In every small American city, visits by famous historical figures captured the attention of the local populace. With the passing of time, these significant moments frequently become forgotten town history.

Ironton, Ohio is a small city on the northern bank of the Ohio River. Ironton had 16,021 residents in 1930. The city now has around 11,000 residents. (Photos by Jim Ridgeway)

Ironton, a small city in Southern Ohio, has welcomed many famous visitors. U.S. presidents visited the city in order to get elected or re-elected. Presidents Teddy Roosevelt and William Taft visited Ironton in May 1912 and delivered campaign speeches. A special campaign train carrying President Herbert Hoover stopped at Ironton in October 22, 1932 in order to allow him to address the crowd. Following in his father’s footsteps who spoke at the Ironton High auditorium as a vice-presidential nominee on October 29, 1980, President George W. Bush made a brief campaign stop at the Lawrence County courthouse on September 10, 2004.

President Teddy Roosevelt, the famous Rough Rider, spoke to a large crowd at the Lawrence County courthouse on May 17, 1912. A reporter with the Portsmouth Times covered the event and recorded part of Roosevelt’s speech. The Progressive Party candidate received more electoral votes (88 to 8) and popular votes (27.4 percent to 23.2 percent) than the Republican incumbent, President William Taft of Ohio. President Taft spoke at Ironton on May 8, 1912. With the Republican Party split, Woodrow Wilson won the election. Today, Theodore Roosevelt is one of only four presidents depicted on Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.

Several U.S. presidents have spoken on the lawn of the Lawrence County courthouse in Ironton, Ohio.

On four occasions, Ironton was visited by the greatest show in the entire world. Buffalo Bill Cody brought the show that captivated the royalty of Europe to the Ohio River city. The 1901 visit likely included Annie Oakley who toured with Buffalo Bill that year until her train injury in October. Arriving by rail on several trains, Buffalo Bill and his massive show would parade through town.

Buffalo Bill Cody’s famous show made four appearances (May 1, 1896, May 3, 1901, June 20, 1912 and September 22, 1916) at Ironton. Central School was later constructed on the Old Fairgrounds property (5th and Oak streets extending towards the hills). You can watch Buffalo Bill parading through New York City in 1901 at this link. http://www.loc.gov/item/00694397 Numerous dignitaries from the world of sports have visited the city. Woody Hayes, the legendary football coach at Ohio State, made several visits to Ironton. Hayes was honored at Ironton Sports Day in 1982. The 1963 Ironton Sports Day saw three members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame , George Halas, Sid Luckman and Joe Stydahar, visit the city to honor George McAfee.

This golf bag tag commemorated Woody Hayes being honored by the Ironton Sports Day committee in 1982. (Photo by Jim Ridgeway)

Woody Hayes also came to Ironton to help honor Kenny Fritz at Ironton Sports Day.

President Bush (with Senators Mike DeWine and Zell Miller) was the first sitting President to visit Ironton since Ike. Several thousand area residents crowded the 4th Street side of the courthouse to witness the historic visit. (Photos by Jim Ridgeway) Despite an array of famous visitors to Ironton, it was a one-day visit by a man from Oklahoma in 1927 which truly stands out in town history. Notwithstanding his lack of actual citizenship, this man achieved international fame for his achievements in athletic competition while representing the United States. As a ward of the U.S. government, he twice stood on the platform at the 1912 Olympics in Sweden and accepted goal medals. Returning as a national hero, he received a ticker-tape parade down Broadway.

His exploits in college football twice earned him All-American honors. He was a great professional football player and helped develop what we now know as the National Football League. His 7-foot statue has greeted millions of visitors to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

He was voted greatest athlete of the first half of the 20th century. A movie about his life was released in 1951that inspired countless youngsters in their pursuit of athletic excellence.

This man was none other than Jim Thorpe. Thorpe, the famous ‘American Indian’, overcame rampant racism to become one of the most significant figures in American history. Born just eleven years after George Armstrong Custer and 267 U.S. soldiers were killed by ‘savages’ at the Little Big Horn River, Thorpe never allowed prejudice against Native Americans to stand in his way. Through the medium of sports, Thorpe broke down racial barriers just like Jackie Robinson did three decades later.

Jim Thorpe became famous while a student at Carlisle Indian Industrial School. Carlisle was more like a trade school than real college. The school was created in 1879 to assimilate Native Americans into white-American society. Carlisle, like all Indian schools, was funded by the sale of Indian land as specified in the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887. The Dawes Severalty Act, a blatant land grab, resulted in Native Americans losing two-thirds of their 138 million acres by 1932.

Sent east by his father to the Pennsylvania school, Thorpe encountered the school’s experiment to take the Indian out of its students. Rather than embracing diversity and accepting the Native American culture, the school worked full-time to make the Indians white. The men had their long hair cut to a short length. Their native clothing was exchanged for typical white-man clothing of the day. Tribal languages were replaced by English. Students at Carlisle faced a military-like code of conduct.

Over 10,000 Native Americans attended Carlisle with only a tiny fraction ever graduating from the school. Like most students, Thorpe found the going tough at Carlisle. However, Thorpe eventually found his niche in Carlisle’s athletic programs.

Thorpe arrived at Carlisle with virtually no athletic training in any major sport. “My best sport as a boy was was in riding wild ponies,” said Thorpe in 1947. “I never saw a two-year old on the ranches that I couldn’t catch, saddle and ride. I loved the excitement of it.”

Thorpe said in 1939 that he “had the edge” on other boys at Carlisle because he already spoke English. “When I was young,” Thorpe said in 1937, “I wanted to be an electrician.” When he realized Calisle did not offer such a trade, Jim settled for tailoring. In reality, Thorpe’s principal education at Carlisle came from an athletic apprenticeship under Pop Warner.

Thorpe earned a spot on the Carlisle track team when Pop Warner inadvertently discovered Thorpe’s superb athleticism in the spring of 1908. Thorpe immediately reaped the benefits of college athletics.

Jim Mehor, a student in the Carlisle band when Thorpe played, recalled those extra benefits in a 1975 interview. “Those athletes were treated like a millionaire treats racehorses,” said Mehor. “And Thorpe was as big as a horse. They had their own dietitian, chef and doctor at the school.”

Thorpe eventually ended up on the Carlisle football team. Before his first practice, Jim was issued a suit several times too large for him. Jim was handed a pair of size-12 shoes which did not fit him. He joined Carlisle’s scrub team where he got his first carry against Carlisle’s starting eleven. On his first carry at practice, Thorpe ran the ball the distance for a touchdown. “Old Pop Warner called me a scrub until he watched me boot a football into the middle of next month,” said Thorpe in 1939. “The game was rough and tumble. No one played who couldn’t take it.”

Thorpe could take it and became one of the best football players, if not the finest, in the entire country. The players that faced Carlisle on the gridiron never forgot their encounter with Jim Thorpe, an All-American in 1911 and 1912.

This story from May, 20, 1909 provided insight to what Thorpe would later accomplish in track and field.

As a member of the Army football team, Red O’Hare played against Carlisle. “Those Indians were terrific,” O’Hare stated in a 1943 interview. “They were big, fast, rough and ready. I never took a worse physical beating. They could give it, and they could take it. They were also crafty and cunning. Thorpe was a wild man. He could do everything better than anyone else I ever saw. And they wanted to beat Army more than any other team. Maybe they remembered Custer and Sitting Bull. After some plays there used to be four or five separate Army and Indian fights all over the field.”

Leland S. Devore, a tackle on the Army team, said in 1912, “That Indian, Jim Thorpe, is the greatest player I ever saw in my five-year experience. He is superhuman, that’s all. There is no stopping him.”

“He‘d bear down on you like a hurricane,” said Steve Bean in 1955. Bean, a former Brown University football player who later became a N.L.R.B. member, recalled the strategy for tackling Carlisle’s great running back. “You’d shut your eyes, take a dive and hope for the best.”

J. Huber Wagner, a football team captain at Pitt who later became a surgeon, revealed in a 1946 interview his memories of Thorpe. “I’ve never seen anybody like Thorpe,” said Wagner. “He could do everything, and do it well. He was simply a natural.”

Jim had a marvelous change of pace,” said Wagner. “When he shifted, if you didn’t shift with him, you were a goner. The only way to tackle Thorpe was grab him by the ankles. If you tried to get him high, it wasn’t very effective. Jim had great use of his hands.”

“Thorpe was the greatest athlete I ever saw,” said Hamilton Fish in 1963. Fish, a Harvard All-American and a member of Walter Camp’s All-Time All-American team, faced Thorpe in college. “He was strong as a bull, with churning legs, lightning quick and instinctive. He not only could carry the ball, but could drop-kick a goal from 50 yards away.”

“I handled the ball at least three out of four times at Carlisle,” said Thorpe in January 1953. “But I got just as much kick out of throwing a block or dumping an opponent with a tackle as I did running, passing or kicking the ball.”

“When I played at Carlisle, I was as fast as any of them,” Thorpe stated in 1941. “But oddly enough, they always stressed my strength more than my speed. I twice ran the 100 in 9.4. I could do it any day in 10 flat. In football togs, I could step off the 100 in 11 flat.”

“Thorpe was a wonderful broken field runner,” said M.A. Sundown, Thorpe’s Carlisle teammate. “Pop Warner used to put four teams of men on the field and then give Jim the ball and instruct him to run thru the entire 44 men. He could do it, too ”

Tom Eagleman, Thorpe’s Carlisle teammate, remembered Thorpe as a humble teammate in a 1965 interview. “His fame never went to his head at all,” said Eagleman. “After a long run he’d say: ‘If it hadn’t been for you running interference, I’d never had made it.’ He always gave the other fellow credit.”

Eagleman claimed Thorpe was second to none in the history of football. “Not even Jim Brown of the Cleveland Browns,” declared Eagleman in 1965.

“On the football field Jim Thorpe was never equaled,” proclaimed Pop Warner, Thorpe’s coach at Carlisle, in a 1921 newspaper interview. “He is the greatest player the game has ever produced.”

“Jim Thorpe was a born football player,” said Warner. “He knew everything a football player could be taught, and then he could execute the plays better than any coach ever dreamed of.”

Warner added, “I never knew a player who could penetrate the line like Thorpe. He seemed to sense the hole through which to break.”

“As for speed, no football player ever carried the ball down the field with the dazzling speed of Thorpe,” said Warner.

As an All-American in football, Thorpe was already a household name in the United States. His selection to the U.S. Olympic team for the 1912 Games held at Stockholm, Sweden provided the ideal platform for far greater glory. A star track athlete at the collegiate level, Jim was expected to have a great shot of medaling at the Olympics.

Thorpe was not the only Native American selected to represent the United States. Louis Tewanima and Alex Sockalexis joined Thorpe on board the Finland as the ship departed New York on Friday, June 14, 1912 for the long voyage to Sweden.

This 1912 newspaper article highlighted Thorpe’s preparation for the Olympic games.

Published July 4, 1911 by the Fort Wayne News, a lengthy newspaper story predicted the winners at the 1912 Olympics. Thorpe was favored to win gold in the pentathlon and silver in the decathlon.

On the way across the Atlantic to the games, many athletes trained on the ship’s deck. Pop Warner always liked to tell a story about a reporter and his encounter with Thorpe on the voyage to Sweden. A reporter for the New York Mail noticed Thorpe sleeping in a deck chair. The reporter joked, “What are you doing— thinking about your uncle Sitting Bull?” “No,” Thorpe replied. “I’m practicing for the broad jump. I just jumped 23 feet 8 inches.”

Johnny Hayes, winner of the 1908 Olympic marathon, recalled in a March 1913 interview watching Thorpe train. “One afternoon I happened to be upstairs when upon looking out the window I saw Jim arise from his hammock and walk to the sidewalk. I thought it was strange and I resolved to watch it though. Soon I saw him mark off about 23 feet and he chalked both corners of the distance. I thought he was going to do some broad jumping. To my surprise the big fellow walked back to the hammock, jumped into it and then riveted his eyes on the two chalk marks for some little time. Assured he had worked hard enough for his specialty, he rolled over and fell fast asleep. For all I could learn, that’s all the training he did for the broad jump.”

In many ways, Jim Thorpe was way ahead of his time. Today, sport psychologists train athletes to visualize what they want to accomplish. Thorpe was already doing that in 1912 as he prepared for the Olympics.

A perpetual myth, which started in his early days at Carlisle, was that Thorpe never trained at all. “People also have the idea that Jim never trained properly,” said Gus Welch, Thorpe’s teammate at Carlisle, in a 1948 interview. “They are wrong. No man could have done the things he did without being in shape. He worked hard.”

Earl Koch, a bicyclist on the 1912 U.S. Olympic team, stated in 1956 that he helped Thorpe train while on the boat carrying the Olympic contestants. “Jim was one of the finest sportsmen I have known and a real gentleman,” said Koch in 1956. “His proficiency in sports was enough to awe anyone.”

Opportunities for topside workouts were likely extremely limited. Lawrence E. Rentschler was aboard the Finland as an alternate hurdler. “On the ship, the Olympic team didn’t receive any of the red-carpet treatment given athletes today,” recalled Rentschler in 1975. “We were crowded below deck and could come topside only for our meals.”

Thorpe was definitely ready to perform once he got to Stockholm. As the favorite in the pentathlon, Thorpe smashed the competition and took home gold. Jim captured four firsts and one third in the five events. Thorpe won the decathlon by a more impressive margin. He defeated Wieslander of Sweden by 688.46 points while setting a world record with 8,412.995 points, a total which would not be surpassed until 1948.

Jim Thorpe’s times and distances at the Olympics quickly became forgotten history when his medals were forfeited after losing his amateur status.

In between his wins in the pentathlon and decathlon, Thorpe competed in two other Olympic events. Thorpe placed fourth in the high jump, just outside a medalist position. Thorpe finished seventh in the long jump.

His incredible performance at the Fifth Olympiad left experts wondering what was possible if Thorpe actually specialized in track and field. Much of Thorpe’s time was spent playing other college sports such as football and basketball.

Abel Kiviat, a silver medalist at the 1912 Olympics in the 1500 meters, roomed with Thorpe during the event. “He was the greatest athlete who ever lived,” said Kiviat in 1982. “Lovely fellah. What he had was natural ability. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t do. All he had to see is someone doin’ something and he tried it, and he’d do it better. He had brute strength, stamina, endurance. A lot of times, like in the decathlon, he didn’t know what he was doing. He didn’t know the right way to throw the javelin or the discus but it didn’t matter. He just went there and threw it further than anyone else.”

When presenting Thorpe with his Olympic awards, King Gustav of Sweden said, “You sir, are the greatest athlete in the world.” It was a moniker which would forever be attached to Thorpe’s name. “I was on the field four days,” Thorpe recalled in 1936. “I went out to win.”

“One disappointment occurred,” said Thorpe. “I couldn’t find my pet shoes a few minutes before the high jump. They had been either stolen or inadvertently taken. Hurriedly, Pop Warner and I made up a pair of substitutes from sprint shoes. We put cleats on them and padded the heals, but I was able to jump only 5 feet 2.5 inches, while a few weeks before I had made six feet in an exhibition meet in New York.”

“Jim was a fine competitor with a marvelous spirit, and a lot of fun,” recalled Charley Reidpath in an April 1, 1953 Buffalo Courier Express article. “Everyone loved him,” added Reidpath, 400-meter winner at Stockholm in 1912. “It was a great thrill watching him win the Olympic pentathlon and decathlon that year, and an inspiring sight to see all of the trophies and medals displayed in the louge of the ship coming home.”

Ralph Craig, 1912 Olympic champion in the 100 and 200 meter sprints, thought Thorpe would do just fine against modern athletes. “If Jim Thorpe or any of the 1912 athletes had the advantage of today’s scientific knowhow in training and diet, they could compete successfully against the present generation,” said Craig in a 1966 interview.

“I would venture to say Thorpe would be just as great now as he was then,” Craig added. “Once in a while an athlete appears that combines everything.”

Thorpe immediately received high praise in 1912 from the head of the U.S. Olympic committee (left) and President Taft (right).

Thorpe’s name was page one headline at the Boston Post (below).

Thorpe and other U.S. athletes remained in Europe after the Olympics in order to compete in special track meets. Pop Warner returned to New York with Thorpe’s trophies in tow. A Cornell graduate and trained lawyer, Warner seized the moment and made an ‘arrangement’ to publicly display the trophies, not at a local museum, but in the windows of John Wanamaker’s massive store in New York at the corner of Broadway and 8th, and later at Wanamaker’s Philadelphia store. Naturally, Warner never disclosed the details of this arrangement which lured thousands of potential customers to the doors of Wanamaker’s stores in order to get a glimpse of Thorpe’s Olympic trophies.

With Thorpe still in Europe, Warner arranged for Wanamaker’s Department Store to publicly display Thorpe’s Olympic trophies in New York (above right) and Philadelphia.

“Carlisle went all out on its reception to Coach Pop Warner, Lewis Tewanima, the marathon runner, and me when we returned there August 16 wearing our Olympic laurels,” wrote Thorpe in a Miami Daily News column in March 1946. “The day was absolutely perfect as to weather. That meant success from the start. The parade was one of the best ever held in the borough. Thousands lined the sidewalks.” Thorpe added, “The band concert in the evening, the fireworks and the reception were enjoyed by thousands.”

“The highlight to me was the speech by Superintendent M. Friedman of Carlisle school,” wrote Thorpe. In his speech, Friedman said, “There is another here today who is known all over the world. The world’s greatest all-around athlete is also an Indian. We welcome you, James Thorpe, to this town and back to your school. You have covered yourself with glory. By your achievement you have immeasurably helped your race. By your victory you have inspired your people to live a cleaner, healthier, more vigorous life. Aside from that, as an American and a member of the United States Olympic team you have added prestige to this country and the nation you represented.”

“It was a wonderful reception, after which our trophies were placed on view in a glass case in the school— my trophies soon to be recalled by the American Athletic Union, never to be returned to me,” wrote Thorpe.

The Carlisle newspaper, Daily Sentinel, stated on August 20, 1912 that the trophies won by Thorpe had been viewed by thousands. “The Emperor of Russia’s gift is two feet long by 18 inches high and weighs over 30 pounds. Accompanying the Viking ship is a certificate reading ‘Le Challenge du Decathlon Fond par S.M. le Tsar de Russie, a ete par J. Thorpe, Etats Unis.’” The other trophy was “a massive bronze bust of heroic size in the likeness of King Gustav of Sweden, and the gift of that monarch.”

On August 24, 1912, Thorpe and his fellow Olympians were honored by New York when the city treated the athletes to a monster parade down Fifth Avenue and Broadway. Jim Thorpe received the most cheers as the parade passed thousands of onlookers. Thorpe was reportedly embarrassed by the huge reception.

“The real hero of the Olympiad was Jim Thorpe,” said James Sullivan in an August 25, 1912 story by the New York Press. Sullivan, American Commissioner to the Olympic Games, added, “I think Thorpe’s victories in the pentathlon and decathlon were the most impressive.”

The celebration of Thorpe’s name continued throughout the 1912 football season, another All-American season on the gridiron for the Carlisle back. In early-December 1912, James Sullivan of the A.A.U., called Thorpe the most outstanding amateur athlete in the country during the past year.

In mid-January 1913, Thorpe’s world was turned upside down when a writer seeking glory elected to publish a newspaper story that casted a dark cloud over Thorpe’s Olympics achievements.

The “sports writer for a Worcester, MA newspaper— scored the scoop of scoops, I suppose – when he broke the story that ‘Jim Thorpe played professional baseball in 1909-10 for Rocky Mount and Fayetteville in the Eastern Carolina league,’” wrote Thorpe in 1946. “There was the loss of all my laurels, my records in the Olympics— all my records, indeed, since 1909, plus my being stripped of my cherished medals, the big bronze statue of King Gustav of Sweden and the beautiful silver replica of the Viking ship, a gift of the Czar of Russia,” wrote Thorpe in 1946.

“The committee’s report condemned me for concealing my baseball playing,” wrote Thorpe. “Mr. Friedman, superintendent of Carlisle, in his letter to the AAU-Olympic committee, said that ‘neither the faculty of the Carlisle Indian School nor Athletic Director Glenn S. Warner had knowledge of Thorpe’s professionalism’ and added that ‘his confession has brought gloom to the entire institution.’” “The news of my past laid bare swept the country, emblazoned in the headlines of every sports section here and abroad and in many instances across page one. Well, you don’t know how sharply those banner lines cut into my heart, how painful they were. And still are, when I occasionally glance through my scrapbook and they come leaping out at me, even after 34 years.”

“I turned to the game that led to my downfall, baseball, signing with the New York Giants,” wrote Thorpe.

Pop Warner had to know what his superstar athlete was doing in the summer. All coaches keep track of their star athlete’s whereabouts. Yet, Pop Warner claimed he knew nothing about Thorpe playing summer baseball. While Thorpe was crucified by the A.A.U. and national media, Warner’s name was completed cleared by the same parties.

Warner’s statement to Walter Eckersall, a highly respected national columnist, in August 1912 likely baited writers to look into Thorpe’s background. Pop Warner told Walter Eckersall that Thorpe never had his eligibility questioned. Eckersall included the statement from Warner in his August 4, 1912 column. Warner knew Thorpe had spent two summers playing bush-league, semi-pro at best, baseball for a couple dollars each day in the Carolinas. It was what many college athletes did in those days, but nearly all played under names not their own.

This is part of a lengthy February 1, 1939 newspaper article by Bob Considine of the I.N.S. Considine, a noted book author, wrote this story after Warner took a coaching job at San Jose State. Considine stated Warner knew Thorpe was playing baseball for pay down in North Carolina based on a previous conversation he had with Thorpe’s baseball manager. “I got $15 to $25 a week,” said Thorpe in 1947. “Most of the players on those teams were college athletes who were picking up a little money. The only difference between them and me was that they played under assumed names and I used my own.”

Joe Libby, Carlisle quarterback, played with Thorpe in the Rocky Mount outfield. “We didn’t get much, just enough to live on,” said Libby in a 1970 interview.

“Hardly anybody uses his right name,” Mike Finn, an old Giants scout, told Christy Mathewson. “The men in the old Carolina Association have as many aliases as the gunmen of New York.” Yet, Thorpe was honest enough to have played baseball under his real name.

“Thorpe is no worse than many another man who has done the same thing and is still competing in amateur athletics because he has not been found out,” wrote Christy Mathewson, star baseball pitcher, in 1913. “That is the crime of playing summer baseball- being found out.”

Howard Criswell, sports editor of the Rocky Mount Telegram in 1951, pointed out that the practice of college boys playing summer baseball in North Carolina was so common that the entire Brown football team played for Tarboro one season in the Eastern Carolina League.

When Thorpe was stripped of his medals, rampant racism against his heritage came to the forefront. “It is fortunate that Thorpe confessed,” said James E. Sullivan, A.A.U. secretary, in January 1913. “It probably saved weeks of continuous investigating. We have just about cleaned up the entire case now. The prizes will soon be on their way back to Sweden, and the Indian’s records will be wiped off the books as quickly as possible.” Responding to Thorpe’s claim that other members of the A.A.U. committed similar infractions, Sullivan told the media, “It is regrettable that the Indian had to be the ringleader of the number.”

“Thorpe was an Indian, but he was one of the whitest competitors ever known to the game,” added Frank Facey, secretary of the N.E.A.A.A.U , in January 1913.

While the A.A.U. was quick to throw Thorpe to the wolves, at least one Olympic official in Sweden saw things entirely differently. This official, who later became president of the International Olympic Committee in 1942, pointed out the statute of limitations found in the rules and regulations applicable to the Stockholm Olympics.

“The Olympic prizes awarded Thorpe must remain his,” said J. Sigfrid Edstrom, vice president of the Swedish Olympic Committee. “For any protest against his amateur status to be examined, it should have been submitted within a month of the end of the Games.” Six months had passed before it was alleged Thorpe was a professional. Yet, the A.A.U. seemed indifferent to the rules of the Games, especially when an Indian was involved in the messy affair.

These stories ran in 1913 stating the 30-day rule for filing complaints of professionalism.

Thorpe’s Olympic winnings were on display at Carlisle. The school proudly showcased his two gold medals. At two feet in length and weighing 30 pounds was a silver chalice in the shape of a Viking ship presented to Thorpe by the Emperor of Russia for winning the decathlon. The ship was lined with gold and encrusted with precious jewels. There was also a four-foot high bronze statue of the King of Sweden which the ruler personally presented to Thorpe for winning the pentathlon. The trophies were valued at the time at $50,000. The trophy case at Carlisle was emptied and the items returned to Sullivan in New York.

Ironically, Thorpe’s biggest supporters came from professional baseball. “Thorpe played baseball more for pleasure than for the financial return,” declared Ban Johnson, president of the American League, during the first week of February 1913. “The small salary he received while playing with the Winston-Salem club, in the Eastern Carolina association, hardly paid for his expenses. It would have been alright for the A.A.U. to have declared him a professional in so far as playing baseball was concerned, but to rob him of his amateur status in every branch of sport is absurd.”

Jim Nasium, sports writer with the Philadelphia Enquirer, provided his take on the Thorpe situation in February 1913. Nasium stated that Thorpe “can never have the honors he won on the athletic fields of the pale face taken from him. They may take back their old junk and the prizes he won, they may divest him of opportunities to win further honors on amateur fields, but the honor of being classed as the greatest all-around athlete the world has ever known will still be Thorpe’s. Throw out records if you will, but like evidence that has been ruled out after a clever lawyer has got it before the jury, Thorpe’s has had its impression on the public, which has a habit of forming its own opinion.”

Jim Thorpe

John Cashman, a sports writer, wrote in May 1943, “The punishment given Thorpe was criminally out of proportion to the crime. He was stripped of his medals and trophies, his name stricken from the record books. He was, you see, ‘only an Indian’.”

By January 29, 1913, many of the newspapers which once heralded Thorpe as an athlete turned on him.

Thorpe signed a contract to play professional baseball with the New York Giants on February 1, 1913. “I am glad to go with the Giants,” said Thorpe, “but I would rather have remained an athlete.”

“But that is over now,” said Thorpe sadly. “There is nothing more to say about it. The quicker that is dropped the better I will be pleased. It’s something I don’t want to talk about.”

Thorpe became baseball’s original ‘bonus baby’. The contract with the Giants paid Thorpe $6,000, a record rookie salary. When nearly all contracts were for one year, Thorpe received a 3-year deal. Jim also reportedly got a $500 bonus for putting his signature on the contract. Newspapers claimed a Baltimore source revealed Pop Warner pocketed $2,500 from the Giants for delivering Thorpe to the New York baseball club. Whether money exchanged hands or not, Pop Warner was undoubtedly active in the contract negotiations. Warner, a former practicing attorney in Buffalo, traveled to New York with Thorpe for the signing ceremony. Thorpe spent 15 minutes signing repeatedly for photographers and film crews. No previous athlete ever received such media attention at a signing ceremony.

This writer reported Pop Warner pocketed $2,500 for getting Thorpe to sign with the New York Giants.

According to this March 28, 1916 article, Thorpe received an unprecedented 3-year contract to play baseball for the New York Giants. The scribe claimed the contract was discretely negotiated by Pop Warner, a college coach acting as Thorpe’s agent. The writer also claimed the New York Giants signed Thorpe for publicity purposes.

“I got Thorpe on the long distance telephone in Carlisle, PA,” said McGraw, “and he accepted my offer. Later I got a telegram from him confirming his verbal acceptance. He preferred to come to New York and I offered him more money than the others, too”

“Thorpe ought to make a good all-around man,” said McGraw. ‘I expect that he will accompany the team south when the spring training season opens and then we’ll try him out and see where he can do his best work.”

According to this writer, “Big Jim was towed into John McGraw’s presence Saturday noon by his mentor, Glenn Warner, and in less than an hour Jim hurdled his contract.” The journalist also detailed the media exposure generated by Thorpe’s signature to a baseball contract. Other than two summers of playing bush-league baseball in North Carolina, Thorpe had almost no baseball training. Although Pop Warner stated Thorpe was “fond of the game”, Warner micromanaged Thorpe to the point where Thorpe rarely played on his college baseball team.

“At Carlisle he was not permitted to take part in baseball as much as he desired,” said Warner. “I thought it better that he should direct most of his attention to track and field sports and football for those were more important in the college world.”

While Thorpe was busy signing in front of the press, his Olympic trophies, packed in a four-by-four box, were departing for Europe on the steamship New York. He would never see the trophies again.

“I was anxious to be a pitcher when I signed up, but McGraw decided outfield was my spot,” said Thorpe. “I might say here that McGraw was as ‘tough’ as he was reputed to be.” Thorpe added that McGraw “was pretty fair too”.

Thorpe played in just19 games his first season in New York and batted a meager .143 in his 25 at bats. After the 1913 baseball season, Thorpe accompanied the rest of the New York Giants and the Chicago White Sox on the first world baseball tour. The tour visited countries such as England, France, Japan, Australia and China. At Chelsea, King George took in the baseball action.

“He has everything which goes with a great player— speed, eye and general aptitude for the game,” said McGraw in 1914. “When once told a thing, he never forgets.”

Yet, the 1914 season saw Thorpe bat .194 in 30 games. His number of at bats was four less than in his rookie season. The 1915 season saw Thorpe hit .231 with 52 at bats in 17 games.

In 1916, John McGraw, manager of the New York Giants, invited Thorpe to training camp. McGraw had Thorpe bat from the left side of the plate in order to see if he could hit the curve better that way. Thorpe ended up spending the entire 1916 season in the minors where he finally got a chance to play more.

When asked after the 1916 baseball season whether he was going to retire, Thorpe said, “Sports means a living to me so why should I give up my vocation?”

Thorpe always objected to the popular belief that the curve was his nemesis as a hitter. “I hit right-handed curves in the minors,” said Thorpe. “The trouble was that McGraw began using me against southpaws only, taking me out against right-handers or always telling me how to hit them if he let me play. He was always picking the balls for his batters to hit, you know, and he insisted on doing a lot of that with me. ‘Take two’ or ‘take one’ he’d always be saying. What I wanted to do was to select my own pitch to hit- if he’d just allowed that I think I would have done very well indeed.” Jim Thorpe played Major League Baseball for several National League teams through the 1919 season. The most playing time he found was with the Cincinnati Reds in 1917 where he batted 251 times and hit four homeruns. He had a career .252 batting average in 698 at bats. Jim’s highest batting average was in his final season. He batted .327 in 159 at bats.

Thorpe became friends with many of the biggest stars in baseball. He listed Ty Cobb, Hans Wagner, Cy Young and Chief Bender among his many friends. Jim continued to play professional baseball after 1919, but never again on a Major League roster. Thorpe played in the minor leagues through the 1922 season. Thorpe later played semi-pro baseball whenever the opportunity arose. In 1933, Jim took the field for Ben Harjo’s Oklahoma Indians.

To the chagrin of baseball management, Thorpe also played professional football. Professional football was just starting out and on Thorpe’s back it rode. Thorpe became the cornerstone block for what we now know as the National Football League. Crowds were small and pay was only a fraction of what could be earned on a baseball diamond.

It was announced on November 12, 1915 that the Canton Bulldogs had signed Jim Thorpe. Thorpe made his professional debut just a couple days later. Coming off the bench, Thorpe played about one-third of the time in Canton’s 16 to 0 loss to Massillon. Despite chants for him from the stands, management limited his minutes of action. After flashing his amazing speed and talent, Thorpe pocketed $250. Thorpe suited up for Pine Village (Indiana) Athletic Association on Thanksgiving Day in 1915. Thorpe was in the area coaching the backs at Indiana University where he reportedly made $1,000 for his 7-week coaching services. Thorpe pocketed $250 for his stellar play on the field in Pine Village’s 29 to 0 win over the University All-Stars.

Thorpe was back with Canton on November 28, 1915 for a home game again Massillon. Thorpe kicked two field goals, one by drop kick and the other a placement, to give Canton a 6 to 0 victory. It was a prelude to even greater feats of gridiron glory.

Thorpe had an exceptional football season for Canton is 1916. In one game Jim scored all 27 points.

“I am better than I ever was,” said Thorpe in the fall of 1916. “A few more years hasn’t hurt me in the least. Of course, I have taken care of myself.”

Newspapers praised Thorpe for playing better football with Canton in 1916 at age 29 than he did while at Carlisle. Following another outstanding football season in 1917 which saw the Bulldogs claim its second straight unofficial world championship, Thorpe announced in June 1918 that he was quitting football.

“A man has to be in shape to play football,” said Thorpe. “And by being in shape I mean in first-class condition, hard as nails. You don’t need to be that fit to play baseball or any other game. No sport takes as much out of you as football does.”

Thorpe continued, “I’m tired of training in the fall for football. Then, besides, I have business in Oklahoma that should get my attention. I shall not play next fall in Ohio. I guess that means I shall never play football again.”

After missing the 1918 season, Thorpe rejoined the Canton Bulldogs. Thorpe helped the Bulldogs claim a third unofficial world championship in 1919.

Following the 1919 gridiron season, Thorpe was asked why he played pro football. Thorpe told the writer playing football was very profitable and increased his annual income by roughly $5,000.

“I realize that my time in football is short,” Thorpe told the writer. “I want to make good in baseball, and whenever I play football I risk my chance in the national game, for an injury may put me out of the running at almost any time.”

Thorpe, a player with the Canton Bulldogs, was named first president of the American Professional Football Association in 1920— at no salary. Thorpe’s famous name brought instant credibility and substantial publicity to an upstart and fledgling football league, a league now called the National Football League.

After a season with Cleveland, Thorpe joined the Oorang Indians at Larue. Ohio, a town with less than 1,000 residents located on the bank of the Scioto River. The owner, Walter Lingo, made a fortune shipping out thousands of Airedales from his dog kennels each year. A trained dog fetched as much as $500.

Thorpe was paid $500 a week to manage Lingo’s kennels and to serve as player-coach for his football team. Thorpe helped secure the players, all Native Americans. Without a true home stadium, the team traveled around the country playing road games while promoting Lingo’s dog business. Thorpe played two years for Lingo’s NFL team.

Thorpe later suited up for the Rock Island Independents, New York Giants and Tampa Cardinals. Jim returned to Canton in 1926 for another term with the Bulldogs.

Dan O’Connor, Thorpe’s teammate on the Canton Bulldogs squad, witnessed Thorpe’s gridiron greatness. “I’ve seen Thorpe do things on football fields that never happened before or since,” said O’Connor in 1952. “Jim could do everything superbly well,” said Wilbur ‘Pete’ Henry, Thorpe’s Canton teammate. “He was a good passer in days when they tossed few forwards. Throwing the ball 50 or 60 yards was easy for him. No one could block or run the way he could. In his prime he needed no interference. He’d just twist those nimble hips of his and tacklers would go down like ten pins hit by a bowling ball.”

Jim Thorpe took the field in Florida for a game in January 1926.

When asked in 1952 about Thorpe, Tim Mara, owner of the New York Giants gridiron club, simply said, “There was never an athlete like him.”

When he tackled you, you knew it,” recalled Howard Painter, a former NFL halfback with the Frankford Yellow Jackets, in a 1969 newspaper interview. “They say he had a special pair of shoulder pads that were solid leather. That type of shoulder pad was outlawed the year after I played against and was hit a few times by Thorpe.”

“He did a lot of talking during a game. He would say things like ‘you better not try to come through me, you won’t get up’ and he’d even point a finger at you and say, ‘I’m going to get you’. He was rough, but not dirty.” Robbie Robinson, a former captain at the University of Florida, found himself in uniform for a 1926 Sarasota club facing Jim Thorpe. Robinson was shocked at the size of Thorpe. “While at the University of Florida I had played against some of the giants of the gridiron, but at no time did I encounter a halfback the size of Thorpe,” said the former Gator tackle. “He was the size of most tackles and ends.”

What was it like to tackle Jim Thorpe? Jim Ailinger, who played with the Buffalo All-Americans in the NFL, recounted in 1998 his attempt to bring down Jim Thorpe on a kick return in the mid-1920s. “All I could see were his knees going up and down,” recalled Ailinger. “I was knocked out cold, but I tackled him.”

Jim was given the Native American name Wathohuck (Bright Path).

Jimmy Conzelman also played against Thorpe in the pros. “I’ll never forget the first time I played Jim Thorpe,” Conzelman said in 1943. “In an early part of the game I slipped by Thorpe and ran 30 yards. Jim looked at me and said, ‘Nice run kid. But that’ll be all for today.’

Naturally I was sore. A few plays later I saw an opening and started down the sideline again. I’d gone about three yards when Thorpe came along. He didn’t try to tackle me. He just hit me with his hip and I flew over a short fence about six feet away. I thought someone had fired a big shell. The funny part is that Thorpe used his hip in a tackle as often as his arms and shoulders. Jim had a hip that seemed to jump out of joint, especially when you tried to tackle him. He had offensive and defensive hips. And everything else.”

“Jim Thorpe was the greatest player who ever wore a football suit,” said Cub Buck in a 1949 interview. Buck, a star tackle for the Green Bay Packers, played with Thorpe on the Canton Bulldogs. “The guy could handle himself in any league, rough or not so rough,” added Buck. “Thorpe was the finest punter I ever saw,” said Coach Greasy Neale in 1952. “I mean both for distance and placing a kick. He was a good drop kicker and a good placekicker, although not at the top in this department. But he was good enough.

When he took the ball for a run he was close to unstoppable once he got going. He had fast, powerful legs— a hip shift— a killing stiff arm. Few ever wanted to tackle him twice.

There are some backs who are very fast and others who run with power. Thorpe was both. He was extremely elusive, but if he hit you that severe jar you felt was no mistake. Jim actually loved bodily contact—the crash of bodies moving at high speed.”

Many outstanding professional teams existed in the 1920s which were not part of the struggling National Football League. The pride of Ironton, Ohio and Portsmouth, Ohio were the cities’ outstanding gridiron squads.

The Ironton Tanks was the dominant team along the Ohio River. The town was clearly behind its Tanks no matter the costs. Ironton constructed a modern stadium in 1926 which Portsmouth greatly envied.

This ad was placed by the chamber in the special program for the Tanks - Kansas City Cowboys game on Thanksgiving 1926. The Cowboys, a member of the NFL in 1926, and the Tanks played to a scoreless tie.

The stadium was actually constructed in the summer of 1926. Before construction, the Beechwood Stadium Association secured a 20-year lease on land owned by the Ironton public school system. Wisconsin Bridge Company was awarded the steel contract for the new stadium. O.H. Schweickart, a local general contractor, received other contracts. Total cost for the stadium was $33, 500.

Portsmouth, a much larger city located about 30 miles to the west, wanted nothing more than to lick the famous Tanks. Despite eleven past efforts on the gridiron, the best result Portsmouth found against Ironton was a tie. The community was tired of playing for moral victories.

In 1926, a writer with the Portsmouth Times boasted about a “moral victory over the highly touted Ironton Tanks.” Football fans in Portsmouth wanted more than close games against the Tanks.

Portsmouth needed an edge if it was ever to defeat the mighty Tanks. Portsmouth wanted not only a marquee name to put fans in the stands, but an elite player on the field. Having employed a few ringers in the past to some success, Portsmouth set its eyes in 1927 on the ultimate gridiron ringer.

Jim Thorpe traveled from Marion, Ohio where he was playing baseball to Portsmouth on August 30, 1927 to examine the possibility of playing and coaching there. After looking around the city and meeting some of its citizens, Thorpe was impressed with the opportunity. “You have a bustling city here,” said Thorpe. “I can see that right off the reel. There is no reason why the town will not support a first- class grid team.”

With Thorpe entertaining an offer from a city in New Jersey, Portsmouth wanted to quickly secure his services. A public meeting at the city building was set for September 1 in order to build support for hiring Thorpe.

The Portsmouth Times published this story on September 1, 1927 encouraging fans to attend a meeting to discuss employing Jim Thorpe as player- coach.

The meeting resulted in an authorization for Manager Jack Creasy to travel to Marion and sign Thorpe. The Zanesville Times Recorder reported, “Thorpe will receive the largest guarantee ever offered an athlete to coach a professional football team in this section.”

The Portsmouth Times printed Thorpe’s official reply to the job offer on September 8. It was the telegram football fans in Portsmouth hoped to receive from the gridiron legend. “Terms satisfactory. Will report to you no later than next Tuesday. Will play my last ball game here Sunday.” Thorpe added, “I am coming to Portsmouth to play and coach the team, and you can believe me, it will be a winner.”

These are two excerpts from a length story written in January 1926 by Ernie Phillips of the Asheville Times about life after athletics for Indians. His article ran in other newspapers around the country. The article provides great insight on where Native Americans stood in American society during the 1920s. Management of the Portsmouth Shoe-Steels obviously disagreed with this writer’s athletic assessment.

As a member of the Detroit Panthers in 1926, Tom Edwards had a chance to face Jim Thorpe and his Canton Bulldogs. Edwards recalled playing against an aging Thorpe in a September 1977 newspaper interview by the Antrim County News. “He could still hit as hard and as fast as anyone on the field,” said Edwards. “He had a magificent body.” Edwards joined the Ironton Tanks in 1930.

Portsmouth Times republished on October 29, 1927 an interview with Knute Rockne where Rockne called Thorpe the greatest football player ever. Jim Thorpe arrived in Portsmouth on September 13. “I mean business, and Portsmouth is going to have a real eleven this fall,” Thorpe told a reporter at the Portsmouth Times that afternoon. Thorpe immediately put the team through a two-hour workout.

“It’s too early to do any forecasting,” Thorpe said. “I’m not prepared to make any statement, and I’m not taking any chances on making any wild statement, but the material looks good and from every indication we are going to have not only a heavy team, but a fast one. A few nights of hard work will tell me better just how we stand. Every man has to work for a job on this squad.”

“Jim’s here and on the job,” said Manager Jack Creasy. “We’ve got the name for the team. We have decided to call it the Shoe-Steels. We’ve got a bunch of material from which to select a team, and tickets are on sale for the opening game. Now all is left to do is get busy and sell 2,000 of the ducats.”

Creasy counted on local civic groups to advance professional in Portsmouth by purchasing blocks of seats. Jim Thorpe made appearances at the Portsmouth Elks meeting on September 14 and the American Legion meeting on September 15 in order to help the process along.

Thorpe put his team through three hours of drilling on September 14. Over 500 local residents attended the practice session conducted in extremely hot weather.

Under better weather the following day, Thorpe pushed his team even harder. Practice started at 4 p.m. and lasted way past 7 p.m. when darkness forced Thorpe to end the session. Practice concluded with a 100-yard sprint. Following practice, Jack Creasy summed up the upcoming season by stating, “The boys will take care of things on the battlefield if the fans will take care of things at the gate.”

Manager Creasy continued to urge fans to buy tickets and support the team. “We are going the limit to give Portsmouth a real team— one that can beat the Tanks—and we want to have a record crowd at the opener next Sunday.” Creasy said. “It’s up to the fans to stand back of the team.”

Just three days before the opener against the Rochester Clothiers out of Columbus, Ohio, ticket sales exceeded 1,000. “We’ll back ‘em up and we hope the fans will back us up by turning out for the battle in record numbers,” Thorpe told the local newspaper.

Portsmouth won its opener by a score of 13 to 0. Yet, many local fans went home somewhat disappointed. Thorpe, the game’s primary attraction, did not play due to an infected foot.

With a win under his belt, Thorpe drove to Marion, Ohio and returned with his wife and baby. The Thorpe family became Portsmouth residents. Thorpe had to cancel a practice because several players did not show up for a session in the rain. “This is the last time that rain or wet grounds will hold up practice,” Thorpe declared. “I don’t want dry-weather players. I want players who are not afraid of any kind of weather, and rain, snow or shine we’re going to practice every scheduled practice day from now on.”

With his foot healed, Thorpe promised he would play against the Bobb Chevrolets out of Columbus, Ohio. In order to encourage fans to buy a ticket to see its famous star in action, management fixed guards outside the fence to discourage fans from watching through the wire or climbing over it to gain access.

Thorpe played in the backfield, but Portsmouth was soundly defeated 12 to 0 before 1,500 fans. The humbling loss was credited to weak line play by Portsmouth.

Due to mounting debts, the Tanks ceased operations in October. The Portsmouth Times reported the sad news on October 7, 1927. Portsmouth Times later stated an Ironton auto dealer and a physician from Russell, Kentucky rescued the Tanks. After missing a week of play trying to scrounge for funds to save the Tanks, several members of the Tanks joined the Shoe-Steels. ‘Big Boy” Pope and Joe Muhlberger would now anchor the Portsmouth line in the first game against the Tanks. The Springfield Bulldogs traveled to Portsmouth and lost 6 to 0. Thorpe started and played his best game of the young season. He passed, caught passes and hit the line hard. By less than a foot, Thorpe missed a 46-yard drop kick. Thorpe reportedly tackled so hard that five of the men he tackled had to be taken off the field.

Thorpe barked out instructions as he practiced his team for a game against Logan. “Put more punch and snap into your line play. Mix ‘em up. Get started quicker. You blockers get your men, and when it comes to passing, make ‘em good, for grounded or intercepted passes just cut down your chances a 100 percent.”

A bad knee kept Thorpe out of the Logan game. In front of slightly over 800 paid admissions at Labold, Portsmouth defeated Logan, WV by a score of 8 to 6.

With home attendance struggling, Thorpe promised to start the next game against Martins Ferry even if he had to do it on one leg. Creasy begged fans to click the turnstiles so he could continue to bring in good football teams.

Martins Ferry lost 26 to 7 before 1,500 fans at Labold. Thorpe played, but did not start. In limited action, Thorpe ran the ball and even converted an extra point by drop kick.

With Jim Thorpe on the roster, confidence in the team was at a high level. “The Ironton Tanks never had a better team than the Portsmouth Shoe-Steels,” claimed a Portsmouth Times reporter on October 29.

Portsmouth traveled to Redland Field to play the Cincinnati Guards. Before a large crowd, the Guards defeated Portsmouth by the score 19 to 12. Thorpe started and played a solid game. He tossed a touchdown pass to Shipp with seconds left in the game.

A game against the mighty Tanks awaited Thorpe and his Shoe-Steels. The local wager line had Ironton a slight favorite on the road against Portsmouth.

Provided the weather cooperated, attendance was expected to be at a record level. Fans from Ironton and Ashland were eager to see the Tanks take on Thorpe and his squad. The Columbus Dispatch reported a large group from Columbus was headed to Portsmouth to see the big game.

Under ideal weather for football but crisp for fans, nearly 5,000 fans filled Labold to see a game billed as one of the greatest ever in the region. Instead, the Tanks dominated Portsmouth and went home with an 18 to 0 victory. Ironton arrived at the field just a minute or two before the 2:30 p.m. start time. With the stadium filled and ready to go, the Tanks jogged across the field.

(L) Even with Thorpe starting at halfback, Ironton defeated Portsmouth by the score of 18 to 0 at Labold Field before a crowd estimated by the Portsmouth Times between 4,500 and 5,000 people. (R) Ironton fans put their money on the Tanks to shutout Portsmouth and score at least two touchdowns.

Thorpe started in the backfield for Portsmouth. Jim had a 5-yard run up the middle on his first carry against the Tanks. Thorpe only managed three yards and a no gain on his next two attempts. Jim also had an incomplete pass in the first quarter.

Thorpe rushed for a first down early in the second quarter. A substitute checked in for Thorpe and played the remainder of the quarter.

With only 30 seconds left before halftime, Paul Hogan fielded a Portsmouth punt and returned it 40 yards for an Ironton touchdown. He evaded many would-be tacklers on his touchdown sprint. Ironton held a 6 to 0 advantage at the half.

Herman intercepted a pass by Thorpe on the second play in the third quarter. The defense held and forced Ironton to punt.

Ironton Tribune listed Thorpe as a starter in its game box. Shorty Davies came off the bench and played an incredible game for the Tanks. Ironton Tribune reported game attendance at 3,500 fans.

Hogan returned a Portsmouth punt forty yards before a tackler caught him at the 5-yard line. Stock plunged the ball over the goal to make the score 12 to 0.

After an Ironton punt, Portsmouth had the football near its own 40-yard line. Following an incomplete pass, Thorpe connected with Rapp for 10 yards. Thorpe’s next two passes were incomplete and a five-yard penalty was enforced. The drive stalled and Portsmouth was forced to punt.

Portsmouth fared no better on its next possession. Thorpe fumbled the ball and lost five yards. Ironton held a 12 to 0 advantage after three quarters.

Davies intercepted a pass by Thorpe and took it 20-yards for an Ironton touchdown. The extra point was again no good.

Bill Brooks, a 1915 graduate of Ironton High School, played freshman football at Ohio State. One of the original 1919 Tanks, Brooks worked at Alpha Portland Cement in Ironton and served on the Ironton school board. Brooks served as Tanks business manager until Nick McMahon was elected mid-season by the players.

Trailing 18 to 0, Thorpe tried his hand at passing. Davies picked off Thorpe’s pass for his second interception on the day.

Thorpe attempted a drop kick in the final quarter, but Barron blocked it. Thorpe completed a 30-yard pass to end the game.

“Coach Jim Thorpe played one of the most heady games of football of any player,” wrote the scribe with the Portsmouth Times. “He was always in the play and was a great help both on the offensive and defensive. He did not make any spectacular plays, but it was easily seen that he added a great deal.”

Unable to run the ball against Ironton, Portsmouth took to the air. Thorpe tossed several passes for gains of 10 to 30 yards. After the loss to Ironton, a writer at the Portsmouth Times suggested the Tanks be moved to Portsmouth so the city could enjoy a victory in the series.

Despite the shutout, Thorpe refused to credit the Ironton Tanks. Instead, Thorpe insisted “bonehead” plays by Portsmouth helped Ironton win.

Shorty Davies suffered a serious knee injury in the win at Portsmouth. He missed the game against Armco and was expected to be finished for the season. Davies was presented a fine watch by appreciative fans during a ceremony before the Armco game.

Thomas Charlton ‘Shorty’ Davies, player-coach for the Ironton Tanks, was a 1917 graduate of Ironton High School. A star quarterback and team captain in high school, Davies lettered in football at Ohio State in 1918 and 1919. Believing it was rough or dirty play, Portsmouth fans hooted Davies when he picked up Shipp and tossed him to the ground during the 18 to 0 loss to Ironton.

Davies was head football coach at Ironton High School in 1927. In his lengthy tenure with the school district, Davies served as teacher and athletic director. He eventually became principal at Ironton High School. Davies was honored by the Ironton Sports Day Committee in 1965.

Portsmouth Times and Ironton Tribune ran these headlines after Ironton defeated Portsmouth.

Thorpe regrouped his squad for a visit by Hocking Valley. Portsmouth dispatched the visitors 13 to 7 before about 800 fans. Thorpe started, but made no noteworthy plays. The former superstar had yet to score a touchdown for Portsmouth.

Thorpe needed to get his team ready for its final chance to beat Ironton. However, he was so under the weather that he had to turn his practices over to ‘Hoggy’ Jean. Jean, a veteran on the line, ran practices like a seasoned coach.

This November 16, 1927 ad in the Portsmouth Times listed the price to ride the electric street car from Portsmouth to Ironton. Special cars ran on the traction line to provide direct access to Beechwood Stadium. The stadium received an Ohio historical marker in 2002.

Fans walked up the ramp under Beechwood Stadium to find their seats in order to catch Jim Thorpe in action against the Ironton Tanks. (Photo by Jim Ridgeway)

Ironton football fans sat in these covered bleachers in 1927 and watched Jim Thorpe play football against the Tanks. (Photo by Jim Ridgeway)

(L) This is the game box from the Portsmouth Times. Under the weather most of the week, Jim Thorpe was not in the starting eleven for the rematch at Beechwood Stadium. (R) Fans could sit in the covered bleachers at Beechwood for $1.40 and watch Jim Thorpe play. More than 1,100 fans from Portsmouth made the trip to Ironton.

Roughly 3,800 fans packed Beechwood Stadium to see the Tanks take on Jim Thorpe and his Portsmouth club. A large contingent of fans from Portsmouth hoped to see Portsmouth finally win one against their up-river rival.

Grimes described it as “a rough game from start to finish.” Jean got into a fight with Harry Pope, an Ironton end, and both players were taken off the field. Shipp had his shoulder so wretched that his arm was seen in a sling after the game.

The action in the stands was also hot and heavy. At least six fights between fans were reported. Additionally, a Portsmouth man drew his revolver before police intervened to prevent further damage.

The only score came early in the first quarter. Fred Shipp tossed a short pass into the arms of ‘Speed’ Charles who dodged across the Ironton goal to give Portsmouth a 6 to 0 lead. Hathaway booted the extra point to stretch the advantage to seven points.

Thorpe entered the game in the third quarter to help preserve the victory. Thorpe gained four yards on his first carry. He was then stopped for no gain. Jim finished the series with a nice punt.

On Portsmouth’s next series, Thorpe punched through the line for 3 yards. Portsmouth punted and Hogan fumbled the football back to Portsmouth. Portsmouth started the final quarter with the ball at the Ironton 34-yard line. Thorpe was stopped on first down for no gain. Thorpe passed to Red Joseph for eight yards. Pfau rushed for a first down. The drive stalled after Thorpe failed to gain on a run and tossed two straight incomplete passes. Portsmouth was penalized for five yards following the second incomplete pass. Thorpe’s drop kick was partially blocked and recovered by Ironton on the 15-yard line.

After a Pfau interception, Portsmouth had the ball on the Ironton 38-yard line. Thorpe rushed the ball three straight times gaining two, seven and four yards. Thorpe’s first-down run off right tackle placed the ball on the Ironton 25-yard line. The drive ended on the next play when Thorpe tossed a pass which Moore intercepted on the Ironton 25-yard line.

Always a great defensive force, Thorpe batted down Delong’s pass attempt. The defense stiffened and Portsmouth forced Ironton to punt.

Thorpe launched two more punts in the quarter denying Ironton any type of field position. After Pfau intercepted a Delong pass, Portsmouth ran out the game clock.

“Coach Jim Thorpe and his aid, Hoggy Jean, deserve a world of credit for development of their machine,” stated a scribe with the Ironton Tribune. “The River City line outplayed the Tank forward wall, and the Ironton backfield was never a threat.”

Ironton’s best chance to score came when Herby Stock intercepted a pass and shot around right end for a long gain. A Portsmouth tackler prevented Stock from scoring on the turnover.

“The gridiron-loving populace doffs their lids to Coach Jim Thorpe, Manager Jim Creasy and every member of the Steel-Shoes team,” added H. Coleman Grimes, reporter for the Portsmouth Times. “It was noble work up in Tank-town yesterday boys. And do not think that your deserved victory is not appreciated in this man’s town.

All season long Thorpe and Creasy insisted that ultimately they would mold a team together that would trounce the Tanks. That sounded like a yarn as it has on previous occasions, but the trick was turned and before a record crowd in Ironton. What a grand and glorious feeling.”

“There is a first to everything,” claimed the Portsmouth Times reporter. “That is a law of nature. So it was just natural that the Tanks had to lose to Portsmouth on the gridiron someday. And yesterday was that glad someday. And to think the Big Red was humiliated right on its own ash heap. Outplayed and outgained and outsmarted, the Tankers had nothing left to do but admit they were beaten yesterday. Sunday, November 20 will go down in Portsmouth grid history as a memorable day.”

In a short column, the Portsmouth Times praised Coach Jean for getting the players ready for the Tanks.

Ironton Tribune compiled and published game statistics for the game at Beechwood Stadium “Thorpe’s best play was on the defensive at breaking up forward passes. The former All-American played a heady game of football and his years of experience has taught him how to handle the players,” wrote Grimes for the Portsmouth Times.

The scribe at the Portsmouth Times also gave it to Ironton’s Bill Brooks. “Yes, big, jovial Bill Brooks of the Tanks had his weekly cry Sunday. Bill’s tears of bitter disappointment failed to stem the tide and the Tanks for the first time since they started their enviable grid career lost to the hated and much despised enemy, Portsmouth. The Big Red must have looked mighty blue last night.”

The grandstand at Beechwood had almost as much action as the field.

The Portsmouth Times credited ‘Hoggy’ Jean for the win over the Tanks.

Ironton Tribune and Portsmouth Times ran these headlines following the Tanks first loss to Portsmouth in the history of the gridiron rivalry.

Ironton News ran this story after the Tanks lost to Portsmouth at Beechwood Stadium.

After the Tanks’ seasonal revenues were split in December, players on the 1927 Ironton squad made approximately $50 per game. The players also earned the right to say they had played against and even tackled the renowned Jim Thorpe.

Jim Thorpe played on this field in front of the same covered bleachers in 1927. Thorpe helped Portsmouth defeat the Ironton Tanks for the first time in the history of the rivalry. (Photos by Jim Ridgeway)

Ironton Tanks against Portsmouth’s Professional Squad

Ironton Tanks overall record in series (12-5-5)

1919 Tanks 12 N & W 0 (named after local railroad) 1920 Tanks 6 Smoke House 6 (team also still called N & W by local newspaper)

1920 Tanks 14 Smoke House 0 (named after local tobacco shop) 1921 Tanks 0 Smoke House 0 1921 Tanks 14 Smoke House 0 1922 No Game 1923 Tanks 40 Smoke House 0 1923 Tanks 21 Smoke House 6 1924 Tanks 44 Smoke House 0 1924 Tanks 0 Smoke House 0 1925 No Game 1926 Tanks 9 Studebaker Presidents 0 (named for glamour car made by Studebaker)

1926 Tanks 33 Studebaker Presidents 0 (team often just called Presidents)

Ironton Tanks record in series before facing Thorpe (8-0-3)

1927 Tanks 18 Shoe-Steels 0 1927 Tanks 0 Shoe-Steels 7 Ironton Tanks record in series facing Thorpe (1-1-0)

1928 Tanks 0 Spartans 0 (team name decided by local contest) 1928 Tanks 0 Spartans 0 (Bert Hurth won a season ticket for submitting name)

1928 Tanks 14 Spartans 0 1929 Tanks 3 Spartans 0

1929 Tanks 0 Spartans 20 1929 Tanks 0 Spartans 38 1930 Tanks 6 Spartans 7 1930 Tanks 16 Spartans 15 1930 Tanks 0 Spartans 12 Ironton Tanks record in series after Thorpe (3-4-2)

On November 23, 1927, Fred Shipp announced his marriage to a former Ironton High School valedictorian. The Ironton school teacher kept her marriage to a Portsmouth football player a secret until the results of his game against the Ironton Tanks were in. After defeating Ironton, Portsmouth set out to win another rematch. Bobb Chevrolet visited Portsmouth and left town with a 32 to 0 loss. Thorpe entered the game as a substitute and broke up a couple of passes. Even in a rout, Thorpe never carried the football over goal.

Thorpe’s contract called for ten games. Creasy had another game scheduled against Armco. Supposedly, Thorpe agreed to play one more game. However, Jim had pressing business back home in Marion, Ohio.

The Portsmouth Times reported on December 1, 1927 that Jim Thorpe had to return home to take care of his dogs. Most residents believed then, and many still do today, that Jim Thorpe abandoned his team over a few hunting dogs. In reality, Thorpe was heavily invested in a major dog kennel which was going broke.

Thorpe finished with a 7-3 coaching record. Jim also delivered what he promised, a win over the Ironton Tanks.

The fans never got to see what they wanted out of Thorpe on the field. The legendary running back never scored a touchdown for Portsmouth. As player-coach at age forty, Thorpe avoided calling his own name near the goal in order to allow his players a chance to do what he had done many times in his professional career.

Portsmouth made the short trip to Ashland to take on Armco without the services of Jim Thorpe. In front of 5,000 fans, Armco won by the score of 7 to 6.

The Portsmouth Times reported on December 1, 1927 that Thorpe had to go to Marion to take care of his dogs. Many wrongfully believed his kennel was a small operation and a few dogs kept him from playing the final game of the season against Ashland Armco.

Thorpe’s kennel company went bankrupt in December 1927.

After compiling a 7-3 record as Portsmouth’s player-coach, Jim Thorpe and his Indians took to the basketball court in 1927.

This September 25, 1928 article was published by the Portsmouth Times. The writer called Jim Thorpe ‘coach’, a complimentary title for a man no longer coaching the local football team.

Thorpe’s final appearance as a professional football player came in 1928. Thorpe signed with the Chicago Cardinals right before the team met its crosstown rival, the Chicago Bears, at Wrigley Field on November 29, 1928 in the annual Thanksgiving NFL game. The game was billed as a charity affair to bolster a Christmas fund.

This photo of Thorpe was taken in 1928. It closely represents what Thorpe looked like in 1927 when he played with the Portsmouth Shoe-Steels. The Bears routed the Cardinals 34 to 0 to win the city title. Out of football for a year, Thorpe was ineffective in his few minutes at left end for the Cardinals. A journalist wrote, “Thorpe was a mere shadow of his former self.”

Life after football was difficult for Thorpe. He lost money on oil wells in Oklahoma. In the middle of the Great Depression, a newspaper man found Thorpe in Los Angeles digging ditches for $4 a day. The nation was shocked to learn how far the athletic icon had fallen.

The Palm Beach Post was one of few newspapers to put a positive spin on Thorpe’s situation in 1931.

Lynn A. Wittenberg, scribe at the Portsmouth Times, reported on December 23, 1930 that Thorpe was trained to respond to disasters.

“Some people seem to think it’s a disgrace for me to dig ditches for a living, but I don’t,” said Thorpe. “I was doing it to tide over a bad time, to support my family, and I was on the way to a better job when the story broke.”

The better job offer came from Hollywood. Thorpe donned the hide and feathers of his ancestors for a serial film in 1931.

Thorpe also tried to bring a degree of authenticity to Hollywood. Rather than utilize the standard Indian props found on set, Thorpe constructed and wore authentic costumes used by his people.

Thorpe also insisted on putting real Indians on film. In 1932, Jim helped negotiate the employment of several hundred Indians from the Shoshone and Bannock tribes for Buck Jones’ White Eagle. Thorpe played an Indian chieftain in the film.

Earning a modest living in Hollywood as an extra was as rough as football for Thorpe. He was thrown from a saddleless horse in August 1932 and ended up in the emergency room with numerous lacerations and bruises to go with a wrenched shoulder. He was taken to his home in Inglewood to recuperate.

Thorpe also donned a football uniform for some Hollywood shorts. “In a uniform and with a football in my hands, the old fire came to life again and the years seemed as nothing,” recalled Thorpe in a 1945 interview. “I kicked alongside the youngsters— 60, 70, 75 yards”

Watch Jim Thorpe drop kick and listen to him speak in Always Kickin’, a short 1932 video where Thorpe played himself.

http://youtu.be/5j0CvX00Aqc

In 1935, Thorpe was on set as Convict Number 13111 for a picture called Safe in Jail. Thorpe picked up about ten bucks a day working about three days a week as a movie extra.

Will Rogers, a Native American from Oklahoma and a highly-compensated movie star, offered strong praise for Thorpe in his June 23, 1935 nationally-syndicated newspaper column. Thorpe lost a good friend when Rogers died in a plane crash on August 15, 1935.

“My oldest boy thinks he wants to be a boxer,” said Thorpe in 1935. “Well, he will have to be good enough to whip me before I’ll let him become any kind of professional athlete.”

“If the kids want to go in for sports, that will be alright,” added Thorpe. “But, between you and me, I’ll be just as happy if they won’t. All the fun has gone out of sports. Too many coaches, too much commercialism.”

Jim Thorpe was praised in this November 1935 newspaper article.

Jim Thorpe launched a campaign in 1935 to get his Olympic trophies back. “I’ve won my last contest,” said Thorpe in April 1935, “but there’s one thing I want to do for my kids— I want them to know what their father once was.”

Thorpe was interviewed by Ernie Pyle in January 1937. After being worth more than $100,000 and owning three houses, Thorpe was now living in a small rented bungalow in Hawthorne, California. Thorpe drove an old 4-cylinder Ford sedan.

“Easy come, easy go,” said Thorpe about his current financial situation. “Thought it would last forever, I guess.”

Thorpe told Ernie Pyle that he thought Ohio was the most beautiful state in the country. Thorpe had lived much of his life in Ohio until C.C. Pyle stranded Jim in California after a failed business undertaking in 1929. Jim also lamented living so far away from all of his friends from the sporting world. Thorpe informed Ernie that the 300 to 400 Indians he represented in Hollywood resulted in the Indians and studios making repeated collect calls to his house about potential work. While Jim was happy to serve as a representative, he wasn’t fond of picking up a $25 tab each month for the collect phone calls to his house. Thorpe was eventually forced to remove his home phone in order to eliminate all the collect calls.

Pyle wrote that Thorpe liked to speak with newspapermen and was a good conversationalist who liked talking. Fluent in Sauk and Fox with some knowledge of three or four other Indian dialects, Pyle noted Thorpe spoke English without accent.

Jim spent his free time fishing from an ocean pier a few miles from his house or looking at magazines. On occasion, Jim might attend a football game.

When Ernie Pyle asked Thorpe about film work, Thorpe told him he enjoyed it. “But it has killed going to theaters for me,” Thorpe said. “I go to sleep watching a movie now.”

Thorpe’s Olympic feats were back in the spotlight after a 1937 newspaper interview with Brutus Hamilton, University of California track and field coach and former decathlon star. The story made the A.P. wire.

“It is foolish to say our present athletes are superior to Thorpe because they have made more points in the decathlon,” said Hamilton. “Thorpe was a physical marvel. Our coaching technique and training methods have advanced to a far greater degree than our athletes in the last 25 years. I believe that Thorpe, training and competing under present day conditions, would have set up records of almost unbelievable nature.”

Thorpe’s film career was interrupted in 1937 when he became an automobile salesman in Pasadena. After realizing he was not much of an auto salesman, Thorpe quickly returned to working in the movies.

In late-May 1938, Thorpe had to pass a swimming test in sixty-degree water to land a spot as an extra in Clark Gable’s Too Hot to Handle. Over 600 people entered the ocean, many wearing street clothes, to swim half a mile around a pier. Over 200 people needed rescued by lifeguards. Thorpe suffered a leg cramp and was among the contingent rescued from the cold water.

In 1938, Thorpe spoke out about his people’s plight. Thorpe was vehemently opposed to new Indian legislation coming out of D.C. In Jim’s mind, his tribe and other tribes would be better off without all the governmental oversight. Thorpe also questioned whether the government was truly concerned about Indians or simply controlling that valuable black crude found beneath Indian land.

(L) Jim Thorpe openly questioned what type of governing his people received from the federal government in this January 31, 1938 article. (R) Thorpe’s tribe lived in wooden buildings just like their cousins, the Shawnee. When Thorpe played for Portsmouth, he was living in Shawnee country. Tecumseh, the legendary Shawnee leader, was born on the Scioto River near Chillicothe, Ohio.

While not a prominent tribe in the state, the Sauk once roamed Ohio as well. Thorpe’s people relinquished all Ohio land claims with the signing of the Treaty of Fort Harmar (1789). A bribe consisting of presents worth three thousand dollars was used to get the signatures of the Sauk and other tribes. The Shawnee never signed or recognized the treaty.

A Marion, Ohio resident serving in the Army was shown Hollywood by Jim Thorpe in June 1940.

For more information on Thorpe’s fairly extensive film career, visit the following site.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0861680/

Thorpe credited track with his success is sports. “There is nothing better than track for coordination of mind, body and soul,” said Thorpe in 1940. “It teaches timing, judgment of distance, balance, develops lung power. I am convinced that track work put me in a position to make my football records.”

“Track is the most important,” concluded Thorpe. “It is the food for other sports.” “Our Carlisle team averaged only about 185 pounds, but it was trained to the minute,” said Thorpe. “Me? I trained too. I used to run around at night,” joked Thorpe. “No, no, I really mean it. I’d get out and run around the track.”

Reflecting back on his football career in 1940, Thorpe was adamant that his sons select baseball over football. “Baseball pays money. Football is fine, but all you get out of it are newspaper clippings. You can’t eat them. In track you get press notices too, but they won’t pay your bills. Baseball last longer and pays better.”

“Pro football is too tough on you,” declared Thorpe, “and you get little out of it.”

“Having had speed, the modern game would have been made to order for me, so when I hear someone say Thorpe would have been no great shakes at this kind of football, it kind of gets under my skin,” said Thorpe in a1941 interview. “Basically, football is no different from the kind of game we played at Carlisle under old Pop Warner. A lot of new tricks have been added, of course, but the original skeleton is there, with perhaps a little new meat. We ran and kicked very much the same as they do today.”

“There were lots of exciting battles in the old days,” Thorpe said, “though we didn’t get the crowds that attend games today.”

Jim Thorpe never let age be a factor in his decision making. With World War II on the horizon, Thorpe tried to get the U.S. Marines to take him as a trainer. “They told me there wasn’t any room now,” said Thorpe who now weighed around 225 pounds. “What they really meant was that I am too old— only 53.”

“I’m still light on my feet, and I’ve lived with a gun in my hand since I was a boy in Delmont, Oklahoma, and I can shoot as good as I ever could,” said Thorpe. “I think I could still show these youngsters something about shooting and if I can’t get into armed service there should be something I can do to help out. I’m still looking for that something.”

Instead, Thorpe went on a national speaking tour in 1941. Basically working for charity, Thorpe spoke to high school kids about his sports exploits and the dangers of smoking and drinking. “To be at your best you must shun cigarettes and liquor,” Thorpe told a high school assembly in Uniontown, PA. “Don’t let the first drink fool you,” warned Thorpe. “That’s the one that does the damage.” Thorpe ended the assembly by signing countless autographs for the boys and girls.

Les Secrest, a personal friend to Thorpe, called Thorpe a “man’s man” in August 1965. “Jim would always spend his vacations around Canton. When I knew him (1930-1944) his playing days were finished, and he was doing parts in Hollywood films playing an Indian. He got enough out of the movies to get by for those years, but it was not long that he ran out of money. His reputation went on before him; people were always wanting to meet him, to shake hands with the great Jim Thorpe. He never took advantage of people because of his name.”

Jim Thorpe was quite proud his daughter, Grace Thorpe, was serving her country during WW II. Grace, pictured here in July 1943, was later deployed to the Pacific where she served with distinction.

Jim’s son, Carl, also served his country during WW II. He retired in 1974 as an U.S. Army colonel. Carl’s younger brother, Bill, also served his country during WW II.

The Thorpe family exemplified Native American patriotism. More than 44,000 Native Americans saw military service during WW II.

Thorpe worked in 1942 and 1943 as a security guard at a Ford Motor plant in Detroit. Newspapers reported in February 1943 that Thorpe, a resident of Romulus, Michigan, had suffered a major heart attack at the Rouge plant and was likely to return to Oklahoma. Eddie Brannick, who started in 1905 as an office boy in the New York Giants office and rose to club secretary, said in February 1943, “I just can’t imagine old Jim having a bum ticker. I never saw such strength in a man. And it’s great to hear he’s out of that hospital in Detroit and is around again.”

Brannick added, “I remember the first time I saw him. It was around 1911and I went to a football game between Carlisle and Army, and saw this big fellow run down the field leaving a bunch of Army men scattered in his wake. And they didn’t get up very fast either. The way he’d run he’d belt you with his knees or hips. Army was out to stop him that day. It didn’t. He won the game single handed.”

Brannick described Thorpe’s professional baseball career as “pretty good. He played longer than you think.” Brannick added, “McGraw was very fond of him and Jim got along fine with the other players. They’d pester him to death though.”

“Thorpe was pretty smart, too,” Brannick recalled. “The players were allowed $4 a day to eat on. That wasn’t enough for Jim, so he’d pick out some young fellow who didn’t have much of an appetite and say to him: ‘Come on, let’s you and I eat together.’ They’d put it all on one check so there was no way of telling that Jim ate $6 or $7 worth of food.”

“I was just a young fellow when Jim came to the Giants, and I was awed by his record as any young fellow would be. I started to call him Mr. Thorpe, and he said, ‘Just call me Jim.’ I remember how proud I was just walking down the street with him. I could imagine other kids saying, ‘There goes Jim Thorpe: I wonder who that is with him.’”

“I don’t think there was ever an athlete who was considered the best so unanimously,” said Brannick. “There never was any question about it. He could do anything.”

In the wake of Thorpe’s heart attack, members of the Oklahoma legislature pushed hard in April 1943 for the return of Thorpe’s Olympic medals and trophies. While the story got national attention, the A.A.U. never budged on its stance regarding Thorpe.

Thorpe lobbied in October 1943 for a job in the athletic department at the University of Oklahoma. “I want to help the state any way I can, and I could do so there better than any other place,” declared Thorpe.

Thorpe’s sons were attending Indian schools in Oklahoma, and Jim longed for a job in his native state so he could be near them. Jim even spoke to Governor Robert Kerr about a spot on the Oklahoma highway patrol.

Thorpe was disappointed not to land a coaching job at the University of Oklahoma in 1943. Jim took a plant job in California on November 9, 1943.

Back on his feet and feeling better, Thorpe lobbied in 1945 for the creation of a junior Olympics in order to curb juvenile delinquency and enhance physical education in the country. “Aside from keeping the kids’ minds occupied, they would be developing physically,” said Thorpe.

In a January 1945 interview with Hal Wood of the United Press, Wood reported Thorpe was still sad about the loss of his Olympic records and trophies. “It would make little difference to me personally, but I would like to see the records reinstated for the sake of my sons,” said Thorpe.

Thorpe provided strong insight on professional athletics in 1946 Thorpe finally found a way to serve his country during WW II. He joined the merchant marines in June 1945. As a carpenter’s mate on an ammunition ship, Thorpe got a chance to meet real Indians when he stopped at Calcutta, India.

After World War II, Thorpe drifted around the country. He was living in a trailer on a small farm outside of Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1946. Thorpe joked to a reporter about having “knots all over my head from living in a trailer.” The trailer was full of things Jim loved to do in his retirement. He had his fishing gear, hunting equipment, bow and arrows and golf clubs. Weighing 215 pounds at age 57, Thorpe typically shot in the mid-70s on the links.

In March 1946, Thorpe listed two ambitions left in his life. “First, I will rate the regaining of my trophies that I won in the 1912 Olympics. I read that Secretary Dan Ferris of the AAU says they’re on permanent exhibit, Lucerne, Switzerland. Several movements have been started to have these trophies returned to me at this late date, the Oklahoma legislature adopting a resolution along that line. I sincerely hope they, or someone else, succeeds.” Thorpe added about the1912 Olympics, “If I had had even a faint suspicion of the trouble it was going to cause, I never would have participated.”

Thorpe listed playing one final game of football as his final ambition. “Why I should have such an idea at my age, I don’t know,” wrote Thorpe.

Thorpe also wrote in March 1946, “I never actually ran to establish records. My first, and only thought, was to run fast enough to win the particular event I was in, or jump high enough or far enough.” Thorpe continued, “It is my idea that something should be kept in reserve by an athlete.”

“The 9.8 for the 100 that I made was not my absolute best, just the best I had to do to win,” said Thorpe. “I firmly believe under modern conditions, such as starting blocks, better spikes, a gun to start with, I could surpass the 9.4 world record for the 100.”

Thorpe also explained why he moved from one city to another. “I have been delivering lectures, making public appearances, sometimes picking up a radio program and traveling about. It’s the old wanderlust of the Indian, I suppose, that keeps me moving about here, there and everywhere.”

True to his words, Thorpe took a job as a greeter at a Chicago saloon on West Madison Street in 1947. Jim was the halftime guest on the TV broadcast of the Pittsburgh Steelers game against the hometown Bears. He also served as a referee for wrestling matches. Thorpe moved into a Chicago park supervisor job in 1948.

Thorpe was looking for a financial break in October 1948. “If I could get a break on some dough, we might go down to Florida and open a fishing lodge,” said Thorpe. “Get a cabin, have some boats, take people out.” “He’s had some rugged times,” said Jim’s wife, Patricia. “His trouble is, he’s just as aggressive as a snail. People owe him up into the thousands.”

Thorpe worked as a greeter and manager of a sports bar in downtown Los Angeles in 1949. He also had a bit part in White Heat (1949) starring Jimmy Cagney.

Mrs. Thorpe added, “Jim’s tired, but he’s still a lot of man.” Thorpe managed a women’s softball squad in 1949. The Thunderbirds went on tour in a quest for the mythical national title.

While Thorpe could no longer win a sprint or score a game-winning touchdown, he was about to experience that sensation one more time. After fifty years of athletics in the 20th century, sportswriters and broadcasters decided to honor the greatest athletes of the period. When the votes were tabulated, Jim Thorpe’s name was again thrust into the national limelight. Jim was about to receive an honor far exceeding an Olympic gold medal.

Thorpe was elated to be named athlete Greatest Male Athlete of the Half Century in 1950. The Associated Press poll saw 252 out of 393 sportswriters and radio broadcasters list him first on their ballot. Babe Ruth finished second and received 86 first place votes.

Newspapers across the United States heralded Jim Thorpe as the greatest male athlete.

“This was the finest tribute every paid me,” Thorpe told reporters at the Dapper Dan Dinner on February 10, 1952.

Thorpe was also named Greatest Football Player of the Half Century. Red Grange finished second in the poll. Jim finished second to Jesse Owens in the voting for Greatest Track Athlete of The Half Century.

Newspapers across the United States reported Jim Thorpe as the greatest football player of past 50 years.

While Thorpe’s name was stricken from the records, the I.O.C. could not stop mentioning his Olympic feats. “A Red Indian from America” encapsulated how the people in charge of the 1948 London Games viewed Jim Thorpe.

Thorpe expressed his desire to see his tribe compensated for lost land in a January 1950 interview. “This Government claim,” Jim said, “has been on my mind for years.”

“Here’s the story: In 1814 the Government purchased 70,000 acres from my tribe, which was part of the land used in the famous ‘land rush’. That money was deposited in a St. Louis bank for the Indians. According to my figures the original sum paid for the land with compound interest has grown to $456,760,000.” “The land that was purchased from us since yielded millions and millions of dollars in oil,” claimed Thorpe. “Too bad we didn’t hold on to it.”

Thorpe said the tribal chieftain of the remaining 460 members must first place the claim to get the ball rolling. Thorpe also had a plan for the money if the claim was successful. “The money will be divided among the members,” said Thorpe.

In late-January 1950, Thorpe was back in Pennsylvania with stops in Hanover and Carlisle. He was designated by sports scribes as The Outstanding Athlete in Pennsylvania History. Governor James Duff presented Thorpe the award before a crowd of 700 persons, including many great athletes of the day.

Thorpe told a reporter he was overcome by the suddenness of his climb back to fame. The A.P. honor of Greatest Athlete had just come out, and now Thorpe was honored by the state of Pennsylvania. “It was great to see the folks haven’t forgotten old Jim,” Thorpe said.

The following day Thorpe was back at Carlisle and standing at Stark Field. Several thousand residents turned out to catch a glimpse of Jim and hear what he had to say. A tour of the Carlisle Barracks had to bring back memories for Jim and those old enough to have seen him play.

Even up in age, Thorpe donned a football uniform and put on kicking exhibitions. The Philadelphia Eagles signed him in February 1950 to perform public relations duties, namely entertaining fans with his kicking abilities.

In 1931, Thorpe sold the rights to a movie about his life to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for a paltry $1,500. Even with Thorpe’s continual encouragement, the project was dormant until 1950. Thorpe’s fame following the 1950 A.P. polls brought Hollywood calling again. Production on a movie documenting Thorpe’s life was set to begin in the spring.

Thorpe reaped little financial benefit from the film by Warner Brothers. Warner Brothers simply acquired the rights to the film from MGM, the company Thorpe sold it to in the 1930s. Thorpe was hired on as a technical consultant at a nominal salary.

Following lip cancer surgery in November 1951, his wife, Patricia, publicly declared Jim Thorpe destitute. “A great surgeon did it,” declared Mrs. Thorpe. “There was no fee. That’s because Jim is destitute.”

“Jim has nothing but his name and his memories,” said Mrs. Thorpe. “He has spent money on his own people and has given it away. He has often been exploited.”

Upon leaving the hospital, Mrs. Thorpe suggested the A.A.U. restore his medals at Helsinki Stadium where the 1952 Olympic Games were scheduled to be held. “Jim wants to be vindicated as an honest athlete,” said Mrs. Thorpe.

Even with the unnamed surgeon’s generosity, Thorpe was left with bills he was unable to pay. A nationwide ‘Let’s send Jim a dollar’ campaign was started. Tom E. Williams, a local insurance man who visited Thorpe’s California home in 1932, was designated to take up funds for Thorpe in Portsmouth. The local effort netted Thorpe $50 to help cover his medical expenses.

Thorpe sent Tom Williams a postcard from New York City to show his appreciation. Pete Minego later published Jim Thorpe’s words in his Portsmouth Times column. “I know how people must feel over one’s hard luck. A friend in need truly is a friend indeed. So you can thank the whole gang for me, and I thank them a million times.”

When Thorpe stopped at Pittsburgh to accept a check for $1,933.50 to apply towards his medical expenses, he stated his appreciation for what the public was doing to assist him. “I just don’t know what to say but thank you,” said Thorpe. “Everybody has been so nice to me since my operation. It makes me feel warm and thankful for the many kind and thoughtful people that exist in this world.”

The release of Thorpe’s movie came in 1951, and Jim’s name was as hot as it had ever been on the national stage. The movie opened at the Laroy in Portsmouth, Ohio in September 1951.

The mayor of Coshocton, Ohio issued a proclamation on December 16, 1951 calling it Jim Thorpe Week. Contributions to the Jim Thorpe Fund were accepted at the Pastime Theater which was showing the movie documenting Thorpe’s life.

In September 1951, area residents could watch Thorpe’s life on the big screen at the 1,400-seat LaRoy Theater in Portsmouth which was operated by Warner Brothers. LaRoy seated more people (1,400 to 1,309) than the Paramount in Ashland, KY. You can watch the trailer for the movie at the link below.

http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/303225/Jim-Thorpe-All-American-Original-Trailer-.html

Thorpe found donors from every corner of the globe. A soldier serving on the Korean battle front, Army Private William McGee of Peoria, Illinois, sent a letter with his donation. The letter stated: “I never saw Jim Thorpe, but I’ve read a lot about him. We don’t have any dollar bills out here, but enclosed is my lucky 50-cent piece which I’ve carried for years. Hope it brings Jim the luck it has brought me.”

Even Native Americans got in on the act of giving back to Thorpe. Juanita Senter, a Sioux princess living in New York, donated $100 to the cause. She formed a committee of New York Indians in order to facilitate donations to help Thorpe get back on his feet. “I am receiving calls from many Indians who are poor but who will give a dollar which they can little afford to help a man they all revere and love,” said Senter.

Thorpe was named in November 1951 as one of 32 players in the inaugural class at the College Football Hall of Fame. Jim’s college coach, Pop Warner, was one of 21 coaches in the charter class.

“Jim Thorpe was the best man in his position I ever saw, the cleverest man for his weight I ever saw,” said Pop Warner in 1931. “Jim was as fast, shifty and clever as any lightweight back and yet was heavy enough to play the smashing game and be a power in the interference. Thorpe was a great punter and passer as well as a fine ball carrier. He was without superior as a safety man and could play any defensive backfield position.”

Following the radical removal of the tumor from his lip and plastic surgery to avoid a deformity, Jim Thorpe took time in December to pay tribute to the late Rev. Mark E. Stock, longtime pastor at St. Francis Xavier parish in Gettysburg. Stock officiated at Thorpe’s marriage to his Carlisle sweetheart so many decades ago.

Thorpe also took time to voice his complaints about the care of Native Americans. “All of the billions of dollars going overseas, but the American Indian gets nothing,” said Thorpe in 1951. “Some of them are in actual need for food and clothing.”

The Fair Play for Thorpe Committee lobbied hard in 1951 for the return of Thorpe’s Olympic medals. It certainly appeared on a path to success for on December 4, 1951 newspapers reported that Hugo Weislander and Ferdinand Bie, the men Thorpe forfeited his medals to in 1912, were willing to return them to Thorpe.

“If the International Olympic Committee and the Norwegian Sports Association approves, I would be glad to let Jim Thorpe have the medal,” said Bie, now a doctor in Norway.

Interestingly, Weislander handed his medal to a museum in Sweden just hours before being questioned about it by the media. “If the Sports Museum directors decide to return it to Thorpe—for whom I am genuinely sorry, then it is up to them,” said Weislander. The whole debate was squashed in the same news story by Avery Brundage, vice president of the I.O.C. Brundage, an American that competed against Thorpe at the 1912 Olympics and finished far behind him, never once recused himself from the Thorpe issue. Instead, he treated Thorpe like a former foe turned boss.

“I would be happy to subscribe to a fund to help Thorpe,” said Brundage. “But I don’t think it would be possible to restore his medals to him or give him copies of them. I don’t think the medals themselves would help Jim. He needs cash.”

Thorpe returned to Ohio on January 31, 1952. Thorpe received a $1,000 check to help with his bills, plus the profits from the $10-a- plate dinner. Governor Frank J. Lausche, Cy Young and Branch Rickey, a Portsmouth native, were among Thorpe’s 700 admirers in the audience. Many brought their children to see the former Canton Bulldog.

“I have always loved Canton,” Thorpe told the audience. After the tremendous applause died down, Thorpe added, “Now after so many years, it’s just like being back home.”

“Jim Thorpe today looks every bit a champion,” said Lausche. “I bring you felicitations from the eight million people living in Ohio.”

Thorpe also took pride in playing before the era of platoon football. “I was a 60-minute man,” Thorpe told a Baltimore audience at the Met Theater in 1952.

In February 1952, Thorpe went to a snow-covered Harvard Stadium. Wearing a sweatshirt, football shoes and headgear, Thorpe tried to show photographers he could still make a 48-yard field goal. Thorpe made a kick of such length in 1911 against Harvard. Despite his age, he still looked like a good kicker. However, none of his 20 or so boots made it as far as the goal line.

Thorpe also lost a close friend in February 1952. Wilbur ‘Fats’ Henry, a superstar lineman with the Canton Bulldogs, had gone through tough times after having his leg amputated three years earlier. When gangrene attacked his remaining leg, Thorpe rushed to his bedside.

While living in Nevada in May 1952, Thorpe told a local newspaper reporter he supported the abolition of the Indian bureau by Congress. Thorpe asserted the Sac and Fox tribe, which Thorpe was one of about 500 surviving members, could seek action against the federal government for lost lands once the bureau was out of the picture. He believed the United States owed his tribe at least $410 million for land grabs, unpaid claims and broken promises in the Wisconsin-Illinois-Kansas area.

Thorpe also told the Nevada State Journal reporter his thoughts on the movie documenting his life. “It was alright, pretty much the true story,” said Thorpe. “I did ask them to make several little corrections, but they didn’t pay any attention. Guess they had their script all written and didn’t want to change it. But Burt Lancaster did a wonderful job, however.” Thorpe communicated to the reporter that he was planning to file a lawsuit against Avery Brundage, big wheel in both the A.A.U. and Olympic committee. “It is the trophies which I should have back,” said Thorpe. “Those were personal gifts to me and had nothing to do with the Olympic events medals. There’s a bust of the King of Sweden which he himself gave to me, and there’s a model Viking ship from the czar of Russia. They’re on display in a sports museum in Zurich, Switzerland. The International Olympic and sports committees have control over them. I contend that they are my personal property.”

Jim Thorpe took time to help the March of Dimes assist polio victims in February 1952. John Mooney of the Salt Lake Tribune took note of Thorpe’s generosity in his column.

Despite the loss of his Olympic medals and prized trophies, Thorpe still had the heart of a true Olympic champion. Thorpe appeared on a coast-to- coast telethon with Bob Hope and Bing Cosby. The 14.5-hour show on June 22, 1952 netted over $1,000,000 for the U.S. Olympic fund. Thorpe even shook hands with Avery Brundage, president of the U.S. Olympic committee.

Thorpe suffered another heart attack in August 1952. Unconscious, Jim was brought to the Rosa de Lima Hospital in Henderson where he was treated and later released. Despite his age and declining health, Thorpe yearned to get back on the football field. “I just wish I was a few years younger so I could play again,” said Thorpe in a January 1953 interview. “I sure would like to be able to run that ball and smack them over as I did years ago.”

Patricia, Thorpe’s wife, suffered a heart seizure in February 1953. Jim rushed back to California, where Jim and Patricia were now living, from New York to be by her side.

Jim Murray, legendary sports columnist at the Los Angeles Times, praised Thorpe’s wife in a March 1963 article for bringing some degree of stability to her husband’s life. “The last eight years of his life were made orderly and fruitful by his third wife, Patricia, whom the rest of the Indians could have used and the white man would be the one on reservations. She got money for appearances Jim had paid his own way to. She started a campaign to get his expunged records restored.”

Even with Patricia’s efforts as a wife turned business manager, the financial situation was not good. The heart attack suffered by Jim’s wife and strongest advocate was likely induced by financial stress. The couple lived in a trailer donated to them by Ted Williams, a famous baseball star. Just days after Patricia’s heart attack, the stress for the Thorpe family got even greater.

Jim and Patricia were operating a newly acquired café at 221 East Anaheim Street in Wilmington. February 10, 1953 saw their arrest at their business on an 18-month-old warrant regarding a violation of California labor code. They were jailed in San Pedro and released quickly on $200 bond each. Bond was posted by C.E. Harrison of San Pedro, a fellow restaurateur. The warrant charged Jim and Patricia with failing to pay $320 to a former employee who painted a Hollywood restaurant they formerly owned. Charges were dismissed just a few days later by motion from the city attorney’s office. Still, Jim Thorpe had just endured an agonizing embarrassment.

Jim Thorpe’s return to fame and the national spotlight was to be short. He suffered a fatal heart attack on March 28, 1953.

Many writers have alleged Jim Thorpe died of a broken heart. While there was likely some truth to Jim’s heart being broken, the real problem was likely stress in the last month of his life. Stress is a true killer, especially when an elderly man has a known heart condition. Mounting bills, Patricia’s heart attack and their arrest on labor charges undoubtedly took a toll on Jim’s heart.

Jim Thorpe’s estate was valued at less than $2,000.

Thorpe’s sudden death was felt throughout the country. The nation mourned the loss of a true American hero.

“As one who played against him (Thorpe) in football more than 40 years ago (Carlisle defeated Army 27 to 6 with Ike scoring Army’s only touchdown.), I personally feel that no other athlete possessed his all-around abilities in games and sports,” said President Dwight Eisenhower.

Governor Johnston Murray of Oklahoma fondly recalled his friend. “As well as being one of Oklahoma’s most famous sons, Jim Thorpe also was a favorite person with all who knew him. Those of us with Native American blood in our veins take special pride in his great triumphs.”

John Heydler, former president of the National League, also praised Thorpe. “Thorpe was a great Indian and a great all-around athlete—both amateur and professional.”

“I knew Jim, and he was a fine man,” said Bronko Nagurski. “I always regretted having never seen him play.”

Franks Colley wrote this tribute to Thorpe in his Morning Herald column (Hagertown, Maryland) on March 30, 1953.

Thorpe’s movie was brought back by this theater in Middleport, Ohio in 1953 as a tribute to the recently deceased legend. Other theaters around the country also ran the 1951 movie in remembrance of the sports icon.

Even though he called Thorpe a close friend, Warner never gave Jim the one thing he wanted and needed the most, a job in football. Despite several head coaching gigs, Warner never hired Thorpe to join his staff as an assistant college football coach. “That’s awful news,” said Ralph C. Craig, winner of the 100 and 200-meter sprints at the 1912 Olympics, to a Times-Union reporter upon learning about Thorpe’s death. “He was a grand fellow as well as the best of all athletes. I stood next to Jim while we were getting our medals from the late King Gustav V.”

“In recent years Jim Thorpe had been a bit down on his luck, but somewhere in those happy hunting grounds the old twinkle must have returned to his eyes as he realizes how fondly millions regarded him as he hit the trail,” wrote Deke Houlgate, a Los Angeles sportswriter who was close to Thorpe.

“Jim was a gentleman,” recalled Grantland Rice, the legendary sports columnist, in his 1954 memoirs. “He grew into 185 pounds of muscle, blue-steel ligaments, split-second reflexes and a keen competitive brain that gave him supremacy in football and track and a high ranking in almost every sport he tried.”

Grantland Rice also expressed his sentiments about Thorpe’s plight. “I seldom go out on limbs to crusade for individuals. But if ever a person was pilloried by the shabby treatment he received from most of the press and public, Jim Thorpe is that man. Thorpe was truthful in maintaining all he got from baseball at Rocky Mount during college summers was barely enough to pay expenses. Until recently, college ball players from all over the map and particularly the Ivy schools played on hotel nines and various other summer teams for far more cash than Thorpe got. They were still held as amateurs and allowed to participate in all college sports.

What right did the Amateur Athletic Union have to Thorpe’s private gifts, fairly won in the 1912 Olympics? I wrote several letters, in later years, to Avery Brundage, the Chicago contractor and keystone of our Olympic organization, stating the case for Thorpe. Brundage’s replies were weak and implied a ‘so what…it’s dead and forgotten’ attitude. The treatment accorded Thorpe is one of the cruel turns of all American sport.”

The A.A.U. made a significant step when it restored Jim Thorpe’s amateur status on October 1973. With Thorpe back in good standing with the A.A.U., a door opened for the possible return of his Olympic medals.

The fight for the return of Jim’s amateur status, records, Olympic medals and trophies continued after Thorpe’s passing. His daughter, Grace, stated in 1975 that it “was important for the Indian people” who “don’t have enough people to look up to.” She added that her father was “one of the few who really made it in contemporary society.”

“I would be pleased if dad’s records would go back on the books so 100 years from now, kids will know that an Indian did those things,” said Grace Thorpe.

Thorpe’s daughter, Charlotte, expressed similar thoughts in a 1975 article published by People Magazine. “We want to not only reawaken Indian pride in Jim Thorpe. We want all American youth to know who he really was.”

Ironton, Ohio, along with what would become Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, were both lobbying the last week of December 1953 to become the site of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Ironton was a city with more than 16,000 residents in 1950. Located within a metropolitan area, the city enjoyed great prosperity due to the vibrant area economy. With Ashland Oil and Armco Steel in nearby Ashland, Kentucky, funds could have easily been secured for construction of a professional football hall of fame within the Ironton city limits.

Canton was selected after its citizens raised $400,000 to construct a museum. The city provided a 14-acre park for the museum’s site. Some of Thorpe’s old Carlisle teammates looked on as Pete Rozelle, youthful NFL commissioner, turned the first shovel of dirt on August 11, 1962. The Pro Football Hall of Fame opened September 7, 1963. A large statue of Jim Thorpe has since greeted millions of visitors.

Richard McCann, first Director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, searched far and wide for Thorpe memorabilia to place on display. McCann found Thorpe’s Carlisle sweater being used as dog bedding and rescued it for the museum. He wanted two other Thorpe items, Jim’s shoulder pads and Olympic medals. This September 1, 1963 article by McCann eloquently stated what Thorpe meant to professional football. As for Thorpe’s 1912 Olympic medals, the medals were returned by Thorpe to the A.A.U. in 1913 and subsequently handed to the second-place finishers at Stockholm.

President Gerald Ford, an outstanding college football player in his day, wrote a letter to Lord Killanin at the I.O.C. asking for the restoration of Thorpe’s Olympic medals. “He (Thorpe) is a hero, and in the American Indian’s struggle for human dignity and freedom, Jim Thorpe represents a man who is able to contribute significantly to American society while retaining the values of his cultural ties with the past.”

President Killanin of the I.O.C. responded to the Thorpe issue in 1979. “Nobody can do anything about it after all these years,” said Lord Killanin.

Killanin’s retirement in 1980 cleared the final hurdle in the path of Jim’s medals return to his family. The I.O.C. announced in October 1982 that the medals Thorpe won in 1912 would be returned in a January 1983 ceremony. Thorpe’s family was to receive copies of the Olympic medals.

“So many years, so many years, I guess you would call it the 70-year marathon,” said Charlotte Thorpe after hearing about the restoration of her father’s gold medals. “I have never been happier in my life.”

However, the trophies Thorpe won in 1912 were not returned to his family. In 1981, Thorpe’s cherished trophies were estimated by one source to be worth $7 million.

The I.O.C. now lists Jim Thorpe as a double-gold winner at the 1912 Olympics. However, the I.O.C. lists Thorpe tied for first in both events. More importantly, the I.O.C. refused to edit its online official report on the 1912 Olympics to reflect Thorpe as a true Olympic champion. Instead, the I.O.C. continues to document Thorpe as a disqualified cheater.

http://www.olympic.org/jim-thorpe

http://olympic-museum.de/o-reports/oympic-games-official-report-1912.php

(See page 94 of official report for 30-day objection rule and page 410 for the stripping of Thorpe’s medals and trophies.)

If there was a cheater at the 1912 Olympic Games, it was the I.O.C. The I.O.C. violated its own rules for the 1912 Games by ignoring the 30-day rule for filing objections. No public mention of Thorpe’s alleged professionalism took place until many months after the conclusion of the 1912 games on July 27, 1912. Nothing was officially filed alleging Thorpe as a professional until February 6, 1913- far outside the applicable 30-day objection rule. In an era where N.B.A. players take the court at the Olympics and Olympic track stars pocket million-dollar shoe contracts, the puritanical standard of amateurism which vilified Thorpe in 1913 seems unimaginable. Yet, the I.O.C. continues to malign Thorpe in its official report on the 1912 Olympic Games over a few dollars he earned playing bush league baseball.

Despite numerous attempts to discredit him following the 1912 Olympics, Thorpe’s name remained magic to sports fans. Jim lost his medals and trophies, but his fame rolled on. In his later years, Thorpe made a living off public appearances around the country. Jim once joked that he did more benefits than Bob Hope.

Jim Thorpe was widely considered the greatest all-around athlete in the world a full year or so before the 1912 Olympics. At the Olympics, Thorpe merely proved he truly was the greatest athlete on the planet. Regardless of the I.O.C.’s actions in 1913, Jim Thorpe retained the title of world’s greatest athlete.

The modern Olympiad needed a jolt of energy to keep the movement alive. Thorpe’s performance at the 1912 Olympics brought international attention to the modern Games and propelled it forward to greater heights. Thorpe inspired countless athletes around the world to become the next Olympic star.

Jim Thorpe’s name is so synonymous with football that the Pro Football Hall of Fame erected a statue of him to welcome visitors to a museum honoring football’s immortals. College football has awarded the Jim Thorpe Trophy to its top defensive back since 1986.

The greatest athlete of the first half of the twentieth century had to wait until 2001 to get recognized by Wheaties.

The N.E.A. awarded the coveted Jim Thorpe Trophy to the best player in pro football. The trophy was presented by the N.E.A. from 1955 through 1996. Starting in 1997, the Jim Thorpe Association presented the award.

Thorpe shall always be remembered as an athletic marvel. Thorpe excelled at football, basketball, baseball, track and field, lacrosse, tennis, handball and hockey. He was a crack shot with a rifle and shotgun. Many thought he could become the world’s heavyweight boxing champion, if he pursued such venture.

“If you really wanted him (Thorpe) to do something, all you had to do was to tell him it couldn’t be done,” said Leon Miller, Thorpe’s teammate at Carlisle. “When the chips were down there was no stopping him. He loved to play, no matter what the game. If you showed him how to play tennis or bowl, he’d wind up beating you before you finished showing him the fundamentals.”

H.L. Wilder, a faculty member at Dickinson College when Thorpe was at Carlisle, had a chance to see Jim Thorpe in his prime. “Thorpe was a great athlete in any sport he cared to play, and he played them all from lacrosse to tennis, almost equally well,” said Wilder. “He was truly the perfect athlete.” When the Pro Football Hall of Fame inducted its inaugural class, a young writer wondered out loud whether Thorpe could make it in today’s NFL. Jimmy Conzelman, who played against Thorpe, gave the writer his answer.

“Jim Thorpe could have made any team in the League,” said Conzelman. “What’s more, he would have been the best player on that team. What’s more again; he would have been the best player in the League. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t do better than anyone else.”

Southern Ohio was fortunate to see Jim Thorpe in what Bob Gill, noted pro football researcher, labeled in an article as Thorpe’s Farewell Season. Even at age 40, Thorpe was better than the average player on the professional gridiron. On occasion, Jim flashed some of the athletic greatness which made him world famous.

Portsmouth has not forgotten Jim Thorpe. The city has a beautiful mural painted on a concrete section of its downtown floodwall system depicting Thorpe as player-coach for the Shoe-Steels in 1927.

Ironton only had the pleasure of a one-day visit by the prodigious Native American athlete during his farewell season. That visit has largely been forgotten in this city. Perhaps, this was not totally unintentional as the community’s beloved Tanks lost to Jim Thorpe and his Portsmouth squad. It was the first time the mighty Tanks tasted defeat at the hands of a Portsmouth squad.

Rocky Mount, NC erected a historical marker in 1959 to honor Jim Thorpe who played baseball there. Nevertheless, colossal moments in history merit preservation for the ages. It seems fitting a marker should be erected to embrace a visit to Ironton by the world’s greatest athlete. An opportunity exists for the city to add a mural to its existing floodwall murals commemorating Thorpe’s stopover in 1927. The school district could add a Thorpe poster to the current posters on the outside wall of historic Tanks Memorial Stadium in order to alert fans that Jim Thorpe once played here.

For as Steve Owens, a former New York Giants coach who once played against Jim Thorpe, said, “There won’t be another like him.”

Article is an educational tribute to historic Tanks Memorial Stadium and its most famous visitor, Jim Thorpe. Written and researched by Jim Ridgeway. Research conducted at Briggs Library and other sources. The efforts of the library staff were greatly appreciated.

Copyright Jim Ridgeway 2014, 2020. All rights reserved.

Copyright Jim Ridgeway 2014, 2020.

All rights reserved. Republication, reproduction and/or modification expressly prohibited without prior written consent of author.

Author’s Commentary

Many Ironton youth, including the author, were privileged to play football in front of the covered bleachers at historic Tanks Memorial Stadium. I often wonder how many, if any, of these young athletes knew Jim Thorpe, an Olympic champion and professional football legend, once placed his cleats on the same grassy field.

This story was written to restore and preserve the memory of Jim Thorpe’s visit to Ironton’s Tanks Memorial Stadium in 1927. While other famous men visited Ironton over the years, none carried the fame of Thorpe.

Thorpe’s life had several distinct segments. He became nationally famous while playing football for Carlisle in 1911 and 1912. Following his Olympic victories in 1912, Thorpe became one of the most famous men in the world. Despite a backlash of negative press following the controversial stripping of his Olympic medals, trophies and records on grounds of professionalism, Thorpe’s fame kept marching on. Thorpe signed the largest rookie contract in professional baseball history in 1913. A couple of years later, Thorpe became professional football’s first genuine superstar.

“To my mind, Jim Thorpe was the best of them all—the greatest star football has known,” said Knute Rockne, legendary football coach at Notre Dame.

“Jim Thorpe was the best all-around football player I ever saw,” proclaimed Grantland Rice in his June 1941 column. “He was the most durable of the entire lot.”

“Jim Thorpe could do anything,” said Greasy Neale, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “He could kick a ball 80 yards. That was the old pumpkin ball. He could have kicked today’s ball 100 yards.”

“Thorpe could do anything that any other football player could do,” said Joe Carr, NFL president, who named Thorpe the greatest professional football player ever in a 1934 interview. “He was a great ball carrier, a superb kicker, a vicious tackler and a good passer.”

Thorpe planted the seed for what grew into a multibillion-dollar business called the National Football League. “He (Thorpe) said if pro baseball pays then pro football will also pay,” said Jim Mehor in a 1975 interview. “But he (Thorpe) said the sportswriters had said it would never make any money. We see now who was right.”

The worst segment of Thorpe’s life came when his playing days ended. It was a day Thorpe always dreaded. “I’ll never quit athletics until I’m pushing up the daisies and am dead for sure,” said Thorpe in 1926. “If athletics were taken away from me I might as well be dead.”

Thorpe’s financial plight in the 1930s and 1940s again placed him in a negative national spotlight. It was certainly one of the lowest points in his life. No doubt such stress took a terrible toll on his health and well-being.

Life after professional sports is a difficult transition for modern athletes. Former professional baseball and football players now receive significant pensions to live on, yet frequently struggle to find a comfortable place in retirement.

Unlike today’s athletes, Thorpe never received retirement checks from M.L.B. and the N.F.L. Still, he was out there in the years of the Great Depression trying to support his family the best he could despite the worst economy in U.S. history.

Just when the hour looked darkest for Jim Thorpe, the sun once against shined brightly on Jim Thorpe. When Thorpe was named the Greatest Athlete of the First-Half of the 20th Century in 1950, he was back on the front pages across the country. The release of Jim Thorpe- All-American, a 1951 biographical film starring Burt Lancaster, greatly enhanced his name and legacy. Jim Thorpe never saw his Olympic medals returned before he died in 1953, but he did see his honor returned by the media. In the face of significant health and financial problems, Thorpe had to find some comfort in his final days knowing that millions of Americans still remembered his athletic feats and cared about him.

Thorpe was born into a world where common sentiment about Native Americans was, ‘The only good Indian is a dead Indian.’ Native Americans endured genocide at the hands of the federal government until Indians became as scarce as buffalo. What was left of his tribe was driven across the Mississippi River onto a reservation in present-day Oklahoma. The reservation was, at best, an internment camp for Native Americans. Yet, Thorpe emerged from reservation life to become one of the most famous athletes in history.

Thorpe never forgot his roots. Thorpe used his fame to lobby on behalf of Native Americans. Whether it was equal pay in Hollywood for Indians, oil rights or compensation for stolen lands, Thorpe was not afraid to speak his mind. If Jim had lived into the 1960s when such movements gained significant public support, Thorpe might now be remembered as much for his fight for Indian rights as his athletic skills.

It certainly broke Jim’s heart never to see his prized Olympic trophies returned to him. The I.O.C. needs to present the two trophies Thorpe won at the Olympics back to his family on condition the awards are put on permanent display within the United States. With Thorpe’s name attributed to the Viking ship and King’s bust, the massive trophies are the virtual Holy Grail of sports collectibles. The items belong on perpetual exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of the Indian in Washington, D.C. so millions of visitors can view the prizes that the hero of the 1912 Olympics cherished so much.

Ironton was once blessed by Thorpe’s presence at our football stadium which looks much the same as it did when the legend played here in 1927. When Thorpe played for Portsmouth, he never played at Universal Stadium, now called Spartan Stadium. He played at Labold Field in Portsmouth. Outside of Wrigley Field where Thorpe played his final game, Tanks Memorial Stadium might be the only stadium in the entire country still standing where Thorpe formerly demonstrated his professional gridiron skills.

Thorpe played only one year for Portsmouth. His single appearance at Tanks Memorial Stadium ended the Tanks’ total dominance over nearby Portsmouth. A win over Ironton was the principal reason Thorpe was recruited by Portsmouth, and he delivered on his second chance against the famous Tanks.

The win also set in motion a chain of events which produced an even greater gridiron rivalry between the two cities. Ironton realized it needed more football talent to regain its supremacy over Portsmouth. The Tanks immediately launched a national recruiting campaign which brought Glenn Presnell, an All-American halfback at Nebraska, to Ironton for the 1928 season. With a win over the Tanks finally realized, professional football ambitions grew for Portsmouth. Portsmouth brought in stars like Father Lumpkin from Georgia Tech and applied for NFL membership which was granted in 1930. The 1930 football season saw Ironton and Portsmouth battle three times to determine which talent-laden, professional squad was best in Ohio. Thorpe’s season with Portsmouth is now just a footnote in his personal career and the long history of the National Football League. However, a footnote does not begin to cover the impact Thorpe made on local professional football. Thorpe helped usher in a new era of professional football along the Ohio River. Thorpe demonstrated the value of star power on the gridiron. The days of local boys filling the rosters of the two football squads were over. The next three seasons saw Ironton and Portsmouth go on spending sprees which truly professionalized football in the two cities.

After losing to Thorpe’s Portsmouth squad, Ironton recruited Glenn Presnell, an All-American at Nebraska, to bolster its 1928 gridiron roster. Behind the play of Presnell, the Ironton Tanks defeated three NFL clubs in 1930. (Photo by Jim Ridgeway)

How good was Glenn Presnell? After naming Jim Thorpe, Red Grange and Ted Nesser as his top three players in NFL history, Joe Carr, NFL president, included Glenn Presnell in his 1934 short list of gridiron immortals.

Beechwood Stadium, renamed Tanks Memorial Stadium, is still used by Ironton High School. At age 40, Jim Thorpe led Portsmouth to a win over the Ironton Tanks at Beechwood Stadium. It was the first time a Portsmouth squad ever defeated the Tanks. (Photo by Jim Ridgeway)

Tanks Memorial Stadium received an Ohio historical marker in 2002. Glenn Presnell, the only remaining Ironton Tank, spoke at the dedication. (Photo by Jim Ridgeway)

The Tanks put away their equipment following a climatic 1930 gridiron season. The highly visible legacy of the Tanks is the iconic stadium used by the local high school team. Today, football fans walking into Ironton’s historic stadium can look around and proudly proclaim, “Jim Thorpe once played here.”

Jim Ridgeway 2014, 2020 About the Author

Mr. Ridgeway graduated from Ironton High School in 1981. An outstanding business student in college, his real passion was always history. In his spare time, he enjoys researching the history of his hometown and the development of professional football in Ironton, Portsmouth and Ashland. A member of the Portsmouth Spartans Historical Society, he appeared in Before the League, a TV documentary on early professional football that aired nationally in 2015.

Despite playing his last NFL game in 1928, Jim Thorpe remains a gridiron legend. (Photos by Jim Ridgeway)

The location of the Thorpe statue at the Pro Football Hal of Fame has changed, but not the impact on visitors. (Photo by Jim Ridgeway)

James Francis ‘Jim’ Thorpe

Fast Facts

Born: May 22, 1887 in Oklahoma

Died: March 28, 1953 in California

Voted Greatest Athlete of First Half of 20th Century in 1950 by Associated Press Sports Editors

Voted Greatest Football Player of First Half of 20th Century in 1950 by Associated Press Poll of Sports Writers and Broadcasters

Voted 2nd-Best Track Athlete of First Half of 20th Century in 1950 by Associated Press Poll of Sports Writers and Broadcasters

Voted Greatest Athlete of 20th Century in 2000 by ABC Wild World of Sports Poll of Public

College: Carlisle

First-Team, Walter Camp All-American: 1911, 1912 College Football Coaching: Assistant varsity and head freshman coach at Indiana University (1915)

Named to Grantland Rice’s Eternal All-American Eleven Team (1939)

Named by Grantland Rice, Coach Steve Owen and Coach Frank Thomas as one of 12 Greatest Football Players to ever step on a field regardless of position (1944)

Named to A.P. All-Time, All-American Eleven Team at halfback (1951)

N.E.A. All-Time, All-American Eleven Team (1969)

College Football Hall of Fame: 1951 Inaugural Class

1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden: Pentathlon (Gold), Decathlon (Gold)

Set Olympic Record in Decathlon: 8,413 points (total surpassed about two decades later)

National Track and Field Hall of Fame: 1975

Major League Baseball: New York Giants (N.L.) 1913-1915, Cincinnati Reds (N.L.) 1917, New York Giants (N.L.) 1917-1919

Boston Braves (N.L.) 1919

M.L.B. Career Statistics: Outfielder, 289 games, .252 batting average, 7 home runs, 29 stolen bases

Rookie Contract: Signed largest rookie contract in professional baseball history (1913) $6,000

Pro Football: Canton Bulldogs 1915-1917, 1919-1920, Pine Village (Indiana) Pros 1915, Cleveland Indians 1921, Oorang Indians 1922-1923, Rock Island Independents 1924, New York Giants 1925, Rock Island Independents 1925, Tampa Cardinals 1926, Canton Bulldogs 1926, Portsmouth Shoe-Steels 1927, Chicago Cardinals 1928

Named to Grantland Rice’s All-Time, All-Pro Backfield (1954)

NFL 1920s All-Decade team

NFL 50th Anniversary All-Time team

First President of American Professional Football Association (1920), forerunner of the National Football League Pro Football Hall of Fame: 1963 Charter Class

Height: 6’1”

Listed Playing Weight with Portsmouth: 202

Uniform Number with Portsmouth: 4

Copyright Jim Ridgeway 2014, 2020.

All rights reserved. Republication, reproduction and/or modification expressly prohibited without prior written consent of author.