Hamm's Indians

The Hamm’s Indians drum and bugle corps was originally formed in October of 1921 as the St. Paul American Legion (AL) Post 8.

From the very beginning, the St. Paul Post was a state champion from 1922 to 1926, except for 1925, when they finished in 4^th position. Between 1923 & 1926, the corps also competed in the AL Nationals, performing in the 1923 preliminary round & ranked as a finalist in 1924 (6^th), 1925 (2^nd) & 1926 (4^th). The Post 8 returned to state competition from 1927 to 1934, apart from 1929, when they participated in the VFW state contest & 1931, when the corps remained active as a parade & exhibition unit.

Since at least 1935, the St. Paul Post 8 was under new sponsorship from the Jacob Schmidt Brewing Company of St. Paul as a parade & exhibition corps and was reorganized in 1937 as the Schmidt Indians. This new identity consisted of authentic Chippewa Indian uniforms, accented with Indian beadwork illustrating the symbolism of the Chippewa language and its striking Indian bonnets made with rare eagle feathers. Until 1954, they would become a famous group, making many appearances across North America, including a command performance in Winnipeg for the Queen of England & numerous AL National “40 & 8” championships, starting in 1939.

In 1955, the corps was renamed the Pfeiffer-Schmidt Indians, a company restructuring and in 1958, returned to the field of competition once again as the Schmidt Indians. From 1958 to 1960, the corps placed 4^th (1958), 3^rd (1959) & 2^nd (1960) in state convention contests before one last reorganization in 1961 as the Hamm’s Indians, under the sponsorship of the Hamm AL Post 501 of St. Paul.

The corps would go on to 4 consecutive VFW state titles from 1961 to 1964, 3 consecutive AL state titles from 1961 to 1963, 3 AL National appearances, finishing 6^th in 1961, 3^rd in 1962 & 4^th in 1965 and a 3^rd place finish in the 1962 VFW Nationals. In their last season, the corps also appeared in the infamous Pasadena Tournament of Roses in 1965 as the very first non-Californian unit to lead the parade.

They disbanded in 1966.

Encyclopedia of Drum and Bugle Corps, 1966; rec.arts.marching.drumcorps; DCW, 4/02, p.12; Paul Legault (DCX)