Across the American landscape, amidst the quiet hum of rural life, stand historical markers – silent sentinels commemorating moments and figures often overlooked. In the heart of Ohio, along a stretch of State Route 37, a weathered blue steel marker rises from the unassuming town of LaRue. It’s a modest monument proclaiming: "Home of the Oorang Indians, NFL’s Most Colorful Franchise." The marker serves as a portal to a story that intertwines athletic prowess, cultural complexities, and the ambitious vision of a dog breeder, forever etching LaRue into the annals of professional football history.
The narrative of the Oorang Indians begins with Walter Lingo (1890-1966), a LaRue native and the proprietor of the Oorang Airedale Dog Kennels. Lingo, a man with an entrepreneurial spirit and a penchant for spectacle, conceived a unique idea: a professional football team comprised entirely of Native American players. This team, aptly named the Oorang Indians, joined the National Football League (NFL) in 1922, marking a brief but unforgettable chapter in the league’s formative years.
At the helm of this unconventional team stood Jim Thorpe (1887-1953), a Sac and Fox Indian whose name resonated far beyond the gridiron. Thorpe, already a global icon, brought an unparalleled level of celebrity and athletic talent to the Oorang Indians. His journey to LaRue was one of triumph and acclaim, a testament to his extraordinary abilities. A decade prior to joining the team, at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden, Thorpe had ascended to the pinnacle of athletic achievement, capturing gold medals in both the decathlon and pentathlon. His victories were met with thunderous applause, solidifying his reputation as the "World’s Greatest Athlete."
The King of Sweden himself, Gustav V, bestowed upon Thorpe the ultimate accolade, proclaiming, "Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world!" Thorpe, unfazed by royal grandeur, responded with a simple, "Thanks, King." This anecdote encapsulates Thorpe’s down-to-earth demeanor and his ability to connect with people from all walks of life.
The establishment of the Oorang Indians bestowed upon LaRue a unique distinction: the smallest community ever to host an NFL franchise. This fact alone underscores the team’s unusual origins and its place as an anomaly in the landscape of professional sports.
The story of the Oorang Indians is a confluence of seemingly disparate elements. The superlatives – "greatest" and "smallest" – hint at the team’s exceptional nature. The non-sequiturs – "1912 Olympics," "Dog Kennels," "NFL franchise" – suggest the unusual circumstances that brought this team into existence. Together, these elements paint a picture of a fleeting moment in time, a cosmic convergence of disparate forces in a small Ohio town.
Delving deeper into the history of the Oorang Indians, one uncovers a tapestry of captivating details. Newspaper archives reveal the involvement of other prominent figures, including the King of Sweden and at least two Presidents of the United States, further underscoring the team’s unexpected connections to the wider world.
The era in which the Oorang Indians emerged was one of profound societal change. As F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, it was a generation that had "grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken." The old Victorian ideals of class and power were crumbling, challenged by the devastation of World War I and the rise of a new, more egalitarian spirit. The Oorang Indians, in their own way, reflected this shift, embodying a challenge to the established norms of the time.
Imagine a crisp autumn afternoon in Ohio, the air thick with the scent of decaying leaves and fertile soil. Jim Thorpe, clad in stiff leather pads, stands on the sidelines, a Springfield hunting rifle in hand. An Oorang Airedale dog, a testament to Walter Lingo’s breeding expertise, points towards a distant target. The crowd roars as Thorpe takes aim and obliterates the mark, showcasing his remarkable marksmanship.
This halftime spectacle was a regular feature of Oorang Indians games, a blend of athletic performance and canine prowess. The crowd’s enthusiasm was palpable, a reminder of Thorpe’s earlier triumphs on the Olympic stage.
Walter Lingo, the driving force behind the Oorang Indians, was a master of promotion. He recognized the value of publicity and used every opportunity to market his Airedale dogs and his football team. The cost to enter the NFL in 1922 was a mere $100, while a genuine Oorang Airedale hunting dog fetched $150. Lingo’s salesmanship, bordering on the Barnum-esque, ensured that his dogs were highly sought after.
Lingo’s promotional newsletter, Oorang Comments, served as a platform for his marketing efforts. "Let me tell you about my big publicity stunt," he wrote. "You know Jim Thorpe, don’t you, the Sac and Fox Indian, the world’s greatest athlete, who won the all-around championship at the Olympic Games in Sweden in 1912? Well, Thorpe is in our organization."
The Oorang Indians games were more than just football matches; they were spectacles of Native American culture and athleticism. At halftime, the players would perform traditional dances, demonstrate hunting skills, and even engage in wrestling matches with bears. Long Time Sleep, the team’s left tackle, was known for his bear-wrestling exploits.
The inclusion of Native Americans in football was not a novelty at the time. Native Americans had been involved in the sport since its inception, their participation often framed within the context of the prevailing cultural narratives of the era.
The development of football in the late 19th century mirrored the militaristic spirit of the time. The Civil War had introduced Americans to the science of warfare, and football, with its emphasis on strategy, tactics, and physical dominance, became a popular allegory for battle.
The rise of football coincided with the Gilded Age, a period of unprecedented wealth and conspicuous consumption. The era was marked by a fascination with the American West and the narrative of westward expansion. The "Indian Wars" and the figure of General George Custer became potent symbols in the national imagination, often romanticized and distorted in the popular press.
Newspapers portrayed Custer’s defeat at Little Big Horn as a clash between civilization and savagery, casting Custer as a noble martyr and the Native Americans as brutal adversaries. This narrative, while historically inaccurate, resonated with the prevailing attitudes of the time.
In the fall of 1876, just months after the Battle of Little Big Horn, representatives from Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and Columbia formed the Intercollegiate Football Association. College football became a stage for the performance of Anglo-Saxon superiority, with Harvard coach W. Cameron Forbes, grandson of Ralph Waldo Emerson, famously declaring it "the ultimate expression of Anglo-Saxon superiority."
The Carlisle Indian School, founded in 1879, aimed to assimilate Native American students into mainstream society. Students were taught reading, writing, and domestic habits, all in an effort to erase their cultural identities and transform them into "civilized" citizens.
This era was characterized by a sense of Victorian morality, elitism, and self-satisfied sanctimony. Rudyard Kipling’s poem "The White Man’s Burden" captured the prevailing attitude of colonial powers, who saw it as their duty to "civilize" the rest of the world.
The Olympic Movement, founded in 1896, was initially conceived as a competition for members of the upper classes. Amateurism, a key principle of the early Olympics, served to exclude working-class athletes from participating.
By the turn of the century, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show was a sensation, perpetuating romanticized and often inaccurate depictions of the American West and its indigenous peoples. Owen Wister’s novel The Virginian, a Western set in the Old West, glorified these themes.
Glen "Pop" Warner, the coach of the football team at the Carlisle Indian School, recognized Jim Thorpe’s extraordinary athletic abilities. He saw the potential to exploit Thorpe’s speed and agility on the football field. In 1911, Thorpe led the Carlisle Indians to a stunning upset victory over Harvard, solidifying his reputation as a football superstar.
The Oorang Indians, while a brief chapter in NFL history, represent a unique and complex story. They embody the spirit of innovation, the complexities of cultural identity, and the enduring power of athletic achievement. The blue steel marker in LaRue, Ohio, serves as a reminder of this forgotten team and its place in the larger narrative of American history.