Athletics at the 1904 St. Louis Summer Games:

Of the top American vaulters, only H. L. Gardner, 1903 IC4A and 1904 AAU champion, and Stanford's Norman Dole, a former world record holder though never the winner of a major title, were missing. Also missing was France's Fernand Gonder, who in June had broken Dole's world record.

The bar was apparently raised 3" for each new height. At 11'3", five vaulters remained: Charles Dvorak, LeRoy Samse, Lou Wilkins, Ward McLanahan, and Claude Allen. Only Dvorak was able to clear 11'3", clinching the victory, and he also made 11'6", before missing three attempts at a new world record of 12'2". The other four began a jump-off at 10'9", which all made. Allen and McLanahan then missed 11', while Wilkins and Samse made that, and also 11'3". In a second series of jump-offs, McLanahan defeated Allen and Samse defeated Wilkins.