Dreamed up by the Route 66 Highway Association as a way of promoting the nascent interstate highway system, the “Bunion Derby” of 1928 offered $25,000 to the first man to run from Los Angeles to New York City; the winner, a young Cherokee named Andy Payne, became a hero to his home state of Oklahoma and to Native American children across the land. This PBS documentary (2002, 57 min.) tells his story and details the chicanery of C.C. Pyle, a sports promoter who misspent the highway association’s money and failed to deliver promised support for the runners as they tested themselves for 84 days against mountains, deserts, and sandstorms. Lily Shangreaux wrote the fascinating script, and Daniel Bigbee Jr. directed.
