Path lit by lightning, p.69
Path Lit by Lightning, page 69
In response to accusations: Account of executive controversy in the ECL drawn from Raleigh News & Observer, Aug. 23–27; Raleigh Times, Aug. 26; Wilmington Morning Star, Aug. 31, 1909.
When the season ended: “Red Son of Carlisle,” 31; Newcombe, 142–43.
But Jim did not cut all ties: St. Louis Globe Democrat, Nov. 25–26, 1909; Buford, Native American Son, 90; Crawford, 126.
One month after going on the hunt: Carlisle Arrow, Dec. 31, 1909; Moses Friedman files, CISDRC; Newcombe, 143.
1910, was a lost year for Thorpe: Account of Thorpe in Rocky Mount and Fayetteville drawn from Winston-Salem Journal, July 21, 1910; Raleigh Times, July 28, Aug. 11, Aug. 13, 1910; Wilmington Dispatch, Aug. 1, 1910; Raleigh News & Observer, Aug. 10, Oct. 23, 1910; also Crawford, 130; Buford, 93.
CHAPTER 8: ALMOST THERE
Ex was a man on the move: Account of Thorpe in Anadarko and meeting Exendine drawn from Oklahoma’s Orbit, Sept. 3, 1967; DHTC Exendine file; Guthrie Daily Leader, Dec. 2, 1912; Crawford, All American, 133.
“The personnel of the Olympic team”: Pop Warner, “Red Menaces,” Collier’s, Oct. 31, 1931.
Thorpe was still in Anadarko: Sac and Fox-Shawnee Agency Records/Carlisle Indian School, box 542, folder 6, OHS; also Newcombe, The Best of the Athletic Boys, 149; DHTC Thorpe Letters file.
During the first week of September: Carlisle Arrow, Sept. 15 and 22, 1911.
Garlow had sent a postcard: Postcard postmarked May 11, 1911, William Garlow Student File, CISDRC.
Pop had set the schedule: Carlisle beat Lebanon Valley 53–0, Muhlenberg 32–0, and Dickinson 17–0 before St. Mary’s College scored the first points for the opposition, losing 46–5.
“his happiest years were spent at Carlisle”: Grace Thorpe telephone interview with author John Bloom. As a critic of the boarding schools, Bloom recalled, he “laughed nervously” at Grace’s comment, but then understood it in context: “She understands [Carlisle] as a school that provided him the opportunity to… become one of the few Native Americans recognized and admired both nationally and internationally.”
“unusual sounds coming to our ears”: Carlisle Arrow, Oct. 6, 1911; Carlisle Sentinel, Sept. 29, 1911; Adams County News, Sept. 23, 1911; “List of Air Show Accidents and Incidents, 1904–1911,” exhaustive list on Wikipedia.
another visage from the past: Visit of Luther Standing Bear drawn from Carlisle Arrow, Oct. 13, 1911; biographical material from N. Scott Momaday collection, Beinecke, and Standing Bear, My People, the Sioux.
A few days before the game: Warner letter to John Newhall, Newhall family papers.
At Pittsburgh that Saturday: Account of Pitt game drawn from Pittsburgh Leader, Pittsburgh Dispatch, Pittsburgh Post, Oct. 22, 1911.
One day that fall: Typed and handwritten notes of Jack Newcombe interview with Iva Miller, Newcombe personal papers.
Iva was six years younger: Depiction of Iva Miller drawn from Iva Miller Student File, Application for Enrollment, Progress Card, Physical Record, Descriptive and Historical Record, Trade Record, Outing Record, and Character Book, also Red Man, January 1912 and, American Indian, November 1926, all from CISDRC. Also St. Louis Republic, May 10, 1904; St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Oct. 26, 1904, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 4, 1904.
he picked the wrong game: Account of Penn game drawn from Carlisle Arrow, Nov. 10, 1911; Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Ledger, Nov. 5, 1911; Carlisle Sentinel, Nov. 6, 1911.
Next came a trip: Boston Globe, Nov. 9, 1911; Buffalo Commercial, Nov. 8, 1911.
Earlier that week, as Dr. Charles William Eliot: Associated Press, Nov. 7, 1911.
In the crowd were eighteen Carlisle girls: Boston American, Nov. 12, 1911; Carlisle Arrow, Nov. 17, 1911. “The game came to an end at last and a new pleasure awaited us,” Ella Johnson wrote. “We were invited to go to the Plymouth Theater where we had the privilege of seeing the quaint old-fashioned play, Pomander Walk, excellently acted.”
Jim stepped on the field gingerly: Account of Harvard game drawn from Carlisle Arrow, Nov. 17, 1911; Washington Times, Nov. 10, 1912; Boston Globe, Boston Post, Boston Herald, and New York Times, Nov. 12, 1911; “Red Son of Carlisle,” 34; Pop Warner, “Heap Big Run Most Fast,” Collier’s, Oct. 24, 1931; Daily Oklahoman, Nov. 16, 1930; Newcombe, 163–65.
Labor conquers all things: Carlisle Arrow, Nov. 17, 1911.
The only loss: Account of remainder of 1911 season drawn from Carlisle Arrow, Nov. 24, Dec. 1, Dec. 8, Dec. 16, 1911; New York Times and Buffalo Courier, Nov. 19, 1911; Baltimore Sun and Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Nov. 26, 1911; “Red Son of Carlisle,” 37–38; Miller, Pop Warner, 98; Newcombe, 169–70.
Thorpe’s national reputation: Pittsburgh Spectator, Dec. 1, 1911; Louisville Courier-Journal, Dec. 10, 1911.
Trachoma swept through Carlisle: Account of trachoma at Carlisle and treatment of Thorpe drawn from Synopsis Eye Examination Carlisle School, Dr. Daniel W. White, March 12, 1912 (for work done in 1911); letter from Charles E. Pierce, Supervisor of Indian Schools (Fifth District) to Moses Friedman after general inspection, Jan. 23, 1912, CISDRC; Diane T. Putney, “Fighting the Scourge: American Indian Morbidity and Federal Policy, 1897–1928,” (dissertation, Marquette University, April 1980); Red Man, Oct. 11, 1911; “Trachoma,” Museum of Family History, Statue of Liberty National Monument website; also Buford, Native American Son, 111.
The roster of employees: Document listing employees at school in 1911, CISDRC.
Miss Moore, as she was known at Carlisle: Account of Marianne Moore at Carlisle drawn from material in Marianne Moore papers at Rosenbach Museum and Library, including: “Coming About,” her unfinished and unpublished memoir; Selected Letters of Marianne Moore, 73–75; Linda Leavell, Holding on Upside Down: The Life and Work of Marianne Moore, 118; George Plimpton Harper’s interview with Moore, Leavell appendix, 682; Moore letter from brother John W. Moore, Oct. 21, 1911; letters exchanged between John W. Moore and Moses Friedman, Jan 7 and Jan. 10, 1912; Charles Molesworth, Marianne Moore, A Literary Life, 90–91; and Robert Cantwell, “The Poet, the Bums, and the Legendary Red Men,” Sports Illustrated, Feb. 15, 1960.
When springtime bloomed: “Red Son of Carlisle,” 40–41; Jack Newcombe interview with Iva Miller, Newcombe personal papers.
Pop Warner noticed a similar practicality: Pop Warner, “Red Menaces,” Collier’s, Oct. 31, 1931: Physical Culture, February 1912; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 10, 1912.
If Jim was wondering: Newcombe, The Best of the Athletic Boys, 182.
his training partner was Sylvester Long: Carlisle Arrow, April 19, 1912; “Red Son of Carlisle,” 40.
The class of 1912 was among the largest in school history: Carlisle Arrow, April 19, 1912.
Iva, chosen by her peers: Carlisle Arrow, April 19, 1912.
On Memorial Day, Marianne Moore: Plimpton interview, Leavell appendix, Rosenbach; Siobhan Phillips, “The Students of Marianne Moore,” Poetry Foundation website, March 14, 2017.
In the days before graduation: Iva Miller and Jim Thorpe Character Books, CISDRC; also Long Lance miscellaneous papers, Glenbow.
CHAPTER 9: STOCKHOLM
The young men mustered: Account of Olympians preparing to sail from New York drawn from New York Evening World, New-York Tribune, New York Times, June 14, 1912; Fall River Daily Globe (photograph), June 27, 1912; James E. Sullivan, “The Steamship Finland Trip,” The Olympic Games, Stockholm 1912, 37–49; Avery Brundage unpublished manuscript, chapter 1, “1912,” UIABC; Blumenson, The Patton Papers, 229; Los Angeles Times, July 12, 1912.
In the holds below: New-York Tribune, June 14, 1912; Sullivan, “The Steamship Finland Trip.”
Workmen had installed: San Francisco Call, June 13, 1912; Associated Press dispatch, “Athletes Train Aboard Ship,” June 16, 1912; Wheeler, Jim Thorpe, 100; Washington Evening Star, July 7, 1912; Pittsburgh Daily Post, June 17, 1912; Harrisburg Telegraph, June 18, 1912.
The excitement of the occasion: Washington Evening Star, June 5, 1912; Tampa Times, April 16, 1912: “With the horrors of the great Titanic disaster still before them…”
The waters of the Atlantic were smooth: New-York Tribune, June 15–16; New York Evening World, June 17, 1912.
He wrote to her nearly every day: Jack Newcombe interview with Iva Miller, Newcombe personal papers; Mike Koehler unpublished manuscript, chapter 8, pp. 5–6.
There were two versions: Sullivan, “The Steamship Finland Trip”; Brooklyn Daily Eagle, July 5, 1912; New-York Tribune, June 19, 1912; Crawford, All American, 169; also several articles by Jeff Benjamin, a Staten Island track enthusiast who studied Kiviat’s career.
Jim was not naturally talkative: Kiviat interview in Lewis H. Carlson and John J. Fogarty, Tales of Gold (Contemporary Books, 1987), 8; Koehler manuscript, chapter 8, p. 6; Jim Costin column, South Bend Tribune, Feb. 13, 1943.
Silent Mike—as Murphy was known: Associated Press, June 16, 192; Wheeler, 100; Washington Evening Star, July 7, 1912; Brooklyn Daily Eagle, July 5, 1912; University of Pennsylvania archives biography. Murphy died of tuberculosis one year after the 1912 Olympics. He showed signs of illness in Stockholm, where he missed a few days of practice and friends were “endeavoring to ward off a serious collapse.”
Whether Thorpe followed Murphy’s: Rice, The Tumult and the Shouting, 229; Wheeler, 102.
“My program on the Finland”: Patton Report to the Adjutant General, U.S. Army, Sept. 19, 1912; George S. Patton papers, box 75, folder 7, LOC.
After steaming through the English Channel: Sullivan, “The Steamship Finland Trip,” 43; New York Sun, June 27, 1912; New York Times, June 26, 1912; The Patton Papers, 230; DHTC unpublished material, 34; Brundage manuscript, chapter 1, “1912,” UIABC.
Brundage… was overcome: Brundage manuscript, chapter 1, “1912,” UIABC.
The big ship docked in Stockholm: “Red Son of Carlisle,” 44; Sullivan, “The Steamship Finland Trip,” 43; Brundage manuscript, chapter 1, “1912,” UIABC: “A ship for living quarters, even though it was the largest ever to visit Stockholm, was not a success.”
On the morning of July 2: Washington Times, Special Cable Dispatch, July 3, 1912: “Thorpe’s back was in bad shape and he was ordered to the hotel for treatment.” The leading American correspondents in Stockholm included Edward T. Brennan of the AP, James S. Mitchel of the New York Herald, John Hallahan of the Boston Globe, Howard Valentine of the New York Globe, F. P. Albertini of the New York Evening Mail, and W. G. Shepherd of the United Press. All reported on Thorpe’s injury.
Curious Swedes inevitably: “Red Son of Carlisle,” 44–45.
It was at Stockund that Johnny Hayes: Rice, The Tumult and the Shouting, 228–29; Crawford, 169.
The games opened in glorious weather: Associated Press, July 6, 1912: “The day was perfect; there was a clear blue sky overhead”; New York Herald, New York Times, July 7, 1912; Mallon and Widlund, The 1912 Olympic Games, 21; depiction of scenes inside and outside the stadium drawn from the IOC official film The Games of the V Olympiad, Stockholm, 1912, Adrian Wood, director (2017).
For the heats in the dash: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 8, 1912; “Springfield High School Star Howard Drew was original ‘World’s Fastest Human,’ ” Mass Live website, March 20, 2011; “Red Son of Carlisle,” 48. That Murphy would call Drew a “colored boy” reflected the casual racism of the times. Two months earlier, when the Olympic athletes from southern California were raising money for the trip to Stockholm, they held a minstrel show that was covered by the Los Angeles Times: “The first part of the show will consist of a black-face bill… in the cast will be a big bunch of active and retired athletes from the colleges….”
Thorpe faced his own measure: Los Angeles Times, June 12, 1912; Chicago Inter Ocean, July 6–7, 1912.
So much for that idea: Account of Thorpe winning the pentathlon drawn from The Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912 Official Report, 412–14 (although Thorpe’s scores were stricken from the records, the official report in its description of each event inadvertently described his performances, perhaps because the writers forgot to exercise those comments); Chicago Inter Ocean, New York Times, New York Herald, Austin American-Statesman, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Buffalo Express, Daily Oklahoman, Davenport (IA) Times, Washington Times, Washington Post, July 8, 1912; Warner, Pop Warner: Football’s Greatest Teacher, 134–35; Wheeler, 104–106; Mallon and Widlund, 121.
The next day was Lewis Tewanima’s: Account of Tewanima’s race in the 10,000 meters and his backstory drawn from New-York Tribune, New York World, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Associated Press, July 9, 1912; Tewanima Student File, CISDRC; Wall Street Journal, Aug. 11, 1972; New York Daily News, Jan. 21, 1969; Associated Press, Jan. 20, 1969; Carlisle Arrow, Feb. 1, 1907; Indian Craftsman, April 1909; Bill Crawford, “Tewanima,” July 28, 2021, draft of paper provided to author.
The modern pentathlon had started: Account of Patton’s performance and use of opium in race drawn from D’Este, Patton: A Genius for War, 162; Patton Report to the Adjutant General, U.S. Army, Sept. 19, 1912, box 75, folder 7, LOC; Rusty Wilson, “ ‘The Truth and Anything But the Truth’: The Consequences of Gen. George S. Patton’s 1912 Olympic Report,” Seventh International Symposium for Olympic Research; Harold E. Wilson. “A Legend in His Own Mind,” Olympika, vol. VI, 1997; Los Angeles Times, July 7–12, 1912; Los Angeles Examiner, July 7–12, 1912; St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 13, 1912; Blumenson, The Patton Papers, 227.
The Swedish Organizing Committee assigned: Account of filming of games drawn from author interview with Adrian Wood, Oct. 13, 2020; official film The Games of the V Olympiad, Stockholm, 1912; Yttergren, The 1912 Olympics, 49.
The decathlon was held: Account of first two days of decathlon competition drawn from The Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912 Official Report, 414–19; Mallon and Widlund, 118–19; Wheeler, 107; Buford, Native American Son, 129; “Red Son of Carlisle,” 46; Yttergren, 244; also Los Angeles Times, New York Herald, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Brooklyn Citizen, San Francisco Call, July 15–17, 1912.
Much of the Olympic attention: Account of marathon competition, death of Lázaro, and disappearance of Kanakuri drawn from Yttgergren, 50; Mallon and Widlund, 83–84; San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post, St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Chicago Tribune, New York Herald, July 16, 1912; Japan Times, July 15, 2012; Washington Post, Aug. 6, 2021; Roger Robinson, Outside, August 4, 2020; IOC official film The Games of the V Olympiad, Stockholm, 1912.
Avery Brundage did not even try: Account of Brundage dropping out of competition drawn from Brundage manuscript, chapter 1, “1912”; David Hurst Thomas interview with decathlon expert C. Frank Zarnowski, DHTC.
With the field down to twelve: Account of final day of decathlon competition and Thorpe competing with mismatched shoes drawn from “Red Son of Carlisle,” 45; The Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912 Official Report; Mallon and Widlund, 118–19; Pop Warner, “Red Menaces,” Collier’s, Oct. 31, 1931; Dan Evon, “Did Jim Thorpe Wear Mismatched Shoes at the 1912 Olympics?” Snopes.com, Jan. 25, 2019; Washington Times, Washington Herald, Buffalo Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, New York Times, July 16, 1912; Buford, 129–30.
At five that afternoon: Account of Thorpe receiving trophies from King Gustav V drawn from IOC official film The Games of the V Olympiad, Stockholm, 1912; New York Times, New York Herald, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Washington Post, Brooklyn Times, July 16–17, 1912; “Red Son of Carlisle,” 46; Crawford, 175–76; Buford, 131.
The next day, for the enjoyment of Swedish fans: New York Sun, July 7 and 16, 1912.
The scene aboard ship: Ship comportment and exhibition baseball both in dispatch from Associated Press, July 17, 1912.
something happened that added: Account of inaccurate stories about Thorpe spurning King Gustav V drawn from International News Service dispatch, July 17, 1912; special cable to Buffalo Courier, July 18, 1912; Associated Press, July 22, 1912; The Summary, newsletter, Stockholm, July 17, 1912; Rice, The Tumult and the Shouting, 230; Wheeler, 113; “Red Son of Carlisle,” 46–47.
CHAPTER 10: NEAR CUSTER’S TOMB
There was… “something in the air”: N. Scott Momaday papers, box 8, Beinecke.
Within walking distance: New York Herald, Oct. 11, 1877; Harper’s Weekly, Oct. 27, 1877; George Pappas, To the Point: The United States Military Academy, 1802–1902 (Praeger, 1993). P. Willey and Douglas D. Scott, “Who’s Buried in Custer’s Grave?” Journal of Forensic Science, 1999.
“Unlike their fathers and grandfathers”: Momaday, box 8, Beinecke. Of the motivations for the Carlisle players, Momaday explained: “They weren’t like the Harvard or Princeton or Cornell kids, caught up in Ivy League loyalty to alma mater. They were having fun. But I’ll tell you what they did have, and when they most needed it. Unlike their fathers and grandfathers, they were given an honest chance, and that was worth more to them than you and I will ever know.”
As Pop made his case: Newcombe, The Best of the Athletic Boys, 193; Pop Warner, “Red Menaces,” Collier’s, Oct. 31, 1931.
This caught the attention: Account of Jim’s courtship by major league teams and controversy between the Brotherhood, Moses Friedman of Carlisle, and officials at the Interior Department drawn from Pittsburgh Press, Aug. 11, 1912; Washington Post, Feb. 11, 1913; also Thorpe Carlisle Indian School Files, 89680 (1912), NARA; and Thorpe Student Files, CISDRC.
When Jim decided to return: Jim Thorpe and Edward Thorpe Student Files, NARA; Carlisle Indian School, File 88975.
This was their first year: Joseph Guyon Student File, Pete Calac Student File, CISDRC; Recorded interview with Pete Calac conducted by Robert W. Wheeler, Jim Thorpe, two record set, 1983.
For the fifth game, on October 5: Account of game against Washington and Jefferson and dustup between Thorpe and Pop Warner afterward drawn from Pittsburgh Daily Post, Pittsburgh Press, New York Sun, La Crosse (WI) Tribune, Oct. 6, 1912; Arthur Daley, “Pop Warner Discusses Jim Thorpe,” Sports of the Times column, New York Times, Nov. 20, 1947; Esquire, Sept. 1, 1952; “Interview with Eddie Brannick,” Associated Press, Feb. 20, 1943; Howitzer 1913; USMA yearbook (United States Military Academy); Carlisle Arrow, Nov. 22, 1912.
