Before there was a Winfield, a Molitor, or a Mauer, there was a Bender.

Charles Albert "Chief" Bender was born in Crow Wing County on May 5th, 1884. He bounced between his home on the White Earth Reservation, and various boarding schools. At a teenager, Bender was recruited by the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle Pennsylvania, the first of many off-reservation boarding schools. Carlisle is perhaps most known for it's resident coach, Pop Warner, and his star player, ...