Hoosier & Leo Stevens

This image was published in the Indianapolis News on June 5, 1909 as part of the paper's coverage of events leading up to the national balloon championship hosted at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that same day. The balloon was new and had its maiden voyage only days before. The Captain George L. Bumbaugh-designed "Hoosier," was piloted by Captain Thomas L. Baldwin in the race.
 
The caption to the photo read:
 
"The smaller man to the left is Leo Stevens, who has made more than two thousand ascensions and holds the world's records."
 
Stevens was at the center of controversy concerning the construction of the two balloons he had designed - the Ohio and the Cleveland.