Louis Francis Sockalexis was born on Indian Island near Bangor. His grandfather was Chief of the Bear Clan. When he was young, he could throw a baseball across the Penobscot River from Indian Island to the Old Town shore.
 Louis is famous because he was the first Native American to play major league baseball. He was an outfielder for the Cleveland Spiders (Later they changed their names to the Cleveland Indians) from 1897-1899.  His first time at bat he hit a home run!
 When Louis retired from professional baseball he went home to Indian Island in Maine and coached Little League teams. In 1901 Penobscot boys from Indian Island played in the New England League.
 On Christmas Eve in 1913 at the age of 41 Louis died of a heart attack while he was working in the woods.

 In 1985 he was inducted into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame.

       by Shawnee