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116 ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 2 f buzzing along at about 50 mph when it came over the White River just a mile from its Indianapolis destina- tion. As the train began to slow down, engineer W.H. Schumaker noticed, much to his horror, that 400 feet in front of him there were heavily loaded steel coal cars. After applying the emergency brake, and just before the trains collided, Schumaker jumped and survived the accident. The front car of the doomed train, which was filled with the official party, including the football team, wasn't so fortunate. The passenger engine and the first three coaches were almost totally destroyed upon impact. The car with the Purdue players in it had the roof separated from the floor. All 17 fatalities were people connected to the team, in the first car, with the exception of one person in the third. Of Purdue's 24 front-line players, 20 were either killed or injured. All told, nearly 50 people were injured and many considered it a miracle more were not killed. The second car hit an embankment and rolled on its side to avoid a direct collision. The people in the back 11 cars were shaken, but someone had the presence of mind to think that there was another large train about 10 minutes be- hind the wrecked locomotive. A group, probably on foot, high-tailed it north on the tracks to flag the oth- er train down, warning them of the disaster ahead. Later, it was determined that a clerk somewhere between Lebanon and Indianapolis forgot, or was unable to telegraph the message, that these special trains were coming to the Indianapolis yard. One of the great stories of survival of the crash was that of Harry "Skillet" Leslie. The captain (also called the manager back then) of the 1903 team was sitting in the coach occupied by the band but had just left his seat and went into the players' car when the fatal crash came. Leslie was left for dead, before the undertakers at the morgue realized his heart was still beating. For weeks, he was in the hospital. He survived to become Governor of Indiana from 1929- 33. He also was student body president for two years before and the two years after the accident. Though the rest of the 1903 season was cancelled, the Boilermakers rebounded in 1904 with an amaz- ing 9-3 record and were 6-1-1 the year after. "I do not want Purdue or its entire family to for- get what happened that cold and windy day back in 1903," said Chris Pate, long-time Boilermaker fan and sports memorabilia collector who has one of the few copies of the Purdue-Indiana game ticket still in existence. "It is important that we honor those who sacrificed their lives while proudly wearing the Old Gold and Black." Purdue has endured other tragedies associated with its athletic programs. A couple of deaths in locker room fire in 1935 and the bleacher crash that claimed three lives in Lambert Fieldhouse in 1947 are remembered as well. Yet, the 1903 tragedy was truly the darkest day in the history of Boilermaker athletics. But resiliency has always been in the fabric of Purdue's football program, and its roots are based in the events of 111 years ago. j It is easy to see why so many people were killed and hurt as one reviews the resting point of the three cars. The miracle is the second car hit an embankment and rolled on its side instead of crashing into the car in front of it. Courtesy of Chris Pate collection One of the few remaining copies of a game ticket from the Purdue allotment for a game that was never played.