Shoot-the-Chutes was a massively popular ride with park-goers in the early 20th Century. No park was complete without one.

Shoot-the-Chutes had been invented in back 1894 by a long distance swimmer turned amusement park impresario named Paul Boynton. In 1895, it became the centerpiece of his Coney Island amusement park. In 1903, when the famous and influential Luna Park was built on the same grounds, the proprietors tore down everything else but retained Shoot-the-Chutes as the heart of their new park.

Shoot-the-Chutes rides were also at the center of the scores of imitators that opened across the nation in the wake of Luna Park's success.

Indianola added its Shoot-the-Chutes attraction as part of its improvements for the 1909 season.

Shoot-the-Chutes was similar to modern log flume rides.

Passengers boarded a flat-bottomed boat and were hauled up about 30-50 feet, then turned around, and sent sliding down a steep slide into a lagoon at the bottom. After a thrilling descent, the boat hit the water of the lagoon with a splash, soaking the riders and anyone standing on the observation bridge above. Because of the boat's flat bottom and a slight angle at the base of the slide, the boat usually skipped over the water a few times before coming to a stop.

A 1903 American Mutoscope & Biograph Co. film of the Shoot-the-Chutes ride at Coney Island's Luna Park can be seen at the Library of Congress website here.

Another view of Indianola's Shoot-the-Chutes showing the rural character of the neighborhood in 1910. Note the barn and farmhouse in the background of the image. Also of interest: the baseball game to the left and the band shell to the right.

The tower of Indianola's Shoot-the-Chute was crowned with a searchlight that could be seen for miles around.

The chain that hauled the boats to the top of the Shoot-the-Chutes at Indianola was manufactured by the Jeffrey Mining Machine Company, located further south on N. 4th St., just above downtown.