance to gambling and what many felt was a moral injustice inherent in the sport which was promulgated by the image of dogs hunting down rabbits in what was known as coursing. With these objections in mind it is necessary to write a brief history of the reasons why the greyhound first came to America and how greyhound racing came about and evolved into a flourishing sport. Later chapters will explain in depth how its critics and changing consumer tastes eventually brought the sport down. A Brief History With the great western migrations of the mid-nineteenth century and the increased use of farmlands to feed the growing populations came the problem of protecting the crops from jackrabbits was paramount. The solution came from the railroad workers and settlers, many of whom emigrated from England and Ireland and were familiar with the greyhounds and their hunting skills. They began importing greyhounds and selling them to the farmers where they became valuable economic assets by keeping the rabbits away from their cash crops. Another purchaser was the U. S. Cavalry, including George Armstrong Custer, who utilized their skills for scouting enemy movement and hunting down game. Sources say that Custer coursed his greyhounds the night before the 1876 Battle of Little Big Horn and that the dogs survived the next day's battle. Meanwhile, the farmers, looking for entertainment diversions, started racing their greyhounds in what were called "coursing meets" in which the greyhounds chased a live rabbit. Gambling at these meets was extensive. Coursing's popularity spread rapidly, and not just in the farmlands. There even were meets in such locations as the mill towns of Lawrence and Lowell, Massachusetts and, of course, gambling was part of the action. There was also a spreading humanitarian backlash to coursing . As Frank G. Menke wrote in the 1942 edition of "The Encyclopedia of Sports", "Opposition to this form of sport developed. The humane people of the state rebelled at the idea of killing of the rabbit just to perpetuate a gambling diversion. They implored officials to make coursing null and void and this was accomplished." The Mechanical Lure The next giant step to overcoming these objections and turning greyhound racing into a sport that quieted many of the humanitarian objections was accomplished by a gentleman named Owen Patrick Smith. He is one of the key figures in the history of the sport and was profiled in a long Aug. 27, 1973 "Sports Illustrated" article by Robert Cantwell. O. P. Smith (1869-1927), as he came to be known, was once hired to organize a coursing meet to promote the city of Hot Springs. He then turned his full attention to the invention of a mechanical lure for greyhound racing and in 1910 was granted a patent for the "Inanimate Hare Conveyor". His breakthrough came at Emeryville, CA where a boxing promoter and businessman named George Sawyer built a track in 1919, utilizing the new device. In his Sports Illustrated article Cantwell writes of "the 1,600 pounds of machinery to carry a one-pound rabbit" which at times jumped the rail. Smith had another problem with the dogmen, Cantwell relates. They were of the belief that their greyhounds would feel deceived once they knew they were not chasing a live rabbit and never run ag