1 00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:08,840 Speaker 1: There are so many ways we can memorialize the greats. 2 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:11,040 Speaker 2: Welcome to the Jim Twlly Tour. 3 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,520 Speaker 1: Certainly a special tour today. 4 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:17,840 Speaker 3: All right, we're gonna roll over the Lehigh now beautiful. 5 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:24,160 Speaker 1: There are murals, TV specials, parades, even podcasts. 6 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:26,120 Speaker 4: Of that incline is where they would drag the empty 7 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:27,640 Speaker 4: coal cars and then leaves. 8 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:31,800 Speaker 1: But naming a town after someone, that's next level. 9 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:36,080 Speaker 5: Well, there's a Jim Thorpe neighborhood bank, there's Jim Thorpe trolley. 10 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:38,520 Speaker 1: There's a Jim Thorpe inn And we're standing in front 11 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:40,120 Speaker 1: of the field for which high school? 12 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:41,960 Speaker 5: Jim Thorpe Perry High School. 13 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 1: And the name of the team is the Jim Thorpe Olympians. 14 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: That's Michael J. Sofranco. He's the mayor of jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. Yes, 15 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:55,520 Speaker 1: the town is named for the legendary Native American athlete 16 00:00:55,920 --> 00:01:01,280 Speaker 1: and hero of the nineteen twelve Stockholm, Sweden Olympics, Jim Thorpe. 17 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:04,959 Speaker 1: And yes, I know that Pennsylvanians call their towns burrows, 18 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:07,960 Speaker 1: and that their state is not a state, it's a commonwealth. 19 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:10,720 Speaker 5: In nineteen seventy we go somewhere and they'd say where 20 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:12,880 Speaker 5: you're from, and I'd say Jim Thorpe. They'd say, I 21 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:14,520 Speaker 5: don't want your name, I want to know where you live. 22 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:19,039 Speaker 1: It's a beautiful town, nestled in a valley of the 23 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:24,240 Speaker 1: Pocono Mountains and nicknamed the Switzerland of America, and it's 24 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:27,199 Speaker 1: graced with more than just Jim Thorpe's name. 25 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:30,600 Speaker 5: I think that there's one thing you can say having 26 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:34,480 Speaker 5: Jim Thorpe's body here, it has brought a community together. 27 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:38,840 Speaker 1: That's right on the east side of town. Thorpe is 28 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:43,480 Speaker 1: buried in a red granite mausoleum emblazoned with images of 29 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:47,280 Speaker 1: his spectacular triumph at the Olympics. It was a high 30 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:49,560 Speaker 1: point for Thorpe, as he'd later. 31 00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:52,680 Speaker 6: Recall Mann, the greatest athlete of the world, but a 32 00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:55,840 Speaker 6: kiss Layton, I think is one of my great moments 33 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:56,520 Speaker 6: in my life. 34 00:01:56,560 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 1: The Hillside memorial draws fans still in awe of Thorpe's achievements, 35 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:05,320 Speaker 1: not just in track and field, but also in baseball 36 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:06,160 Speaker 1: and football. 37 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 7: I'm an old football fan, and my dad loved Jim Thorpe. 38 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:13,120 Speaker 8: He was the world's best athlete as far as I'm concerned. 39 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:17,280 Speaker 1: He still is nothing. He couldn't do anything he could do. 40 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:18,600 Speaker 1: Don't you wish you had? Those powers? 41 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:20,079 Speaker 9: Are just some of them? 42 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:23,880 Speaker 1: Now, if you're wondering what relationship Jim Thorpe, the man 43 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:27,560 Speaker 1: has to the town named for him, you're not alone. 44 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:30,160 Speaker 2: How many of you guys know how long Jim lived 45 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:30,760 Speaker 2: in this town? 46 00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:32,200 Speaker 6: Never? 47 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:33,520 Speaker 2: That's correct, Jim? 48 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:34,160 Speaker 6: Yeah? 49 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:39,519 Speaker 9: Really, he had never set foot in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. 50 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:42,520 Speaker 1: Did you know that he never actually set foot in 51 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:44,280 Speaker 1: here before he was buried here? 52 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 9: Really? 53 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:48,440 Speaker 3: You know, I thought that this was where he was from, 54 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:51,960 Speaker 3: to be honest with you, went that's the history of it. Huh. 55 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:54,680 Speaker 1: That Jim Thorpe ended up in a town he never 56 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:58,240 Speaker 1: lived in is only the final twist in a roller 57 00:02:58,280 --> 00:02:59,240 Speaker 1: coaster life. 58 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 10: To me, he as a young person, he was like 59 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:05,919 Speaker 10: a Hercules or even like a superman. 60 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:09,680 Speaker 1: From becoming the world's first sports superstar. 61 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:13,799 Speaker 9: No one has had that triad of being an All 62 00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:16,880 Speaker 9: American football player, a winner of the gold medal in 63 00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:20,280 Speaker 9: the decathlon and the pentathlon, and a Major League baseball player. 64 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 9: And he was great at ballroom dancing, lacrosse ross. People 65 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:25,919 Speaker 9: said he was good at marbles. 66 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:26,760 Speaker 2: Is it true? 67 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:27,200 Speaker 9: Yes? 68 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:34,120 Speaker 1: Just surviving modern sports. First scandal Jim thort an American Indian, 69 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:36,960 Speaker 1: the only winner of both Pentathlon and the Katla. 70 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:41,120 Speaker 2: Later for playing semi pro baseball before the games. His 71 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 2: name is erased from the role of the victories. 72 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 1: To his surprise third act in Hollywood. 73 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:51,160 Speaker 2: Jim Poor, All American, the main of Bronze who became 74 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:54,560 Speaker 2: the greatest athlete of all time. It's Burt Lancaster as 75 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:55,600 Speaker 2: Jim Port. 76 00:03:55,880 --> 00:04:00,640 Speaker 1: From CBS Sunday Morning and iHeart I'm Morocca. This is 77 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:12,880 Speaker 1: mobituaries this moment Jim Thorpe, March twenty eighth, nineteen fifty three, 78 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:15,720 Speaker 1: death of an All American. 79 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:28,680 Speaker 9: While the rocks are from visitors, probably most of them 80 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:33,240 Speaker 9: from Native people's totems and sort of symbols of respect 81 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:35,080 Speaker 9: for Thorpe, the great one. 82 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:39,000 Speaker 1: I'm standing in front of Jim Thorpe's mausoleum with historian 83 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:43,479 Speaker 1: David Marinus. David wrote a biography of Jim Thorpe called 84 00:04:43,839 --> 00:04:47,760 Speaker 1: Path lit by Lightning, which is one English translation of 85 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:52,040 Speaker 1: Jim's birth name Wathaux Hawk. That name was given to 86 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:54,520 Speaker 1: him because when he was born it was said that 87 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:59,080 Speaker 1: lightning struck the ground outside. What do you think of this? Site. 88 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:01,640 Speaker 9: I have mixed feelings about it. I mean, I think 89 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 9: it's a beautiful little place. It's a nice granite tombstone, 90 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:07,120 Speaker 9: really beautiful sculptures. 91 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:11,160 Speaker 1: Does his being here make some sort of sad sense? 92 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:14,520 Speaker 9: Sure, I mean, dislocation is part of the story of 93 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 9: Native Americans, so it has a certain sick logic to it, 94 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:23,640 Speaker 9: I guess. But the most spiritual sense would be that 95 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:27,520 Speaker 9: he's buried where he started, along the North Canadian River 96 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:28,520 Speaker 9: in Oklahoma. 97 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:31,839 Speaker 1: That's where Jim was born in May of eighteen eighty 98 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:35,680 Speaker 1: seven on the Sack and Fox Reservation in what was 99 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:40,480 Speaker 1: then Oklahoma Indian Territory. Jim was Sack and Fox Indian 100 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:44,279 Speaker 1: on his father's side, Potawatammee and French and Irish on 101 00:05:44,360 --> 00:05:47,599 Speaker 1: his mother's side. As a boy, his mother told him 102 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:50,840 Speaker 1: he was the reincarnation of the great Sack and Fox 103 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:55,640 Speaker 1: warrior Blackhawk. His father was known as an Indian cowboy. 104 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:59,880 Speaker 1: He had five wives and eighteen kids. What is his 105 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,320 Speaker 1: outdoor life like growing up? 106 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:07,760 Speaker 9: Well, that really is Jim Thorpe enjoying life the most. 107 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:11,920 Speaker 9: He wasn't playing football or baseball yet. He was just 108 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:15,760 Speaker 9: hunting and fishing, mostly with his father and his father 109 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:18,599 Speaker 9: was kind of a oh never do ill might be 110 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:21,080 Speaker 9: too strong, but you know, he sold bootleg liquor from 111 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:24,320 Speaker 9: the back of a wagon. But he was also, Jim 112 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:27,920 Speaker 9: would say, the strongest person he ever knew. And Jim 113 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 9: would tell a story about going hunting with his dad 114 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 9: when Jim was maybe nine or ten years old, walking 115 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:37,839 Speaker 9: twenty miles, his father shot a couple of deer, put 116 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:40,000 Speaker 9: one on each shoulder, and walked them back all the 117 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 9: way back home. That was his dad. 118 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:43,479 Speaker 1: I'm exhausted hearing that. 119 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:51,599 Speaker 10: I can imagine my grandfather wanting to be something like 120 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:57,440 Speaker 10: his father, maybe having a farm or even handling horses, 121 00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:02,960 Speaker 10: fishing and running and jumping, and mostly spending time outdoors 122 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:04,839 Speaker 10: and not inside. 123 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 1: That's Jim Thorpe's granddaughter, Anita Thorpe. Anita grew up in 124 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:13,440 Speaker 1: the same part of Oklahoma. She believes that her grandfather's 125 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:16,640 Speaker 1: connection to the land he was raised in was key 126 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:17,600 Speaker 1: to his success. 127 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:21,760 Speaker 10: He was able to visualize something, and he got that 128 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:26,200 Speaker 10: at an early age from watching horses and watching animals 129 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:32,160 Speaker 10: and hunting. Visualization is key to his story. 130 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:36,000 Speaker 1: But while Jim's boyhood may have been happy, loss was 131 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:39,280 Speaker 1: a part of his story from the beginning, starting with 132 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: his twin brother, Charlie. 133 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:44,880 Speaker 9: Most people don't know Jim had a twin who died 134 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 9: when they were nine years old when a disease swept 135 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:48,880 Speaker 9: through the Second Fox School. 136 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:52,840 Speaker 1: When Jim was fourteen, his mother died after burying her 137 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:57,360 Speaker 1: eleventh child. When he was sixteen, his father died, most 138 00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:00,960 Speaker 1: likely from poison from a snake bite. By that time, 139 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 1: Jim had been sent east to the Carlisle Indian Industrial 140 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:08,760 Speaker 1: School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. And if you're thinking that this 141 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:12,760 Speaker 1: is why he was buried in Pennsylvania, Nope, Carlisle is 142 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:16,960 Speaker 1: over one hundred miles from Jim's final resting place. Now, 143 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:20,080 Speaker 1: Carlisle was the flagship of what were a series of 144 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:26,160 Speaker 1: US government run Indian boarding schools. This Indian boarding school system, 145 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:27,040 Speaker 1: what was that? 146 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:30,520 Speaker 9: I mean, it was partly a scam, partly matter of 147 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:34,400 Speaker 9: forced assimilation. Once the students got there, many of them 148 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:37,120 Speaker 9: were not kept there, but sent to farms in the 149 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:40,480 Speaker 9: area to work as basically indentured servants. 150 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:44,719 Speaker 1: The students came from eighty eight different tribes, but you 151 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:47,600 Speaker 1: wouldn't know it once they were enrolled at Carlisle. 152 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:51,480 Speaker 9: If they had long hair, their locks were shorn. They 153 00:08:51,520 --> 00:08:55,240 Speaker 9: were not allowed to speak their native languages or practice 154 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:56,560 Speaker 9: their native religions. 155 00:08:57,400 --> 00:09:03,000 Speaker 1: The school's motto killed the Indian, save the man. In fact, 156 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:05,920 Speaker 1: at least one hundred and eighty six of the students 157 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:10,559 Speaker 1: sent to Carlisle died there, buried in a cemetery behind 158 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:14,200 Speaker 1: the athletic grandstands. And how were these kids dying? 159 00:09:14,559 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 9: They were dying from all kinds of diseases, some that 160 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:22,360 Speaker 9: were alien to their homelands. Of all the places I 161 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:26,920 Speaker 9: went for this book, the most visually haunting was to 162 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:30,360 Speaker 9: go to that cemetery and see row after row of 163 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:34,800 Speaker 9: gravestones of young Native Americans who went there and never 164 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:35,680 Speaker 9: got home. 165 00:09:39,559 --> 00:09:43,160 Speaker 1: But while these schools were abhorrent in many ways, the 166 00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:47,959 Speaker 1: effects on students' lives were more complex. Some graduates went 167 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:54,200 Speaker 1: on to become prominent doctors, lawyers, writers, and activists. Now, 168 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:57,920 Speaker 1: when Jim showed up at Carlisle, he wasn't exactly imposing 169 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:02,760 Speaker 1: at age sixteen, just five feet five inches tall and 170 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:06,880 Speaker 1: weighed one hundred and fifteen pounds. Three years later he'd 171 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:10,839 Speaker 1: grown to five nine one sixty. It was then, while 172 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:15,360 Speaker 1: walking across campus one day, that he was discovered. 173 00:10:16,200 --> 00:10:19,400 Speaker 9: It sounds like a myth, but everything I can determine 174 00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:23,560 Speaker 9: is that has really happened. He's working at the school 175 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:27,800 Speaker 9: in his overalls, a woolen shirt, and he walks through 176 00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:31,520 Speaker 9: the athletic field. See some guys at the high joke 177 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:35,000 Speaker 9: pit trying to clear the bar. They're failing. In his 178 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:38,600 Speaker 9: work clothes. He easily clears the bar, you know, and 179 00:10:38,679 --> 00:10:40,760 Speaker 9: the word gets to the coach and he's on the 180 00:10:40,760 --> 00:10:42,760 Speaker 9: track team, and pretty soon he's on the football team, 181 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:46,120 Speaker 9: and his rise to athletic brilliance starts there. 182 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:49,640 Speaker 1: Here's Jim Thorpe himself describing that. 183 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:53,559 Speaker 6: Day I entered, cry why Poplomer having the horse me 184 00:10:53,679 --> 00:10:55,920 Speaker 6: jumping over the high boy at five to seven or 185 00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:59,000 Speaker 6: eight inches where the members couldn't do it now? 186 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:02,480 Speaker 1: In that sound by Jim mentions a name that looms 187 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:08,240 Speaker 1: large in his story, Pop Warner. Glenn pop Warner coached 188 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:11,360 Speaker 1: track and field at Carlyle. He was also the head 189 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:15,800 Speaker 1: football coach, and this is no exaggeration. In innovator of 190 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:17,000 Speaker 1: the sport itself. 191 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:20,120 Speaker 9: He was involved in everything about modern football. 192 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:24,280 Speaker 1: He introduced the three point stance, you know, that crouch 193 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:25,960 Speaker 1: thing they do at the start of a play with 194 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:29,280 Speaker 1: one hand touching the ground, and Pop Warner was one 195 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:33,640 Speaker 1: of the first coaches to experiment with the spiral pass, 196 00:11:33,679 --> 00:11:37,360 Speaker 1: something I am determined to achieve before I leave this earth. 197 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:41,000 Speaker 1: Of course, it helped that his team, the Carlyle Indians, 198 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:45,640 Speaker 1: were fast, fearless, and every bit as creative as their coach, 199 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:50,040 Speaker 1: as Pulitzer Prize winning sportswriter Sally Jenkins wrote in her 200 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:54,160 Speaker 1: own history of the team, before Carlyle, football was a 201 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:58,320 Speaker 1: dull and brutal game, wedges of men pushing one another 202 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:02,400 Speaker 1: around in the dirt. Under Warner, the Indians found new 203 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:06,280 Speaker 1: ways to win, and they transformed the game into the thrilling, 204 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:10,800 Speaker 1: high speed chase it is now. But what about Pop 205 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:15,160 Speaker 1: Warner as a person, Well, that was a bit more complicated. 206 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:21,000 Speaker 1: He was kind of shady, betting on games, selling complimentary 207 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:24,119 Speaker 1: tickets in the lobby of hotels, and keeping the proceeds 208 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:28,439 Speaker 1: for himself. And he would ultimately abandon Jim Thorpe at 209 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:32,320 Speaker 1: his time of greatest need, but that was years away. 210 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:39,760 Speaker 1: In his first season with the team, Jim seized national attention, running, catching, throwing, 211 00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:42,960 Speaker 1: and kicking. He did it all and with a kind 212 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:47,280 Speaker 1: of ease. Sportswriter Grant blund Rice would later write that 213 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:52,280 Speaker 1: Jim moved like the breeze off the field. Jim was 214 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:56,600 Speaker 1: equally charismatic, with a wide open face that pulled you in. 215 00:12:57,240 --> 00:13:00,360 Speaker 1: When he smiled, he grinned so hard his his eyes 216 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:04,760 Speaker 1: would close. You'd feel that warmth and magnetism. One of 217 00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:08,559 Speaker 1: his relatives said, he didn't have to talk, you'd feel it. 218 00:13:11,559 --> 00:13:15,400 Speaker 1: Alas Jim starred him at Carlisle didn't translate into money, 219 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:18,680 Speaker 1: and so Jim left the school to play semi pro 220 00:13:18,760 --> 00:13:22,600 Speaker 1: baseball in North Carolina, making about thirty dollars a month. 221 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:27,280 Speaker 9: Scores, if not hundreds of college athletes were going to 222 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:30,319 Speaker 9: play baseball in the summer. Most of them were playing 223 00:13:30,360 --> 00:13:33,240 Speaker 9: under aliases. There were so many aliases in the league 224 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:36,640 Speaker 9: Jim played in the Eastern Carolina League that they called 225 00:13:36,679 --> 00:13:39,559 Speaker 9: it the Pocahonnest League because everybody was named John Smith. 226 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:43,960 Speaker 1: Most collegiate athletes played under fake names since their schools 227 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:48,200 Speaker 1: prohibited them from playing pro sports, but Jim didn't play 228 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:49,720 Speaker 1: under an alias. 229 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:53,640 Speaker 9: He played under the name Jim Before. He didn't know 230 00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:56,840 Speaker 9: that he was doing anything wrong, so he wasn't trying 231 00:13:56,840 --> 00:13:58,199 Speaker 9: to hide what he was doing. 232 00:13:58,800 --> 00:14:02,880 Speaker 1: Meanwhile, Pop warn and his Carlisle football team were hurting 233 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:03,920 Speaker 1: without Thorpe. 234 00:14:04,120 --> 00:14:06,360 Speaker 9: Warner wrote him a letter saying, if you come back, 235 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:09,760 Speaker 9: you can train for the nineteen twelve Olympics while you're here, 236 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:13,600 Speaker 9: and so all of that prompted Thorpe to come back. 237 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:16,440 Speaker 9: If he hadn't, we wouldn't even know who he was. 238 00:14:16,679 --> 00:14:17,920 Speaker 9: He would not be a name today. 239 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:22,640 Speaker 1: On the other side of the break, Jim Thorpe makes history. 240 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:28,320 Speaker 9: I call nineteen twelve the greatest single year any athlete 241 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:29,160 Speaker 9: has ever had. 242 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:41,680 Speaker 6: You folks want to Egypt bit of order. 243 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:47,200 Speaker 1: That's the voice of Abel Kiveat. In nineteen eighty two, 244 00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:50,400 Speaker 1: he took a CBS news crew to his favorite diner 245 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:52,040 Speaker 1: in his New Jersey community. 246 00:14:52,640 --> 00:14:55,880 Speaker 6: It's a fish sandwich. I've what kind, how, when and why? 247 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:59,200 Speaker 6: I don't know What's a little schmeer on it. 248 00:14:59,200 --> 00:14:59,520 Speaker 5: It's a. 249 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:02,280 Speaker 7: Could they know you pretty well? 250 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:02,440 Speaker 10: Here? 251 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:05,280 Speaker 6: Huh? Don't ask the questions while I got the fisherman 252 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:06,680 Speaker 6: mouth might take a bite of me. 253 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:10,480 Speaker 1: But CBS wasn't there just to get tips from Abel 254 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:14,800 Speaker 1: on where to eat. Seventy years before this interview, Abel 255 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:18,680 Speaker 1: was a celebrated middle distance runner, a medalist at the 256 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:22,960 Speaker 1: nineteen twelve Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden, where he was 257 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:25,200 Speaker 1: the roommate of Jim Thorpe. 258 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:28,920 Speaker 6: I roomed with him, the best natured guy in or 259 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:32,560 Speaker 6: where he was so nice, so pleasant, big overgrown country 260 00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:35,680 Speaker 6: kid in a way. But Hutton's seventy five a hot 261 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:40,560 Speaker 6: and eighty script five foot eleven in a fraction, and 262 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:43,360 Speaker 6: they said he had a neck of nineteen quarter inches 263 00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:47,640 Speaker 6: like a wrestler, and he walked that way just out. 264 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:52,040 Speaker 6: I think the Thorpe was the greatest athlete that ever lived. 265 00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:54,200 Speaker 6: There isn't anything he couldn't do. When he had to 266 00:15:54,240 --> 00:16:00,440 Speaker 6: see someone do something, he'd hesitate, look and it almost 267 00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:02,680 Speaker 6: duplicates almost instantly. 268 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:08,120 Speaker 1: It's true. Jim could observe others doing something, then visualize 269 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:12,280 Speaker 1: himself doing it, and then do it, a psychological approach 270 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:16,280 Speaker 1: that athletes today practice, except Jim Thorpe was doing it 271 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:21,840 Speaker 1: over one hundred years ago. In June of nineteen twelve, 272 00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:25,200 Speaker 1: Jim and the rest of the US Olympic team, including 273 00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:29,560 Speaker 1: Pop Warner, who was coaching Jim, boarded the USS Finland 274 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:33,480 Speaker 1: in New York City for Sweden. The ship, which also 275 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:37,280 Speaker 1: served as their Olympic village, was reconfigured with a cork 276 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:40,080 Speaker 1: track so that the athletes could train on the way. 277 00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:43,800 Speaker 1: Over Weight throwers would throw the discus off the ship. 278 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:46,720 Speaker 1: It was tied to a rope and pulled back each time. 279 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:50,720 Speaker 1: It was Jim's first time on an ocean liner. We 280 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:53,240 Speaker 1: don't know if he was nervous, but it's worth noting 281 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:56,680 Speaker 1: this was only two months after the Titanic went down. 282 00:16:57,600 --> 00:16:59,920 Speaker 1: We know what the Olympics mean today, they're the Olympic. 283 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:02,400 Speaker 1: What did they mean in nineteen twelve. 284 00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:05,600 Speaker 9: I would say that the nineteen twelve Olympics in Stockholm 285 00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:08,919 Speaker 9: were the first sort of world Olympics. 286 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:11,639 Speaker 1: That's biographer David Marinis. Again. 287 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:15,240 Speaker 9: It was called the Sunshine Games. Everything just sort of 288 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:16,560 Speaker 9: clicked in those Olympics. 289 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:21,040 Speaker 1: Footage of the opening ceremonies exists, and it just looks 290 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:22,440 Speaker 1: so grand. 291 00:17:23,160 --> 00:17:26,280 Speaker 9: It was really glorious. I mean, you had all these 292 00:17:26,320 --> 00:17:30,680 Speaker 9: men in top hats and waistcoats, and women with fancy 293 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:34,320 Speaker 9: dresses and hats, and these boy scouts with their big 294 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:37,720 Speaker 9: old hats, and you just feel the excitement of that 295 00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:39,800 Speaker 9: moment coming into the stadium. 296 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:44,480 Speaker 1: I'm trying to see this through his eyes. I mean, 297 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:46,520 Speaker 1: was that like going to another planet? 298 00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:51,880 Speaker 9: Definitely going to another planet. The people in Europe sort 299 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:56,760 Speaker 9: of romanticized Native Americans. They'd never seen one. So there's 300 00:17:56,800 --> 00:17:59,560 Speaker 9: this scene where Jim is out in the practice field 301 00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:03,719 Speaker 9: and three Swedish girls come by, and you know, he 302 00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:08,080 Speaker 9: doesn't quite look like their stereotype of an Indian, so 303 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:10,760 Speaker 9: he pretends he is one. You know, he does some 304 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:14,040 Speaker 9: war whoops and it scares the heck out of you know, 305 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:17,000 Speaker 9: just to play into that sort of stereotype. 306 00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:21,240 Speaker 1: A couple of fun facts. The Swedish smorgasborge was introduced 307 00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:24,920 Speaker 1: to America by the nineteen twelve Games, and these same 308 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:29,040 Speaker 1: games were the last when the gold medals were solid gold. 309 00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:33,040 Speaker 1: Jim won the first of his two golds in the Pentathlon. 310 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:37,280 Speaker 1: Then came the ten events of the Decathlon, which was 311 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:41,640 Speaker 1: held over three days. It was on day two, when 312 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:44,359 Speaker 1: it came time for the high jump that any doubts 313 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:47,040 Speaker 1: about Jim Thorpe's greatness were silenced. 314 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:50,680 Speaker 8: He was going out to participate, started looking for a 315 00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:52,240 Speaker 8: hue and couldn't find him. 316 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:56,200 Speaker 1: That's Jim Thorpe's son, Bill Thorpe, in an interview from 317 00:18:56,240 --> 00:18:57,120 Speaker 1: twenty fifteen. 318 00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:02,440 Speaker 8: So he started looking around and asking questions. People just said, oh, 319 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:03,600 Speaker 8: we don't know. We don't know. 320 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:09,080 Speaker 9: Earlier that day his shoes went missing, kind of a crisis. 321 00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:13,320 Speaker 9: So he and Pop Warner I think they found one 322 00:19:13,359 --> 00:19:16,080 Speaker 9: shoe in a trash can and another shoe somewhere else. 323 00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:19,639 Speaker 9: There were different sizes. He had to wear, you know, 324 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:22,199 Speaker 9: two pairs of socks on one foot, you know, to 325 00:19:22,280 --> 00:19:25,440 Speaker 9: make them work. And he still won the high jump. 326 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:28,879 Speaker 1: To be clear, Jim Thorpe won the high jump wearing 327 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:33,720 Speaker 1: two random mismatched shoes. There's a picture of him just 328 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:36,880 Speaker 1: standing there like, Yeah, what's the big deal, I'm wearing 329 00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:38,800 Speaker 1: shoes I pulled out of a trash can five minutes 330 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:44,320 Speaker 1: before the competition. Big whoop. Now, while Jim and his 331 00:19:44,359 --> 00:19:47,840 Speaker 1: teammates were playing to win, they were also young guys 332 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:51,959 Speaker 1: in a foreign country. They were going to have some fun. Apparently, 333 00:19:52,119 --> 00:19:55,600 Speaker 1: Jim liked to wrestle when he drank. According to one account, 334 00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:59,440 Speaker 1: Jim was ordinarily a quiet guy. Once he had a few, 335 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:02,480 Speaker 1: couldn't get him to shut up. By the end of 336 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:06,440 Speaker 1: day three of the decathlon, Jim Thorpe hadn't just won gold. 337 00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:11,400 Speaker 1: He done so by almost seven hundred points, an astonishing margin. 338 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:17,520 Speaker 1: Sweden's King Gustav the fifth awarded Jim his two gold medals, 339 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:22,360 Speaker 1: along with two magnificent trophies, a three foot tall bronze 340 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:25,919 Speaker 1: bust that took two attendants to carry, and a thirty 341 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:29,679 Speaker 1: pound silver replica of a Viking ship. And can I 342 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:32,880 Speaker 1: just say, even if you don't like the idea of royalty, 343 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:39,640 Speaker 1: they definitely make a medal ceremony even more exciting. Here's 344 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:43,560 Speaker 1: a reporter John Erling speaking with Jim's son, Bill Thorpe. 345 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:43,879 Speaker 10: Again. 346 00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:50,320 Speaker 4: He received his from the Swedish King Gustav. Several sources 347 00:20:50,359 --> 00:20:55,240 Speaker 4: recount that when awarding the prize, King Gustav said, you, sir, 348 00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:57,520 Speaker 4: are the greatest athletes in the world. 349 00:20:57,760 --> 00:20:59,880 Speaker 8: That's what I understand that he said. 350 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:01,399 Speaker 4: To which your father said. 351 00:21:01,480 --> 00:21:02,080 Speaker 8: Thanks King. 352 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:05,600 Speaker 1: What are you say? 353 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:10,400 Speaker 8: Yeah, I mean an Indian that came from an Indian school, 354 00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:13,119 Speaker 8: and that would just be his way of it and 355 00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:13,680 Speaker 8: their way. 356 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:18,240 Speaker 1: But that story, says David Marinus, was invented by the press. 357 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:21,680 Speaker 9: Thanks King, which is a great lie. But he didn't 358 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:24,760 Speaker 9: say it. He said thank you. But you know that 359 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:26,919 Speaker 9: was supposed to be you know, the good old country 360 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:30,919 Speaker 9: boy who didn't care about anybody's royalty, and that was 361 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:34,600 Speaker 9: part of the press mythology about the sort of the 362 00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:36,600 Speaker 9: ignorant Indian in a sense. 363 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:40,679 Speaker 1: Throughout his life, the press depicted Jim Thorpe in a 364 00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:44,600 Speaker 1: way that was simultaneously sympathetic and belittling. 365 00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:48,080 Speaker 9: It's the stereotype that starts with a noble savage and 366 00:21:48,119 --> 00:21:52,920 Speaker 9: then continues into the notion of this person that we're 367 00:21:52,960 --> 00:21:56,360 Speaker 9: going to romanticize, but he's not really one of us, 368 00:21:56,400 --> 00:21:58,200 Speaker 9: so we're going to diminish him at the same time. 369 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:03,119 Speaker 1: After the Olympics, Jim returned to the US a hero. 370 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:09,720 Speaker 9: He becomes a globally famous figure, the most well known 371 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:13,280 Speaker 9: athlete from America around the world. I mean, the whole 372 00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:16,879 Speaker 9: team was created in New York City. Everybody else there 373 00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:18,560 Speaker 9: were tudo a car. Thorpe was the only one in 374 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:20,520 Speaker 9: his car and it was the first car, you know, 375 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:23,160 Speaker 9: going through the confetti of Fifth Avenue. 376 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:27,280 Speaker 1: So he's indisputably the star, is the star of the Games. 377 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:31,320 Speaker 1: In Philadelphia, his trophies were on display at the famed 378 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:36,280 Speaker 1: Wannamaker's department store. And then Jim made a triumphant return 379 00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:39,320 Speaker 1: to Carlisle. The kids must have gone nuts when he 380 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:39,760 Speaker 1: came back. 381 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:43,280 Speaker 9: They did. There was a huge celebration and that's where 382 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:47,000 Speaker 9: President Taff sent a telegram congratulating him for being an 383 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:50,159 Speaker 9: honorable American citizen, not knowing that he wasn't even one. 384 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:54,200 Speaker 1: That's right, Jim Thorpe, the American hero of the nineteen 385 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:59,080 Speaker 1: twelve Olympics, wasn't an American citizen. It wasn't until nineteen 386 00:22:59,119 --> 00:23:03,440 Speaker 1: twenty four all Native Americans were granted citizenship. This was 387 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:07,840 Speaker 1: a divisive issue. Many Native Americans were understandably concerned that 388 00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:12,080 Speaker 1: they'd lose even more autonomy pledging allegiance to the United States. 389 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:16,280 Speaker 1: But Jim did want citizenship rights, and he'd finally be 390 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:20,240 Speaker 1: granted them after the Games in nineteen sixteen. Now, for 391 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:23,520 Speaker 1: mere mortals, winning gold at the Olympics would be enough 392 00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:26,880 Speaker 1: for one year, but Jim Thorpe was no mere mortal. 393 00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:32,800 Speaker 9: I call nineteen twelve the greatest single year any athlete 394 00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:36,919 Speaker 9: has ever had. Not only does he win two gold 395 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:40,679 Speaker 9: medals in Stockholm, but then comes back and has a 396 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:46,439 Speaker 9: brilliant final year of football at Carlisle with one game 397 00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:49,879 Speaker 9: that I call the greatest act of athletic retribution in 398 00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:55,000 Speaker 9: American history, which is the game against Army at West Point. 399 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:58,960 Speaker 1: Now, why this is so fraud this game. 400 00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:02,399 Speaker 9: Well, it's the me against the Indians on a level 401 00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:06,200 Speaker 9: playing field at last. You know, most football games, it's 402 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:09,840 Speaker 9: just football. This one had a larger resonance to it. 403 00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:14,200 Speaker 1: The Carlisle players were well aware that only twenty two 404 00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:18,240 Speaker 1: years had passed since the massacre at Wounded Knee, when 405 00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:22,879 Speaker 1: three hundred Lakota men, women, and children were slaughtered by 406 00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:26,959 Speaker 1: the US Army, effectively marking the end of Indian resistance. 407 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:31,960 Speaker 1: This season, both football teams were formidable. Carlisle had its 408 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:35,679 Speaker 1: most talented team in the school's history with Jim at 409 00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:36,400 Speaker 1: running back. 410 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:42,520 Speaker 9: Army had a good team. They had a sophomore running back, 411 00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:44,720 Speaker 9: linebacker Dwight Eisenhower. 412 00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:50,280 Speaker 1: Yes, that Dwight Eisenhower, the future Supreme Allied Commander and 413 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:54,919 Speaker 1: thirty fourth President of the United States. Omar Bradley, another 414 00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:59,200 Speaker 1: future World War Two hero, sat on the bench. Eisenhower 415 00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:02,320 Speaker 1: would later back in awe at Jim and we. 416 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:04,680 Speaker 2: Buying just without the side of his bawn. 417 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:08,119 Speaker 10: It the football on, you take it out sixty yards 418 00:25:08,119 --> 00:25:08,520 Speaker 10: to punt. 419 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:12,600 Speaker 1: That's from an interview Eisenhower did years later. And it's 420 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:16,320 Speaker 1: true Jim could punt more than sixty yards in normal 421 00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:20,160 Speaker 1: weather conditions. Ninety five yards if the winds were right, 422 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:21,520 Speaker 1: we where's. 423 00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:22,440 Speaker 6: By this man? 424 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:25,760 Speaker 11: Feed and they which you got. 425 00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:29,840 Speaker 1: Last Ike understood that if Army didn't take down Thorpe, 426 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:32,120 Speaker 1: they might as well wave the white flag. 427 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:35,680 Speaker 9: They said, we're gonna knock Thorpe out of the game, 428 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:37,679 Speaker 9: hit him high and low at the same time, and 429 00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:40,359 Speaker 9: knock him out. In the third quarter, they eventually were 430 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:42,359 Speaker 9: able to make that kind of tackle, and he was 431 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:44,840 Speaker 9: on the ground groggy for a minute or so, but 432 00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:48,280 Speaker 9: he got up and soon thereafter knocked Eisenhower out of 433 00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:53,320 Speaker 9: the game. The Carlisle Indians clabbered Army twenty seven to six. 434 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:56,280 Speaker 9: It was an unforgettable movement. 435 00:25:56,480 --> 00:25:59,480 Speaker 1: They could defeat the Axis Powers, but they couldn't defeat 436 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:01,200 Speaker 1: Jim Thorpe, fan Carlyle. 437 00:26:01,359 --> 00:26:02,600 Speaker 9: It's a good way to put it. Book. 438 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:06,639 Speaker 1: As if that weren't enough, Jim won the Intercollegiate Ballroom 439 00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:10,320 Speaker 1: Dancing Championship that year. He would have crushed Dancing with 440 00:26:10,359 --> 00:26:14,520 Speaker 1: the Stars. Nineteen twelve had been a year of victories 441 00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:21,960 Speaker 1: for Jim Thorpe. Nineteen thirteen began very differently. In late January, 442 00:26:22,119 --> 00:26:26,359 Speaker 1: the Worcester Telegram newspaper reported that Jim Thorpe had played 443 00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:29,840 Speaker 1: minor league baseball in North Carolina back in nineteen oh 444 00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:33,920 Speaker 1: nine and nineteen ten. Now, remember how we said hundreds 445 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:37,280 Speaker 1: of other college athletes had done the same. Incidentally, they 446 00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:41,880 Speaker 1: included Dwight D. Eisenhower. But the disclosure that Olympic hero 447 00:26:42,119 --> 00:26:46,000 Speaker 1: Jim Thorpe had played semi pro Bowl quickly blew up 448 00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:50,800 Speaker 1: into a major story. Back then, Olympic athletes were required 449 00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:51,960 Speaker 1: to be amateurs. 450 00:26:52,840 --> 00:27:00,159 Speaker 9: Amateurism was basically an idea foisted upon athletes by wealthy 451 00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:04,919 Speaker 9: aristocrats in Europe who developed this noble sense of the 452 00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:08,040 Speaker 9: purity of sports, and then it became part of the 453 00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:11,480 Speaker 9: Olympic spirit and system that this would prevail. 454 00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:15,640 Speaker 1: But says David Maronis, it was an unrealistic ideal. 455 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:19,480 Speaker 9: Most athletes come out of the working class and money, 456 00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:23,360 Speaker 9: you know, That's how they've survives through their athletic talents. 457 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:26,720 Speaker 9: So it was a conflict between those two. 458 00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:30,000 Speaker 1: Things and it was unevenly enforced. 459 00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:34,359 Speaker 9: The entire Swedish team was given a leave of absence 460 00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:37,760 Speaker 9: from their jobs for six months before the Olympics at 461 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:45,560 Speaker 9: fau pay. Were they professionals or amateur Jim Thorpe played 462 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:49,920 Speaker 9: baseball for about a dollar a day in a sport 463 00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:51,840 Speaker 9: that had nothing to do with any of his events, 464 00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:54,240 Speaker 9: and yet he was the one who suffered because of this. 465 00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:56,679 Speaker 9: There were so many hpocrisies involved in this. 466 00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:01,120 Speaker 1: Now, the press and the public were largely on Jim's side, 467 00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:05,000 Speaker 1: after all, he brought home gold for Team USA, the 468 00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:08,480 Speaker 1: second place finishers in the pentathlon and to Catalon. Both 469 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:12,520 Speaker 1: Scandinavians were on his side too, But the US and 470 00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:17,560 Speaker 1: International Olympic committees were less forgiving, and so Jim turned 471 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:21,159 Speaker 1: to his coach Pop Warner, who knew full well that 472 00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:23,359 Speaker 1: Jim had played semi pro ball. 473 00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:27,560 Speaker 9: The most damning thing about Pop Warner was that at 474 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:31,320 Speaker 9: the moment of Jim Thorpe's crisis, after he'd won his 475 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:34,840 Speaker 9: gold medals, when because it was revealed that he'd played 476 00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:38,960 Speaker 9: minor league baseball in North Carolina for two years, Pop 477 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:41,120 Speaker 9: Warner lied and said he knew nothing about it to 478 00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:42,400 Speaker 9: save his own reputation. 479 00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:47,160 Speaker 1: Instead, Pop Warner ghost wrote the letter that Jim Thorpe 480 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:50,760 Speaker 1: sent to the Amateur Athletic Union, portraying Thorpe as an 481 00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:56,960 Speaker 1: ignorant Indian who didn't know better and accepting blame. Jim 482 00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:00,600 Speaker 1: Thorpe was stripped of his medals. His name raced from 483 00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:04,720 Speaker 1: the record books the medals and trophies sent back. But 484 00:29:04,800 --> 00:29:08,160 Speaker 1: if Jim was bitter about it, it didn't show. As 485 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:12,240 Speaker 1: he would throughout his life, he would just keep moving forward, 486 00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:16,720 Speaker 1: pushing against gale force headwinds. It helped that he had 487 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:21,160 Speaker 1: just married his Carlyle sweetheart, Iva Margaret Miller, and they 488 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:25,840 Speaker 1: would soon welcome their first child, Jim Junior. Jim would 489 00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:29,480 Speaker 1: later write about this period quote, while my castle fell 490 00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:33,320 Speaker 1: around me, the American people, the student body of Carlyle, 491 00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:38,280 Speaker 1: and my girl Iva remained loyal. I adopted a fantastic 492 00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:42,720 Speaker 1: viewpoint and considered the episode just another event in the 493 00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:48,760 Speaker 1: Red Man's life of ups and downs. 494 00:29:57,200 --> 00:30:01,440 Speaker 11: In the NNY All the President the United States. 495 00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:06,800 Speaker 1: In July nineteen thirty two, over one hundred thousand people 496 00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:11,760 Speaker 1: packed LA's Memorial Colisseum to watch one of the nation's 497 00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:16,640 Speaker 1: most highly regarded Native Americans preside over the opening of 498 00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:18,959 Speaker 1: that city's first Olympic Games. 499 00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:20,960 Speaker 2: I have to play open. 500 00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:28,760 Speaker 11: The Olympic Games of Los Angeles, celebrating that tenth Olympian 501 00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:34,360 Speaker 11: on the monern area. 502 00:30:34,720 --> 00:30:38,800 Speaker 1: No, that's not the voice of Jim Thorpe. That was 503 00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:43,240 Speaker 1: Herbert Hoover's vice president, Charles Curtis, a member of the 504 00:30:43,320 --> 00:30:46,800 Speaker 1: kaw Nation and the first person of color to serve 505 00:30:46,880 --> 00:30:50,880 Speaker 1: as vice president. Jim Thorpe, the hero of the nineteen 506 00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:56,240 Speaker 1: twelve Games, wasn't even invited to attend these Games. In fact, 507 00:30:56,480 --> 00:31:00,600 Speaker 1: Jim was living in Los Angeles. When Vice President Curtis, 508 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:04,280 Speaker 1: who had worshiped Thorpe, read in the Los Angeles Times 509 00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:07,840 Speaker 1: that Jim had been shut out, he arranged for passes 510 00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:11,160 Speaker 1: to be sent to him. When Jim got those passes, 511 00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:15,360 Speaker 1: he remarked, it had to be another Indian who finally 512 00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:22,320 Speaker 1: got me the invitation. The last twenty years had been 513 00:31:22,360 --> 00:31:27,960 Speaker 1: turbulent for Jim Thorpe. In nineteen eighteen, at the age 514 00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:32,600 Speaker 1: of three, Jim Thorpe Junior had died during the influenza pandemic. 515 00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:36,480 Speaker 1: The most precious trophy I had ever been awarded in 516 00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:39,520 Speaker 1: my life had been taken from me, Jim later said. 517 00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:44,480 Speaker 1: In nineteen twenty five, Jim's wife, Iva, filed for divorce, 518 00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:48,400 Speaker 1: claiming desertion. It was hard to blame her. Jim was 519 00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:52,080 Speaker 1: almost constantly on the road, and he was drinking heavily. 520 00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:56,400 Speaker 1: He would marry two more times and have eight children total, 521 00:31:56,960 --> 00:31:59,240 Speaker 1: but he was mostly an absentee father. 522 00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:04,080 Speaker 9: Over the course of the final thirty years of his life, 523 00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:07,400 Speaker 9: he just kept moving. He lived in twenty different states, 524 00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:10,520 Speaker 9: most of the time out in California. 525 00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:16,040 Speaker 1: When asked why he kept moving, he explained, a man 526 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:19,360 Speaker 1: has to keep hustling when he has a family and 527 00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:23,200 Speaker 1: hustle he did. Within two years of his medals being 528 00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:27,040 Speaker 1: stripped from him, Jim Thorpe was playing both pro baseball 529 00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:30,920 Speaker 1: and pro football. He was named president of the organization 530 00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:34,040 Speaker 1: that would become the NFL. For a time, he even 531 00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:38,680 Speaker 1: played pro basketball. And here's something that surprised me even more. 532 00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:43,920 Speaker 1: For two seasons, Jim coached and played for an all 533 00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:48,720 Speaker 1: Native American football team called the Ourang Indians. Urang was 534 00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:52,280 Speaker 1: the name of the Ohio dog kennel that sponsored the team. 535 00:32:52,800 --> 00:32:56,440 Speaker 1: To draw in the crowds, the team would perform between halves, 536 00:32:57,040 --> 00:33:01,560 Speaker 1: showing off the kennel's airedales, performing ward dances, Jim would 537 00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:06,680 Speaker 1: wow spectators with his still spectacular dropkick. Now get this, 538 00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:12,280 Speaker 1: That show is generally considered the origin of today's NFL 539 00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:19,760 Speaker 1: halftime show. By the late nineteen twenties, age was taking 540 00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:23,160 Speaker 1: its toll on Jim he played his last football game 541 00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:26,560 Speaker 1: at forty one. When he was forty six, he played 542 00:33:26,560 --> 00:33:30,440 Speaker 1: his last baseball game. To make ends meet, Jim had 543 00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:34,080 Speaker 1: taken jobs as a security guard and bouncer, and by 544 00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:37,240 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty one he was digging ditches for the Los 545 00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:41,280 Speaker 1: Angeles Public Works Department, working for four dollars a day. 546 00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:45,880 Speaker 1: But Los Angeles was also a new beginning for Jim Thorpe. 547 00:33:46,960 --> 00:33:50,000 Speaker 1: He'd gone there to pursue a career in Hollywood, but 548 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:53,760 Speaker 1: he visualized a better future in the industry for all 549 00:33:53,880 --> 00:33:54,880 Speaker 1: Native Americans. 550 00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:59,160 Speaker 9: And there's another period out there where I sort of 551 00:33:59,200 --> 00:34:03,240 Speaker 9: see him finding himself and his meaning. 552 00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:05,560 Speaker 1: That's biographer David Marinis. 553 00:34:05,560 --> 00:34:05,840 Speaker 6: Again. 554 00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:09,359 Speaker 9: He became the leader of the two hundred or so 555 00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:12,840 Speaker 9: Native Americans who were on the fringes of the studio 556 00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:14,480 Speaker 9: industry in Hollywood. 557 00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:19,440 Speaker 1: Jim co founded the Native American Actors Guild. Native Americans 558 00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:21,800 Speaker 1: were barred from joining the Screen Actors Guild. 559 00:34:22,440 --> 00:34:25,800 Speaker 9: You know, all of these Native Americans out there. Basically, 560 00:34:25,880 --> 00:34:29,080 Speaker 9: he was saying, you've got all these Westerns going on, 561 00:34:29,719 --> 00:34:33,440 Speaker 9: and you're hiring white guys and putting the war paint 562 00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:35,879 Speaker 9: on them higher us. You know, we're the real thing. 563 00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:42,080 Speaker 1: Those Indian actors began calling Jim Akapamata caregiver in his 564 00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:45,439 Speaker 1: sack and fox language. The big surprise is how many 565 00:34:45,520 --> 00:34:47,640 Speaker 1: movies Jim himself ended up in. 566 00:34:49,160 --> 00:34:53,279 Speaker 9: He was in more than seventy movies. He acted with 567 00:34:53,680 --> 00:34:57,280 Speaker 9: every famous actor you can imagine of that era. 568 00:34:57,680 --> 00:35:00,720 Speaker 1: He's an extra I think in King Kong he's extra Kink. 569 00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:05,120 Speaker 1: He mostly played bit roles if he talked at all, 570 00:35:05,640 --> 00:35:09,320 Speaker 1: and usually as an Indian warrior. But in some movies, 571 00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:12,640 Speaker 1: like the nineteen thirty two comedic short Always Kicking, he 572 00:35:12,719 --> 00:35:14,800 Speaker 1: played himself and he was a highlight. 573 00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:18,120 Speaker 6: I remember boys the art of draft kicking, to always 574 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:19,839 Speaker 6: keep your eye on the ball and never look up 575 00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:22,120 Speaker 6: until the ball is in flag. All right, ken. 576 00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:26,279 Speaker 1: But the film Jim Thorpe is best remembered for was 577 00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:31,960 Speaker 1: the one about him. 578 00:35:29,760 --> 00:35:33,359 Speaker 2: Jim Thorpe, All American, The Man of Bronze, who became 579 00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:37,640 Speaker 2: the greatest athlete of all time, an Oklahoma Indian lad 580 00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:40,640 Speaker 2: who was on tame spirit gave wings to his feet 581 00:35:41,040 --> 00:35:43,920 Speaker 2: and carried him to immortality. 582 00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:48,799 Speaker 1: Jim Thorpe, All American, the movie with Bert Lancaster for 583 00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:53,480 Speaker 1: its time, just to place it in its time. What 584 00:35:53,480 --> 00:35:54,440 Speaker 1: do you think of the movie. 585 00:35:54,840 --> 00:36:01,880 Speaker 9: The movie is sympathetic to Jim Thorpe. It stars Burt Lancaster, 586 00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:05,640 Speaker 9: who is a great actor and a big star. 587 00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:09,680 Speaker 3: There's one thing that really gets at sports. Do you 588 00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:11,520 Speaker 3: think a man can make a future out of them? 589 00:36:11,840 --> 00:36:13,880 Speaker 9: You know, he was thirty seven when he played Thorpe, 590 00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:16,600 Speaker 9: but he had a training as an athlete and even 591 00:36:16,640 --> 00:36:19,520 Speaker 9: as an acrobat. In most respects the fact that he 592 00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:22,920 Speaker 9: wasn't a Native American. Other than that, he was not 593 00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:23,760 Speaker 9: a bad choice. 594 00:36:24,320 --> 00:36:27,719 Speaker 1: And the director was Michael Curtiz, who years before had 595 00:36:27,719 --> 00:36:29,240 Speaker 1: directed Casablanca. 596 00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:32,560 Speaker 9: It was a big deal in the star actor and 597 00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:36,360 Speaker 9: the director and the sympathy. But it's wrong in almost 598 00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:39,760 Speaker 9: every respect. You know, it's wrong in little ways where 599 00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:43,239 Speaker 9: the first scene you see Jim Thorpe running away from 600 00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:47,440 Speaker 9: school going back home in the home has a tpe 601 00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:51,239 Speaker 9: and the second fox didn't live in tpees. And then 602 00:36:51,280 --> 00:36:55,440 Speaker 9: in the background you see the San Gabriel Monsa, California. 603 00:36:55,520 --> 00:36:57,759 Speaker 9: You know, so that's are sort of little ways and 604 00:36:57,880 --> 00:37:02,560 Speaker 9: it's off. But what if I'm The most disturbing was 605 00:37:02,640 --> 00:37:05,680 Speaker 9: that the narrator of the film, and in some respects, 606 00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:08,720 Speaker 9: the hero is not Jim Thorpe. It's Pop Warner. 607 00:37:09,719 --> 00:37:13,520 Speaker 1: Here's the Pop Warner character defending Jim for playing semi 608 00:37:13,520 --> 00:37:17,880 Speaker 1: pro baseball, something that certainly didn't happen in real life. 609 00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:22,040 Speaker 3: I just want to say, gentlemen, an ignorance sometimes is 610 00:37:22,080 --> 00:37:25,279 Speaker 3: an excuse. All boys at colin I'll come to us 611 00:37:25,280 --> 00:37:29,120 Speaker 3: from the reservation. The government pays their expenses at school. 612 00:37:30,480 --> 00:37:33,640 Speaker 3: That doesn't make the professionals in the summer. When the 613 00:37:33,680 --> 00:37:36,000 Speaker 3: government stops paying their expenses, they have to win. They 614 00:37:36,120 --> 00:37:36,840 Speaker 3: keep somehow. 615 00:37:37,880 --> 00:37:40,440 Speaker 1: Yes, the man who had sold Jim out in his 616 00:37:40,600 --> 00:37:44,880 Speaker 1: time of greatest need was presented on film as standing 617 00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:49,680 Speaker 1: up for Jim. The movie was yet another disappointment to Jim. 618 00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:53,600 Speaker 1: He'd turned over the rights to his life story and 619 00:37:53,719 --> 00:37:57,719 Speaker 1: made less than fifteen hundred dollars the same year the 620 00:37:57,719 --> 00:38:01,400 Speaker 1: film was released. In nineteen fifty one, Jim was diagnosed 621 00:38:01,520 --> 00:38:04,719 Speaker 1: with cancer. He seemed to beat it, but that wasn't 622 00:38:04,719 --> 00:38:08,320 Speaker 1: the end of his problems. Jim and his third wife, Patsy, 623 00:38:08,520 --> 00:38:12,680 Speaker 1: were broke living in a trailer in Lomita, California. On 624 00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:16,600 Speaker 1: March twenty eighth, nineteen fifty three, Jim Thorpe suffered a 625 00:38:16,640 --> 00:38:20,520 Speaker 1: heart attack while fishing at the Redondo Pier in California. 626 00:38:21,239 --> 00:38:25,640 Speaker 1: He died later that day, destitute. He was sixty four. 627 00:38:26,680 --> 00:38:30,080 Speaker 1: Only three years earlier, a poll of four hundred sports 628 00:38:30,120 --> 00:38:34,480 Speaker 1: writers had voted Jim Thorpe the number one athlete of 629 00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:39,400 Speaker 1: the first half of the twentieth century. Which brings us 630 00:38:39,440 --> 00:38:42,640 Speaker 1: back to the beginning of our episode and how Jim 631 00:38:42,719 --> 00:38:44,720 Speaker 1: Thorpe ended up where he is today. 632 00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:49,360 Speaker 9: He had told his sons that he wanted to be 633 00:38:49,440 --> 00:38:52,520 Speaker 9: buried in his homeland in a woman in Second Fox. 634 00:38:52,360 --> 00:38:57,120 Speaker 1: Territory, and it looked like that would happen. But Jim's widow, Patsy, 635 00:38:57,239 --> 00:39:00,399 Speaker 1: who was not Native American, had other ideas. 636 00:39:01,320 --> 00:39:04,520 Speaker 9: It was in the middle of a Second Fox ceremony 637 00:39:04,800 --> 00:39:07,319 Speaker 9: on land not far from where he grew up that 638 00:39:07,480 --> 00:39:11,399 Speaker 9: she came in with a couple of tufts and took 639 00:39:11,480 --> 00:39:14,759 Speaker 9: him away because she was unhappy with how the Oklahoma 640 00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:18,120 Speaker 9: government was treating him and whether there would be enough 641 00:39:18,160 --> 00:39:23,160 Speaker 9: of a celebration, a mausoleum and a museum honoring him. 642 00:39:23,200 --> 00:39:26,640 Speaker 1: Looking for a resting place for Jim's body, Patsy went 643 00:39:26,680 --> 00:39:30,839 Speaker 1: to Philadelphia to meet with a then NFL commissioner, and 644 00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:33,040 Speaker 1: here's where things get really weird. 645 00:39:34,520 --> 00:39:38,319 Speaker 9: She's there in a hotel room watching television one night 646 00:39:38,960 --> 00:39:43,439 Speaker 9: and sees this story about these two down on their 647 00:39:43,520 --> 00:39:48,480 Speaker 9: luck coal towns up near the Poconos, mock Chunk and 648 00:39:48,600 --> 00:39:51,560 Speaker 9: East mock Chunk, were trying to figure out a way 649 00:39:51,600 --> 00:39:55,719 Speaker 9: to survive after the coal industry had died and tourism 650 00:39:55,800 --> 00:39:58,920 Speaker 9: had vanished. And it's called the Switzerland of America, and 651 00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:02,800 Speaker 9: it looks beautiful, and she comes up with this plan. 652 00:40:03,680 --> 00:40:07,600 Speaker 1: Patsy contacted the editor of the local mock Chunk Times 653 00:40:08,160 --> 00:40:10,480 Speaker 1: and pitched him an idea to save the town. 654 00:40:10,920 --> 00:40:14,640 Speaker 9: You'll get Jim Thorpe's body if you merge these two 655 00:40:14,680 --> 00:40:19,440 Speaker 9: little burrows into one town, renamed them Jim Thorpe. And 656 00:40:20,040 --> 00:40:24,120 Speaker 9: maybe we'll get a Jim Thorpe hospital, and I'll even 657 00:40:24,160 --> 00:40:29,240 Speaker 9: build a tepee hotel up here, and maybe the NFL 658 00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:31,960 Speaker 9: they'll set up the Hall of Fame in Jim Thorpe. 659 00:40:32,239 --> 00:40:35,000 Speaker 1: And to be clear, when his body is brought here, 660 00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:38,640 Speaker 1: that is the very first time that Jim Thorpe comes 661 00:40:38,640 --> 00:40:39,280 Speaker 1: to this town. 662 00:40:39,600 --> 00:40:43,920 Speaker 9: He had never set foot in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania before 663 00:40:44,160 --> 00:40:46,240 Speaker 9: it became Jim Thorpe Pennsylvania. 664 00:40:46,800 --> 00:40:49,440 Speaker 1: The plan was put to a vote and it passed. 665 00:40:50,120 --> 00:40:53,760 Speaker 1: Jim Thorpe Pennsylvania was born, and Jim Thorpe the man 666 00:40:53,960 --> 00:40:59,960 Speaker 1: was buried there. That's for the Hall of Fame, hospital 667 00:41:00,080 --> 00:41:04,720 Speaker 1: and TP hotel. None of that happened. Most of Jim's 668 00:41:04,760 --> 00:41:07,800 Speaker 1: family was outraged that he was buried in a town 669 00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:10,279 Speaker 1: he never lived in, and a suit to return his 670 00:41:10,320 --> 00:41:13,239 Speaker 1: body to Oklahoma was filed. It went all the way 671 00:41:13,239 --> 00:41:17,160 Speaker 1: to the Supreme Court, which ultimately refused to hear the case. 672 00:41:17,719 --> 00:41:22,239 Speaker 1: This really caused a rift in the family. I mean 673 00:41:22,360 --> 00:41:25,000 Speaker 1: so much pain and estrangement. 674 00:41:25,120 --> 00:41:29,040 Speaker 10: Yeah, yes, I mean it's what divided us, and we've 675 00:41:29,040 --> 00:41:30,880 Speaker 10: been two separate families ever since. 676 00:41:31,360 --> 00:41:35,360 Speaker 1: In nineteen ninety six, Jim's granddaughter, Anita Thorpe, took a 677 00:41:35,440 --> 00:41:39,280 Speaker 1: road trip with her father, Jim's son Richard. Their first 678 00:41:39,320 --> 00:41:43,359 Speaker 1: stop the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, where 679 00:41:43,440 --> 00:41:46,200 Speaker 1: Jim Thorpe had been inducted its very first year. 680 00:41:47,600 --> 00:41:50,680 Speaker 10: I remember going into the Football Hall of Fame and 681 00:41:50,840 --> 00:41:54,400 Speaker 10: my dad was he was really enjoying hisself. 682 00:41:54,760 --> 00:41:58,080 Speaker 1: And then they drove on to Jim Thorpe Pennsylvania. It 683 00:41:58,160 --> 00:42:00,600 Speaker 1: was the first time either of them would see where 684 00:42:00,719 --> 00:42:01,600 Speaker 1: Jim was buried. 685 00:42:02,080 --> 00:42:08,480 Speaker 10: And then we were at the mausoleum and my father's. 686 00:42:08,800 --> 00:42:14,040 Speaker 10: His whole demeanor changed from I'm having a really good time, 687 00:42:14,200 --> 00:42:16,360 Speaker 10: you know, I'm living this, having a time in my 688 00:42:16,440 --> 00:42:22,320 Speaker 10: life visiting these places, to a depression. A dark cloud 689 00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:25,680 Speaker 10: came over him, almost in an instant. 690 00:42:26,680 --> 00:42:29,880 Speaker 1: Today, Richard Thorpe and all the rest of Jim Thorpe's 691 00:42:29,960 --> 00:42:33,600 Speaker 1: children are gone, and Anita Thorpe thinks it's time for 692 00:42:33,640 --> 00:42:38,160 Speaker 1: the newer generations to move on. Are you now getting 693 00:42:38,200 --> 00:42:40,800 Speaker 1: to know cousins that you were estranged from? 694 00:42:41,120 --> 00:42:43,520 Speaker 10: Yes, you know, I hate to say, but it really 695 00:42:43,560 --> 00:42:47,440 Speaker 10: took all the children, you know, those that were fighting 696 00:42:47,640 --> 00:42:51,120 Speaker 10: to pass for the grandchildren to come and say, well, 697 00:42:51,440 --> 00:42:52,600 Speaker 10: let's do things together. 698 00:42:53,320 --> 00:42:56,800 Speaker 1: Jim Thorpe's remains may never be restored to sac and 699 00:42:56,920 --> 00:43:01,719 Speaker 1: fox Land, but Jim Thorpe's Olympic leg has been restored. 700 00:43:02,520 --> 00:43:06,120 Speaker 1: In twenty twenty two, one hundred and ten years after 701 00:43:06,160 --> 00:43:11,600 Speaker 1: his humiliation, Jim Thorpe's name was officially reinstated as the 702 00:43:11,640 --> 00:43:14,800 Speaker 1: sole winner of the gold medals in the nineteen twelve 703 00:43:14,880 --> 00:43:25,640 Speaker 1: pentathlon and decathlon. That same year, Anita Thorpe delivered remarks 704 00:43:25,719 --> 00:43:29,919 Speaker 1: at the National Archives in Washington, DC. She spoke about 705 00:43:29,960 --> 00:43:34,880 Speaker 1: how her grandfather's story wasn't a tragedy. Instead, she told 706 00:43:34,920 --> 00:43:40,120 Speaker 1: this story illustrating how his extraordinary journey was an everyday 707 00:43:40,239 --> 00:43:41,680 Speaker 1: source of inspiration. 708 00:43:42,640 --> 00:43:49,000 Speaker 10: Welcome everybody. I'm Anita Thorpe. I'm Jim Thorpe's granddaughter. I'm 709 00:43:49,000 --> 00:43:51,680 Speaker 10: going to tell a little story about my trip to Washington, 710 00:43:51,760 --> 00:43:56,000 Speaker 10: d C. This is my second time here. My first 711 00:43:56,000 --> 00:44:00,840 Speaker 10: trip was here in September. Everybody kept saying, take the metro, 712 00:44:01,800 --> 00:44:04,799 Speaker 10: That's how you get around this place. But I was 713 00:44:05,160 --> 00:44:08,560 Speaker 10: scared to death to get on the metro. And so 714 00:44:08,840 --> 00:44:13,359 Speaker 10: I leave the Hilton and I go downstairs, and I 715 00:44:13,440 --> 00:44:15,120 Speaker 10: was afraid to death, you know. I was afraid that 716 00:44:15,200 --> 00:44:16,719 Speaker 10: I was going to get on the wrong train and 717 00:44:16,920 --> 00:44:22,520 Speaker 10: never make it back. So I stepped aboard the train. 718 00:44:22,800 --> 00:44:25,520 Speaker 10: I sit down, And as soon as I sat down, 719 00:44:26,320 --> 00:44:30,080 Speaker 10: I thought about my granddad, and I thought about the 720 00:44:30,200 --> 00:44:34,000 Speaker 10: courage it took for each and every endeavor that he took, 721 00:44:34,360 --> 00:44:38,640 Speaker 10: going to the Olympics, being a star athlete at Carlisle, 722 00:44:39,200 --> 00:44:43,400 Speaker 10: being the first president of what is today the NFL. 723 00:44:43,719 --> 00:44:47,759 Speaker 10: And you heard the term doors open and close. One 724 00:44:47,800 --> 00:44:50,480 Speaker 10: door open, one door closes. And so while I was 725 00:44:50,560 --> 00:44:55,080 Speaker 10: riding that train today, I thought of my grandfather's courage 726 00:44:55,560 --> 00:45:00,359 Speaker 10: And if I could leave one bit of thing or 727 00:45:00,520 --> 00:45:04,839 Speaker 10: inspiration for Jim Thorb for young and old, is you know, 728 00:45:04,920 --> 00:45:08,520 Speaker 10: for everybody to have that courage in your life when 729 00:45:08,560 --> 00:45:12,000 Speaker 10: you're stepping on the platform to someplace unknown. 730 00:45:12,320 --> 00:45:17,200 Speaker 7: That's what my grandfather had throughout his life, was the 731 00:45:17,280 --> 00:45:21,440 Speaker 7: courage to step up on the platform for whatever event 732 00:45:21,480 --> 00:45:25,040 Speaker 7: it was in the strength. Thank you. 733 00:45:38,480 --> 00:45:42,319 Speaker 1: I certainly hope you enjoyed this mobituary. May I ask 734 00:45:42,360 --> 00:45:45,359 Speaker 1: you to please rate and review our podcast. You can 735 00:45:45,400 --> 00:45:49,319 Speaker 1: also follow Mobituaries on Facebook and Instagram, and you can 736 00:45:49,320 --> 00:45:52,440 Speaker 1: follow me on the social media platform formerly known as 737 00:45:52,480 --> 00:45:58,640 Speaker 1: Twitter at morocca. Here are all new episodes of Mobituaries 738 00:45:58,680 --> 00:46:03,320 Speaker 1: every Wednesday. Where you get your podcasts and check out Mobituaries. 739 00:46:03,480 --> 00:46:07,200 Speaker 1: Great Lives Worth Reliving the New York Times best selling 740 00:46:07,200 --> 00:46:11,760 Speaker 1: book now available in paperback and audiobook. It includes plenty 741 00:46:11,800 --> 00:46:17,920 Speaker 1: of stories not in the podcast. This episode of Mobituaries 742 00:46:18,080 --> 00:46:22,319 Speaker 1: was produced by Liz Sanchez. Our team of producers also 743 00:46:22,360 --> 00:46:27,879 Speaker 1: includes Chloe Choball, Young Kim and Me Moroka, with engineering 744 00:46:27,960 --> 00:46:31,840 Speaker 1: by Josh Han. Our theme music is written by Daniel Hart. 745 00:46:32,120 --> 00:46:37,080 Speaker 1: Our archivel producer is Jamie Benson. Fact checking from Amy Cronenberg. 746 00:46:37,560 --> 00:46:43,000 Speaker 1: Mobituary's production company is Neon Hum Media. Indispensable support from 747 00:46:43,040 --> 00:46:47,760 Speaker 1: Alan Pang and everyone at CBS News Radio. Special thanks 748 00:46:47,800 --> 00:46:53,000 Speaker 1: to Steve Razis, Rand Morrison, Michah Carlson, Alberto Robina and 749 00:46:53,160 --> 00:46:58,040 Speaker 1: Francisco Robina. Also to the voices of Oklahoma and I'm 750 00:46:58,040 --> 00:47:02,799 Speaker 1: a Sportsfile dot Com for archival tape. David Marinus's book 751 00:47:03,080 --> 00:47:06,040 Speaker 1: Path Lit by Lightning the Life of Jim Thorpe is 752 00:47:06,080 --> 00:47:09,839 Speaker 1: published by Simon and Schuster, which, like CBS, is part 753 00:47:09,840 --> 00:47:15,320 Speaker 1: of Paramount Global. Executive producers for Mobituaries include Megan Marcus, 754 00:47:15,480 --> 00:47:20,040 Speaker 1: Jonathan Hirsch, and Morocca. The series is created by Yours 755 00:47:20,080 --> 00:47:20,400 Speaker 1: Truly