Dalton Carden

From The Great Outdoor Fight

Dalton Carden (b.1892, d.1972) is one of the few men of whose lives were saved because of the Fight. Carden was born in Gary, Indiana and started work in a Chicago sausage factory when he was 12. At the age of 17, he lost his right arm to a meat grinder and was forced to quit his job. He became a vagrant and an alcoholic and sank into depression. He was involved in more than a few drunken brawls, going up against sucessively bigger and stronger opponents in the hope that one would best him and end his life. In 1914, Carden met champion Pat Day in a YMCA where he was staying the night. Day, a travelling minister, told Carden of the Fight and suggested that he give up the bottle and train for the Fight. Carden declined Day's offer of baptism, but took his words about the fight to heart. In 1915, he entered the Fight, and won with a blistering display of left hooks, left jabs, kicks and headbutts. According to some, he did this singlehandedly, both literally and figuratively. Most reliable sources do not agree with this, however. Fight records show that Carden gave his Feast to his army, suggesting that Carden did indeed lead an army, but lied about his performance afterwards. The first fighter to truly win a Fight without an army was Rodney Leonard Stubbs, the Man with the Blood on his Hands.

After his win, Carden moved to Los Angeles and became a stuntman. He returned to the Fight two more times, once in 1916 and again in 1920. He married actress Katherine Van Veldt in 1922 and had three children, none of whom entered the fight, much to his chagrin. Later in life, he campaigned for the inclusion of boxing in the Paralympics, but made little headway due in part to his use of the word "gimp" in his letters to the Paralympic Commitee.

[edit] Record

1915 - Last Man Standing

1916 - 237th Man Standing

1920 - 1,031st Man Standing

[edit] Trivia

When registering for the Fight, Carden signed his name using his right foot. He never learned to write with his left hand.