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29 unusual facts about Jim Thorpe


1917 New York Giants season

August 18, 1917: Jim Thorpe was returned to the Giants by the Cincinnati Reds.

1917 World Series

The great athlete Jim Thorpe, better known for football in general, made his only World Series "appearance" during Game 5, where he was listed in the lineup card as starting in right field; but for his turn at bat in the top of the first inning he was replaced by a left-handed hitting Dave Robertson.

Canada at the 1912 Summer Olympics

Frank Lukeman, originally fourth in the pentathlon, received a bronze medal in 1913 when pentathlon winner Jim Thorpe was disqualified; Lukeman retained his upgraded placing even after Thorpe's reinstatement.

Cap Edwards

His professional coaching career did not begin until he was 51 years of age, and was short-lived, but nonetheless noteworthy as he coached in the pioneering days of football with such greats as Jim Thorpe and Guy Chamberlin.

Chim Lingrel

The Indians were a team based in LaRue, Ohio, composed only of Native Americans, and coached by Jim Thorpe.

Eastern Carolina League

The most famous person to play in the league was Jim Thorpe, considered by some the greatest athlete of the twentieth century.

Eddie Mahan

When Jim Thorpe was asked to choose the greatest football player of all time, he selected Mahan.

In 1927, George Trevor of the New York Sun selected an all-time backfield made up of Mahan, Walter Eckersall, Jim Thorpe, and Willie Heston of Michigan.

He was widely regarded as one of the greatest football players in the first 50 years of the sport and was named by Jim Thorpe as the greatest football player of all time.

Football League of Europe

The trophy given annually to the FLE champions was the Jim Thorpe Trophy.

Gil Thorp

The strip was created by Jack Berrill, who modeled and named Thorp after baseball player Gil Hodges and Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe.

Glenn Scobey Warner

During his second tenure at Carlisle, Warner coached one of the most famous American athletes, Jim Thorpe.

Gutterson Fieldhouse

He set an Olympic record with a 7.60 meter long jump, beating, among others, the great Jim Thorpe.

J. Ira Courtney

Today, the 1912 Olympics are best remembered as the "Jim Thorpe Olympics," due to the Native-American's wins in both the pentathlon and the decathlon.

Jack Cusack

During his six years with the Canton Bulldogs, Cusack led the team to Ohio League championships, in 1916 and 1917, and was responsible for bringing Jim Thorpe into professional football.

Jason Wiles

He also appeared in WindRunner: A Spirited Journey starring Margot Kidder and Russell Means as Jim Thorpe's ghost.

Jim Thorpe House

In 1917, Jim Thorpe bought a small home in Yale, Oklahoma and lived there until 1923 with his wife.

John Hugh Gillis

A member of the 1912 Olympic team, he hoped to compete with Jim Thorpe but he had to read about it from a tuberculosis sanitorium.

LaRue, Ohio

In the early 1920s LaRue was home to famous athlete Jim Thorpe, who coached and played for the Oorang Indians football team in 1922–1923.

Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad

Centered in the right bank town of Mauch Chunk the LH&S finally moved with alacrity to connect both its halves.

Mıgırdiç Mıgıryan

However, while competing against famed athlete Jim Thorpe during the Decathlon, Migiryan suffered a wrist injury and was forced to discontinue.

Morgan G. Bulkeley Stadium

Lou Gehrig, Jim Thorpe, Leo Durocher, Hank Greenberg, Warren Spahn and Johnny Sain all played for these teams at one point in their careers.

Occupation of Alcatraz

Grace Thorpe, daughter of Jim Thorpe (Sac and Fox), was one of the occupiers and helped convince celebrities like Jane Fonda, Anthony Quinn, Marlon Brando, Jonathan Winters, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Dick Gregory, to visit the island and show their support.

Paavo Yrjölä

Yrjölä was the first decathlete to score higher than Jim Thorpe at the 1912 Summer Olympics.

Reggie Attache

The Oorang Indians were a team based in LaRue, Ohio, composed only of Native Americans and coached by Jim Thorpe.

Scott Township, Marion County, Ohio

In the 1920s, the township was a favorite of Jim Thorpe (who played for the Oorang Indians NFL team in LaRue, Ohio) who hunted near the "Wolf Pond" north of Linn Hipsher Road.

Shane Roller

Roller was selected to play in the Jim Thorpe All-Star Game and was also selected as the 1997 Oklahoma Football Coaches Association All-Star Running Back.

Ted St. Germaine

That season he joined the NFL's Oorang Indians, a team based in LaRue, Ohio, which was composed solely of Native Americans, and coached by Jim Thorpe.

Walt Jean

In 1927, after playing in just two games with the Maroons, Jean travelled to Portsmouth, Ohio to join a team fielded by Jim Thorpe, called the Portmouth Shoe-Steels.


Asa Lansford Foster

In 1827 he moved to the community of Mauch Chunk (now Jim Thorpe).

Francis A. Marzen

Born in East Mauch Chunk — present-day Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania — Marzen studied at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Worthington, Ohio and was ordained in the fledgling diocese in the Hawaiian Islands in 1951 alongside his classmate, Msgr. Bernard J. Eikmeier.

John Mojecki

Born in Kożuszkowo, Poland, his first place of residence was Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania (now known as Jim Thorpe).

Lehigh Gorge State Park

The southern access point is just off exit 74 of Interstate 476 via U.S. Route 209 through Jim Thorpe and across the bridge to the north bank on Pennsylvania Route 903 to the Glen Onoko neighborhood, formerly East Mauch Chunk the left bank or northern part of the borough of Jim Thorpe.

Pennsylvania Route 903

PA 903 begins at an intersection with US 209 in Jim Thorpe, Carbon County, heading northeast on two-lane undivided River Street.

Pisgah Mountain

The east end of the ridge is named Mount Pisgah and represents a hard rock knob that towers 700–900 feet above Lehigh River towns Jim Thorpe to the east, and Nesquehoning to its north.

Vaughn Street Park

Among the notable players to play at Vaughn Street, either for the home team or for the visitors, are Satchel Paige, Joe Tinker, Jim Thorpe, and Ted Williams.