Throwback Thursday: The Oorang Indians

It all started with a hunting trip in late 1921. Jim Thorpe loved hunting, loved dogs and loved football. Walter Lingo loved hunting, loved dogs and loved being around celebrities. It was inevitable that they would meet. What happened next probably shouldn't have happened at all, but it was fun while it lasted.

Walter Lingo was a breeder of Oorang Airedales. His dogs had a broader head, stronger jaw and a more muscular build than the standard Airedale, characteristics that aided in the hunting of bears, mountain lions and other large game. Lingo's kennels had grown into a big, profitable mail order business following World War I. Lingo loved doing business with, and being around celebrities. Jack Dempsey, Ty Cobb, Gary Cooper and now Jim Thorpe were a few of his happy clients and hunting friends. Of, course, owning a professional football team would be the next move for Lingo.

LaRue, Ohio, home of the Oorang Airedales, became home of the Oorang Indians. With a population of 800, LaRue is the smallest town to ever host an NFL team. Green Bay is New York City compared to little LaRue. Lingo hired Jim Thorpe to be his coach and kennel supervisor. I suppose Throrpe's love and natural affinity for dogs led to the kennel position. Lingo had something else in mind, and Thorpe was the perfect choice to make it happen. The Oorang Indians would be just that, an all-Indian team. Thorpe brought in about a dozen of his former Carlisle Indian School friends to help fill the roster, including stars Pete Calac, Elmer Busch and Joe Guyon. Lingo thought that he could make some money with the team, but advertisement for his kennel was his primary goal. The football team had a routine of practice in the afternoon, dinner, and raccoon hunting until midnight. The whole operation had a carnival atmosphere. The all-Indian football team was supplemented with a pet coyote, hound dogs, a lot of Airedales and Queen Mary, a 375 pound Mexican black bear. The half time show often seemed more important than the games. Thorpe would display some drop-kicking. The Airedales would show off their skills, frequently with Queen Mary. The Indians would do some shooting, knife, tomahawk and lariat throwing, and finally some dancing. It was a strange wild west show. The football was terrible, winning only four games in two season, 1922-23. Thorpe rarely played, but there were a few times when the rust and dust disappeared and his unbelievable talent shined. Football success never seemed to matter to Lingo, so his team partied instead. Late one night in St. Louis, the players thought that it would be a kick to pick up a trolley and turn it around on the tracks. Local police started meeting the team at the train station to set ground rules for their stay. At a time when NFL teams formed and vanished all the time, it is easy to forget teams that lasted a season or two. The Oorang Indians are hard to forget. They brought some personality to a league that was just trying to survive. The football may have been lacking, but the fun never stopped. They probably sold a few Airedales along the way.