Jim Thorpe

:This article refers to the football & baseball player. To see the city in Pennsylvania see Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania.

Early life

Information of Thorpe's place of birth, date of birth and full name vary widely. What is known is that he was born in Indian Territory, but no birth certificate has been found.

Related Topics:
Indian Territory - Birth certificate

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According to the findings of Bill Mallon (see references), Thorpe was born on May 28, 1887 (other sources state 1888) on an Indian reservation near the town of Shawnee, Oklahoma (not Prague, Oklahoma, as often seen). His full name is often said to be James Francis Thorpe, but this cannot be confirmed; "Jacobus Franciscus Thorpe" is the name on his christening certificate.

Related Topics:
References - May 28 - 1887 - Indian reservation - Shawnee, Oklahoma - Prague, Oklahoma

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His parents were each of mixed descent. His father, Hiram Thorpe, had an Irish father and a Sac and Fox Indian mother, while his mother, Charlotte Vieux, had a French father and an Indian mother. Thorpe was raised as a Sac and Fox, and his native name was Wa-Tho-Huk, meaning Bright Path. As was the custom for Sac and Fox, Thorpe was named for something occurring around the time of his birth, in this case the sunlight brightening the path to the cabin where he was born. Some accounts suggest that Hiram Thorpe had 19 children with five different wives, of which no fewer than eleven were with Vieux.

Related Topics:
Irish - Sac and Fox - French

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Together with his twin brother Charlie, Thorpe went to school in Tecumseh, Oklahoma at the Sac and Fox Indian Agency School. Charlie died of pneumonia when they were eight years old. Thorpe did not handle his brother's death very well, and ran away from school on several occasions. Hiram Thorpe then sent Jim to what is now known as Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas, so that his son would not run away again. When his mother died two years later, Thorpe fell into a depression. After several arguments with his father, he ran away from home to work on a horse farm.

Related Topics:
Tecumseh, Oklahoma - Pneumonia - Haskell Indian Nations University - Lawrence, Kansas - Depression

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In 1904, Thorpe returned to his father, and decided to join Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania where he was coached by Glenn Scobey "Pop" Warner, one of the most influential coaches in early American football history. Later that year, Hiram Thorpe died. Thorpe once again dropped out of school. He resumed farm work for a few years and then returned to Carlisle, where his athletic career commenced.

Related Topics:
1904 - Carlisle Indian Industrial School - Carlisle, Pennsylvania - Glenn Scobey "Pop" Warner

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