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Joseph Colby and Pit Dog Gameness
According to Joseph Colby, the son of the man who started the Colby bloodline, speaks about gameness and the Pit Dog in "The American Pit Bull Terrier," a book he wrote in 1936.
Colby says in his book that Pit Dogs of the day are not as game as traditional dogs "because most of the present day dog-men who breed and fight dogs, do not give them a hard test to prove the gameness of the dog. Most of the present day dogs are bred too loosely and if a man does have a proven game dog or bitch, he doesn't retrain the blood for many generations, because he breeds out, therefore loosing the gameness."
I took that statement as if in the 1930's, the American Pit Bull was loosing his gameness, in today's world the general trait has dissipated in the average Pit Bull that you see walked in the park.
Colby references two game dogs.

1. "One of the gamest dogs that ever crossed a pit, roamed the streets until he was three years old and until that time never had a fight. This dog fought in the hands of three different prominent dogmen and never lost a fight. He proved himself game and beat the best dogs in the country at that time."
2. "Another example of a game dog is the one that the dog was old, weak and ready to die. His collar and chain were unattached so that he might die. As soon as the old dog knew he was loose he crawled over to a young promising pit prospect and it took twenty minutes to separate them."