James Francis Thorpe,  Wathahuck-Brightpath

Thunder Clan, Sac and Fox Tribe, born May 22, 1887 on the Sac and Fox Indian Reservation, Prague, Oklahoma, died March 28, 1953 in Lomita, California.

Jim Thorpe married  Iva MILLER had the following children: 
Jim,Jr., Gail, Charlotte, and Grace.

Iva Miller was the daughter of Finis Miller and Martha M. Denton (1859-1899).  Iva's grandparents were Greenberry Jefferson Denton (1816-1890) and Charlotte McCarty.    Greenberry Jefferson Denton was born in Jefferson CO, TN and died in Washington CO, AR.  Greenberry was the son of Josiah Denton (1799-1866) and Catherine Sehorn.

Jim Thorpe was a Native American from the Sac and Fox tribe. In the 1912 Olympics he became the first and only person to win both the Pentathlon and Decathlon; he was the first American to simultaneously play professional baseball and football; and he became the first president of the National Football League.

Career Highlights

*    Height: 6'-1" Weight: 190 lbs.
*    Position: Halfback
*    He played for Carlisle Indian School (1915-17), Canton Bulldogs
(1919-20), Cleveland Indians (1921), Oorang Indians (1922-23), Rock
Island Independents (1924), New York Giants (1925), Canton Bulldogs
(1926), Chicago Cardinals (1928)
*    He was the most famous American athlete of the age. He was
excellent at every sport he tried
*    He won the decathlon and penthatlon events at 1912 Olympics
*    He played major-league baseball from 1913 to 1919
*    Football was his favorite sport. In 1912, Thorpe scored 25
touchdowns and 198 points in leading his Carlisle Indian School team to
a national collegiate championship
*    Thorpe was selected by the nation's press in 1950 as the most
outstanding athlete of the twentieth century

He represented the Sac and Fox Nation and the United States at the 1912 Olympic Games held in Stockholm, Sweden, but did not actually become a citizen of the United States until 1917.     King Gustav V of Sweden presented him with two Gold Medals after winning the pentathlon and the decathlon in the grueling track and field events and said, "You, Sir, are the greatest athlete in the world."  Jim Thorpe was named the "Greatest American Football Player in History," in a 1977 national poll conducted by Sport Magazine and was enshrined in the National Indian Hall of Fame, the Helms Professional Football Hall of Fame, the Professional Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, the National Track and Field Hall of Fame, the Pennsylvania and the Oklahoma Halls of Fame.

Frank Keating, Governor of the State of Oklahoma, proclaimed January 30, 1998 as JIM THORPE DAY in the State of Oklahoma.   In acknowledgment of Jim Thorpe's contribution to sports in the second decade of this century, The United States Postal Service honored the Sac and Fox /Potawatomi Indian athlete with a commemorative stamp on January 30, at the Oklahoma State Capitol's Rotunda as part of the postal services' "Celebrate the Century Program."  The Jim Thorpe stamp went on sale nationwide February 3,1998.

106th CONGRESS - 1st Session H. RES. 198
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that James Francis
Thorpe should be designated `America's Athlete of the Century'. (Introduced
in the House) HRES 198 IH  May 27, 1999
Mr. KANJORSKI (for himself and Mr. WATKINS) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform

RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that James Francis
Thorpe should be designated `America's Athlete of the Century'.

Whereas James Francis Thorpe, known as `Jim Thorpe' Wathahuck-Brightpath, of
the Thunder Clan of the Sac and Fox Tribe, was born May 22, 1887, on the Sac
and Fox Indian Reservation, Prague, Oklahoma, and died March 28, 1953, in
Lomita, California;

Whereas Jim Thorpe began his amateur football career as a student at the
Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania, where he was named All American
Half-Back in 1911 and 1912;

Whereas Jim Thorpe represented the United States at the 1912 Olympic Games
held in Stockholm, Sweden, though he did not become a citizen of the United
States until 1917;

Whereas King Gustav V of Sweden said, `You, Sir, are the greatest athlete in
the world,' when he awarded 2 gold medals to Jim Thorpe for winning the
pentathlon and the decathlon;

Whereas Jim Thorpe founded professional football, played professional
football for, and later was the first elected president of, the American
Football Association (now the National Football League);

Whereas Jim Thorpe played major league baseball for 20 years with the New
York Giants, the Cincinnati Reds, and the Boston Braves;

Whereas Jim Thorpe is the only American athlete to excel at the amateur
level and at the professional level in 3 major sports--track and field,
football, and baseball;

Whereas Jim Thorpe was named America's Greatest All-Around Athlete in 1950
by the Associated Press and in 1977 by Sport Magazine; and

Whereas Jim Thorpe has been enshrined in the Helms Professional Football
Hall of Fame and the Professional Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio:

Now, therefore, be it Resolved,
That the United States House of Representatives
designates
James Francis Thorpe
`America's Athlete of the Century'.