Native Life: Running the Gauntlet

We've alluded to and described this practice in other posts, most notably on Simon Girty and William Crawford, as well as John Stark, but it was so common, and varied in intent, intensity and practice throughout most Northeastern tribes, that we'll go into it in more detail here.

The basic idea of requiring a condemned person to run, either semi or fully nude, through two lines of comrades wielding clubs, whips, switches or bare fists, was nothing new.  Greek and Roman armies had used it as a punishment, and from there it migrated to various European armies and military academies.  The word "gauntlet", thought it sounds similar to the French word for an armored or heavy duty military glove, actually has a different derivation.  It comes from the Swedish words for a lane or a running course, which is what a gauntlet essentially is.  In European armies, a gauntlet was considered a less demeaning form of punishment, since it allowed an offender to take his punishment like a man among comrades, not tied to a post being flogged.  Though excessive blows could lead to death, and a gauntlet was sometimes used as a prelude to execution, such was not always the case.  Military schools also adopted the gauntlet as a punishment or hazing ritual.

Whether Eastern Woodlands native invented the practice independently of Whites or borrowed it from Settlers one can't say for sure.  However, Jesuit missionary Isaac Jogues provided one of the first descriptions of it in 1641, so likely the Natives had their own version.  And it became a common practice for captives.  Men such as Simon Girty, Simon Kenton, Daniel Boone and John Stark ran gauntlets before being adopted into the respective tribes or, in Kenton's case, slated for execution.  Practices varied from tribe to tribe.  Sometimes the victim was stripped naked, or to the waste, sometimes their hands were tied, or they were allowed to have their hands free to protect their heads and faces.  This was hazardous to the men on the running line.  John Stark and Daniel Boone took advantage of their hands not being bound to grab the nearest warrior and start beating back.  Simon Kenton also did so, but this show of bravado angered his captors rather than impressed them, which is one of the reasons he was marked for death.  Nor were women always exempt.  Susanna Willard Johnson, a Massachusetts housewife who was captured by Abenaki during the French and Indian War (1755-762), was also forced to run a gauntlet.  Though, perhaps because she'd just given birth, she was allowed to pass through the line with light blows only.

Though some tribes imposed rules, such as barring bladed implements, limiting the number of strikes per man, etc., for other unfortunate prisoners, the gauntlet was a prelude to death and the best the unfortunate Settler could hope for was die during the process.  Prior to being burnt at he stake in 1782, Col. William Crawford was subjected to the gauntlet.  He survived.  Other prisoners, if they fell too many times or could not get up, were dispatched on the running line.  Modern reenactors sometimes do a friendly version of the gauntlet for visitors or newbies.