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The Games of Moccasin and Bullet

The following, written by the late Robert B. Duncan, a well-known pioneer of Marion County, throws further light on the game of "mockuson" spoken of by Tipton (see journal, p. 15).

"Bullet, as it was termed, was a gambling game considerably used in its day; so much so as to cause the enactment [of a law] making it a finable offense to play it. It was borrowed from the

  • ∗"On the 26th of August, 1789, about two hundred mounted volunteers, under the command of Colonel John Hardin, marched from the Falls of the Ohio to attack some of the Indian towns on the Wabash. This expedition returned to the Falls on the 26th of September, without the loss of a man—having killed six Indians, plundered and burnt one deserted village, and destroyed a considerable quantity of corn."—Dillon, p. 220.
  • †Since the above was put in type the editor finds the question of this Indian town discussed at length by D. D. Banta, in the larger history of Johnson County, pp. 283-286. Judge Banta's conclusion would seem to be in line with Mr. Dollarhide's version. For further information touching the white captive of the upper town see The Western Censor (Indianapolis public library), June 11, 1823.
    • Delaware Indians,∗ who were great experts in playing it, and were inveterate gamblers. I well recollect frequently seeing them playing the game, which was then called "moccasin," and was played in this wise:

    "The professional gambler would spread upon a smooth, level grass plat a large, well-dressed deer skin, upon which he would place in a semi-circular form, within convenient reach of the player, a half-dozen newly-made moccasins. The game consisted in the use of a large-sized bullet held in his hands and shown to those looking on and desiring to take part in the game, and then, in a hurried and very dextrous manner, placing his hand under each moccasin, leaving the bullet under one of them. Betting was then made as to which one of the moccasins the bullet was under. As the manner of shuffling the hands under each moccasin was done so rapidly and skilfully that it was impossible for the by-standers to see under which the bullet was left, it will thus be seen that the chances were largely in favor of the gambler.

    "The few whites inclined in this direction learned this game from the Indians, and after the removal of the latter from the country kept up the game, using private rooms and covered tables in place of grass plat and buckskin; and for want of moccasins, using caps, and changing the name from "moccasin" to "bullet." this game continued to be played to such an extent as to cause the legislature to enact a law making it a finable offense. This law, with the introduction of the more secret and convenient means of gambling still in use, soon caused the game of bullet to become one of the lost arts.†"

  • ∗The game was also a favorite one with the Miamis and Pottowattomies.
  • †Query—Is the "shell" game of the present day a surviving form of "moccasin?"