ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S LAST WRESTLING MATCH

 

Abraham Lincoln was a senior at Carl Sandburg High School with a record of 36-4. He dreamed of a wrestling scholarship from the University of Illinois, but he was only #98 on the senior big board. So, the lanky rail-splitter hopped a wagon train to the Northwest Territory to wrestle in the 9 stone 7 pound weight class at Fargo.  

Old Timers say he wrestled like a furious shaved bear.

The young railsplitter teched his way to the finals, setting up a match with the champion from Virginia, Robert E. Lee. Well, my friends, that match was a sight! Over 40,000 fans dressed in their Sunday’s best picnicked on boiled squirrel and pumpkin sandwiches and watched.  

In the first period, Lincoln emancipated and proclamated for the full three hours, building up a sixty-point lead. During intermission, though, his corner had to reattach a finger, which had been chewed off by the Virginian. 

Forty minutes into the second period, his reserves exhausted, Lee surrendered.

A table was set up in the center of the mat, and Lee formally signed the “Articles of Agreement Relating to the Surrender of the Wrestler Robert E. Lee.” You can see this document displayed on the second floor of the National Archives building in Washington, D.C.

This article was brought to you by The Society for a More Interesting Though Dubious History and because of donations from viewers like you.