Thomas Charles Longboat was born in 1887 on the Six Nations Reserve, near Brantford, Ontario. He was a member of the Onondaga Nation. His native name, Cogwagee, means ‘Everything’. Like most Indigenous children on the reserve, Tom was sent to the Mohawk Institute Residential School in Brantford. He ran away twice and eventually lived with his uncle doing odd jobs for his upkeep.
Tom Longboat, Long Distance Runner
Tom Longboat was one of Canada’s most gifted long-distance runners. His approach to racing was simple – he set out to dominate from the beginning and ran spectacular sprints at the end. During his career, held every Canadian record from the mile to the marathon. He ran and won major long-distance races in North America and Europe. In 1907, Tom cut five minutes from the previous record for the Boston Marathon, finishing in 2:24:24. During that race, and though blowing snow near the end, Tom became internationally famous by running stride for stride and outrunning a train that threatened to cut off his route. The following year, Tom competed for Canada in the 1908 London Olympics. Along with several other runners in the race, Tom collapsed and did not finish. The following year, a re-match was held in New York City and Tom won. He turned professional and in 1909, again in New York City, won the title of Professional Champion of the World and became a national hero.
As a professional, the sports press treated Tom shabbily for a few years. Critics de-cried his unconventional training routine alternating hard workouts with "active rest" such as long walks, as ‘Indian laziness’ and falsely accused him of alcoholism. However, despite knee and back issues, Tom nonetheless continued running. With karma on his side, he won two 12-mile races, breaking his own personal best in one of them, and putting an end to the criticism.
Google Doodle, June 4, 2018, Tom Longboat’s 131st Birthday (Animation by Matthew Cruickshank)
Tom Longboat, Soldier
When Tom enlisted in the 180th (Sportsmen's) Battalion in February 1916, he was married and that his trade was professional runner. He was close to 30 years old at the time and living in Caledonia. He stated that he had he served five years in the 37th Battalion, Haldimand Rifles. Tom volunteered to serve overseas and sailed to England in November 1916 with a strength of 31 officers and 833 other ranks aboard the OLYMPIC. Shortly after arrival in England, the 180th Battalion was absorbed into the 3rd Reserve Battalion.
At about the same, an effort was being made in England to attract indigenous troops to the newly created 107th (Timber Wolf) Pioneer Battalion . Its commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Glen Campbell, DSO, believed strongly that indigenous soldiers would be treated poorly and subjected to racism in other units. Campbell had recruited the battalion in Western Canada and focussed on attracting as many indigenous men as he could. Campbell noted their “ability to adapt themselves without complaint to awkward circumstances and bad weather, which rendered their efficiency as a pioneer battalion far above the average.” He also shared the belief with many senior officers of the day that indigenous troops would serve better under indigenous leadership. Efforts were made to post as many indigenous officers and non-commissioned officers as could be found to the 107 th Pioneer Battalion.
Tom Longboat was one of the soldiers who joined the battalion in January 1917. They sailed to France in February and soon replaced the undermanned and worn-out 1st Pioneer Battalion in the 1st Division on 1 March 1917. They arrived on the front undertrained and inexperienced, but they learned fast. They were the last battalion from Western Canada to join the Canadian Corps.
Tom’s running skills led to his assignment as a runner, a notoriously insecure, dangerous and vital role. Runners often crossed over open battlefields carrying messages back and forth. While there were few pauses in the fighting, the Canadians took full advantage of a rest period in September 1917 and held a series of sports meets. Another runner, Corporal Joe Keeper, of Norway House, Manitoba excelled that this distance and placed first. Private Tom Longboat, master of longer distances finished second.
In late May 1918, Pioneer battalions integrated into newly formed Engineer Brigades. Private Longboat became Sapper Longboat and served through the Hundred Days Campaign to defeat Germany and end the war started in August. He was twice wounded and twice declared dead while serving in Belgium. Rumours were that he had been buried in a collapsed trench and rescued after six days. Tom says that did not happen.
Curiously, while he was in France, an American confidence artist, Edgar Laplante from Rhode Island, impersonated Tom Longboat and travelled around the United States capitalizing on Tom’s celebrity. Newspaper reports also circulated that Tom had been killed in France. Many reports were illustrated with Laplante’s photo. Meanwhile, when the US joined the war effort, Laplante enrolled in the US Army under Tom’s identity. Tome threatened legal action and his letter to one US newspaper that had promoted Laplante as the real Tom Longboat, was widely circulated.
Unfortunately, the personal damage to Tom had been done. On the basis that he was dead, his wife remarried in 1918. When Tom returned to Canada, she greeted him warmly but announced she would not be leaving her new husband. Tom remarried and raised a family while working in Toronto until 1944. He served for a short time during the Second World War as a member of the Veterans Guard stationed at a military camp near Brantford. He retired back to the reserve in Brantford and sadly died of pneumonia on 9 January 1949.
The CMEA awarded a Memorial Bursary in Tom Longboat's name in 2020. The Tom Longboat Junior Public School in Toronto honours the memory of Tom Longboat. In 2008, the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood Association organised the naming of many lanes in their area of the City of Toronto. A lane south of Longboat Avenue was officially named Tom Longboat Lane in 2013.