Today's Tidbit... College Football on New Year's Day 1894

(1895 Chicago yearbook)

In December 1893, the University of Chicago under Yale alum rode the rails west to become the first Eastern team to cross the Rockies to play football on the West Coat. Another Yalie, Walter Camp, was coaching Stanford, so the two teams played in San Francisco on Christmas Day and met again on December 29th in Los Angeles. Chicago then returned to San Francisco to play the Reliance Athletic Club on New Year's Day.

(1895 Chicago yearbook)

Interestingly, both Chicago and Stanford played the previous New Year's Day, though they did not play one another. Instead, Stanford played the Multnomah Athletic Club in rainy Portland on a muddy field, winning 16-0.

Back in the Midwest, Chicago faced Notre Dame, which had beaten Kalamazoo, Albion, the De La Salle Institute, and Hillsdale to enter the clash undefeated. Chicago entered the game 5-4-2 playing the likes of Lake Forest, Northwestern, and Michigan twice each, as well as Purdue, Cincinnati, and others.