The uninjured tried to help the others. Some got out and got the stationmaster to send a warning to the next train coming down the track, saving many more lives. Among these heroes were the President of Purdue University, Winthrop E. Stone.
Purdue's football and baseball captain, Harry Leslie, was pronounced dead at the scene. At the funeral home, the mortician was ready to begin the embalming process, when he found a pulse: Leslie was alive. He teetered on the brink of death for weeks, but recovered, becoming a folk hero.
With some irony, he went to Indiana University's law school, became a bank president, Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives, and in 1928 was elected Governor. But he was a Herbert Hoover Republican, and did very little to help during the Depression, and was voted out in 1930. He died for sure in 1937.
Aside from the World War I years of 1918 and '19, 1903, the year of the Purdue Wreck, was the only time Purdue and Indiana have not met in football since the rivalry began in 1891. Since 1925, they have played each other for a trophy known as the Old Oaken Bucket. Through the 2021 game, Purdue leads the rivalry, 75-42-6. In just the "Bucket Games," Purdue leads 61-32-3.
Aside from the World War I years of 1918 and '19, 1903, the year of the Purdue Wreck, was the only time Purdue and Indiana have not met in football since the rivalry began in 1891. Since 1925, they have played each other for a trophy known as the Old Oaken Bucket. Through the 2021 game, Purdue leads the rivalry, 75-42-6. In just the "Bucket Games," Purdue leads 61-32-3.
*
October 31, 1903 was a Saturday. This was also the day that Hampden Park, Scotland's national stadium, opened in Glasgow. I have a separate entry for that event.
Baseball season was over. Basketball barely existed, and hockey hadn't yet turned professional. These other noteworthy games were played in college football:
* Michigan and Minnesota played to a 6-6 tie, at Northrop Field in Minneapolis. This began the rivalry known as the Little Brown Jug. I have an entry for that event as well.
* Army beat Vermont, 32-0 on The Plain in West Point, New York.
* Penn State beat Navy, 17-0 at Worden Field in Annapolis, Maryland.
* Yale beat Columbia, 25-0 at the Polo Grounds.
* Harvard beat the Carlisle Indian School, 12-11 at Soldier's Field in Boston. Jim Thorpe was too young to play on the Carlisle varsity, but they almost didn't need him. Two weeks later, on November 14, Harvard Stadium opened, and Harvard lost to Dartmouth. They still play there today.
* The University of Pennsylvania beat Bucknell, 47-6 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. A new stadium by that name would be built on the same site in 1922.
* Lafayette beat New York University, 8-6 at Ohio Field in The Bronx.
* Princeton beat Cornell, 44-0 at University Field in Princeton, New Jersey.
* And Rutgers beat Stevens Institute, 36-6 at Neilson Field in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
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