Strongheart (play)

Strongheart is a 1904 American play by William C. deMille. It is a comedy drama in four acts, with three settings and twenty characters. The story concerns the eponymous character, a football-playing Native American at Columbia University, who encounters fellowship, racial prejudice, and love. The action of the play takes place on three separate days of the same week. The play was considered to be the first with an educated Native American as the leading character, and a variation on the theme expressed by James Fenimore Cooper in The Last of the Mohicans.

The play was first produced by Henry B. Harris, staged by his father William Harris, with sets by Joseph A. Physioc, and starred Robert Edeson. It had a tryout at St. Paul, Minnesota starting in late December 1904 before premiering on Broadway during January 1905. Reviews considered the play acceptable for the sporting elements, but ranged widely on the chaste romance between Strongheart and a white girl.

The production made a return engagement on Broadway in August 1905, before going on tour of North America, and had a London debut in May 1907. Strongheart served as the basis for a 1914 silent film.