Walter Lingo, Jim Thorpe, and the Oorang Indians

How a Dog Kennel Owner Created the NFL's Most Famous Traveling Team

By: Chris Willis

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Hardcover | 5 May 2017

At a Glance

Hardcover
312 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
16.2 x 23.7 x 2.4

Hardcover

RRP $80.00

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At the beginning of the Roaring Twenties the NFL was just a footnote within the landscape of American sports. The early pro game was played on dirt fields by vagabond athletes who would beat up or punch out their opponent for fifty dollars a game. But one team was different than the rest: the Oorang Indians. Comprised entirely of Native Americans and led by star athlete Jim Thorpe, the Oorang Indians were an instant hit in almost every city they visited.

In Walter Lingo, Jim Thorpe, and the Oorang Indians: How a Dog Kennel Owner Created the NFL's Most Famous Traveling Team, NFL historian Chris Willis tells the story of this unique and fascinating part of professional football history. In 1922 Walter Lingo, a dog kennel owner from tiny La Rue, Ohio, joined forces with Jim Thorpe, the country's greatest athlete, to create the Oorang Indians. Willis recounts how Lingo used the football team, the star attraction of player-coach Thorpe, and the all Native-American squad to help advertise his kennel and sell dogs, putting the small town of La Rue on the map.

With the complete cooperation of the Lingo family and unlimited access to family photos and archives, Walter Lingo, Jim Thorpe, and the Oorang Indians provides an up-close and behind-the-scenes view into the making of this little-known team. It is a remarkable story that will be enjoyed by football fans and historians alike.

Industry Reviews

Expanding on a chapter in his first book, Old Leather: An Oral History of Early Pro Football in Ohio, 1920–1935), Willis, the head of the research library at NFL Films, thoroughly explores the life and times of a short-lived, all–Native American football team led by the legendary Jim Thorpe. Willis explores LaRue, Ohio, the town where the team was founded, and interviews a number of descendants of players and other personnel involved with this ‘barnstorming’ and groundbreaking team. Previously a living legend when he agreed to lead the team, Jim Thorpe was completely compliant with owner Walter Lingo’s intention to use this team to promote his main business—a dog kennel that sold specially bred Airedales. Thorpe and his Native American teammates turned out to be enormously popular in the two years they played in the National Football League (1922–3), traveling all over the country to entertain and promote Lingo’s dogs more than to win. They gave the budding and little-noticed NFL a publicity boost that helped propel the league into the public eye, paving the way for the future success of professional football.

Summing Up: Recommended. All readers.

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