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.

Choice Reviews

I highly recommend buying this book and adding it to your football library. Willis's prose is detailed and informative and paints a compelling picture of the precursor to what became the National Football League.

Pro Football Journal

For anyone interested in sports history and Marion County's unique part in building the NFL into the multi-billion dollar industry it is today, it is a must-read book.

USA Today

This book is an outstanding read for anyone who loves to learn about the early days of professional football and one of the most intriguing owners the NFL has ever seen. I highly recommend this book.

Gridiron Greats

With careful research and an eye for the important details, Chris Willis has written an important history of this fascinating team in the earliest years of the NFL. The Oorang Indians only lasted for two years in the 1920s but, as Willis shows, they provide a unique example of the kind of small town franchise that survives today only with another early NFL team—the Green Bay Packers.

Kate Buford, author of Native American Son: The Life and Sporting Legend of Jim Thorpe

The NFL could be a traveling circus in the early days, and no team fit that description better than the Oorang Indians. Forty-six years after Little Big Horn, an all-Native American team owned by a renowned dog breeder, Walter Lingo, and led by an even more renowned athlete, Jim Thorpe, traveled the country selling Airedales and pro football (not necessarily in that order). Joe Little Twig, Lone Wolf, Dick Deer Slayer, Long Time Sleep—you definitely couldn't tell the Indians without a program. It’s a wonderful story, an American story, and Chris Willis simply had to tell it. We should all be glad he did.

Dan Daly, football historian and author of The National Forgotten League