These Native Americans were first and best 

If you love history, do something different consider sponsoring an individual theme or story you’d like to read about. Contact Bob with your idea at robertmford@aol.com. 

Trivia Question: Has there ever been a Native American elected to national office? Take your time. 

You would think the answer would come easily, it’s one of those queries you either know or not. 

Let me introduce you to Charles Curtis, vice president of the United States under Herbert Hoover.

Yes, it was during the depression and Hoover is considered one of the worst Presidents of the United States, but to have a running mate who was a Kanza Native American is momentous. 

Charles Curtis rose through the political ranks traditionally, from congressman to senator and senate majority leader, but to become as they say, "a breath away,” from the presidency, should be inspiring for all clamoring minorities. 

Curtis’s ancestors were part of one of the most cruel and inhumane orders the United States government put any group through, the 1830 Indian Removal Act. The Kanza Indians didn’t go far but were thrown into land in Kansas with other tribal nations that didn’t get along. 

Cherokees and Seminoles were forced to marched the furthest from their ancestral homelands in Southern Appalachia and Florida. Make no mistake about it, this was a military operation mandated after the United States had forcibly established dominance over native tribes. 

The United States wanted their lands for expansion, assimilation was not an option. Natives of this country were considered sub-human, savages by most, but there were a few empathetic sympathizers. Removal conversation started under President Thomas Jefferson and put into motion by Andrew Jackson. 

The Trail was murderous.

"The government might more mercifully have put to death everyone under a year or over 60; rather it chose a most expensive and painful way to exterminating these poor people,” stated Missionary Daniel Butrick who accompanied the Cherokees on their 1,000 mile march on their “Trail of Tears.” 

Native nations were thrown together, sharing sparse lands and disease in Kansas and Oklahoma. Once settled, the surviving struggled for food, land and autonomy against nature and one another.

In 1863, one instance stood out in the Kanza Nation. One-hundred Cheyenne warriors rode onto the reservation in more of a show of bluster than war, but trouble was brewing. To gain military assistance from the state, a Kanza interpreter, Joe Jim, rode 60 miles in one day to reach the governor in Topeka and ask for help. Alongside him riding the whole way was 8-year-old Charles Curtis, who after the feat received the nickname, “Indian Charlie.” 

Curtis went on to choose assimilation for himself and his people rather than to continue fighting the forced change. Throughout his life he received criticism from his people for sponsoring legislation like the Curtis Act of 1892 which further diluted tribal rights. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jim Thorpe is arguably the greatest athlete ever born in America. 

Raised Sac and Fox along with having Pottawattamie ancestral blood, Thorpe was full of mischief as a boy. In several of his early schools truancy was a major problem. 

Once he entered Carlisle College in 1907, he saw the track and field team practicing. Venturing onto the turf in his work clothes Thorpe turned the head of legendary coach Pop Warner by jumping over a 5’9” bar setting a new school, high jump record. Thorpe soon became the star of the track team, then with his natural athleticism went on to excel in baseball, hockey, lacrosse and to show a little class, ballroom dancing. 

Once he found football however, all other sports took a back seat. His play propelled him into national prominence. There was nothing on the football field he couldn’t do halfback, place kicker, punter, and on the other side of the ball defensive back. 

Thorpe led his team to an upset over perennial powerhouse Harvard. A year later, he did it again to young cadet halfback Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Army team.

"He never practiced in his life and could do anything on the football field better than anyone else,” Ike recalled.

Thorpe went on to be named an All-American in 1911 and 12. 

Joining the U.S. Olympic team in 1912, Thorpe traveled to Stockholm, Sweden, taking 4 out of 5 gold medals in track and field. Winning the first ever Pentathlon (5 events) and Decathlon (10 events.) Defeating 42 participants in the Pentathlon, including the man who finished fifth, future World War II General George S. Patton. There’s another trivia question for ya! 

Thorpe won the events after his shoes were stolen, wearing a mismatched pair found in the trash. At the awards ceremony the King of Sweden Gustav V proclaimed Thorpe “the greatest athlete in the world.” 

Back home he was a phenom, receiving a New York ticker tape parade. Of course none of these achievements had ever been attempted let alone accomplished by a Native American.

Trouble follows those who are special, Thorpe had received money to play baseball earlier which questioned his amateur status. He was stripped of all medals, perhaps racism had finally raised its ugly head and caught up with his extraordinary triumphs? 

The Sac and Fox regional headquarters is in Reserve, Kansas, right on the Nebraska border. I went there to learn about the tribe and how they honored Jim Thorpe’s legacy. 

It took me three trips before I gained entry into their cool-looking building. They were anything but welcoming.

Their “Chief” would not see me, instead she had me speak to the person in charge of education. Pleasant enough, she let me know they protected their privacy intensely. 

In the corner was a small glass cabinet filled with Jim Thorpe memorabilia. There was a pair of mismatched track shoes! She didn’t say much more, obviously wanting me to leave.

“How many people still speak the Sac and Fox language?” I asked.

“Three,” was her answer. 

As I left I felt numb, here was a part of American’s fabric that was being lost but those who held the key weren’t letting anyone in. 

This country stopped everything to save the friggen Snail Darter but here was a native American culture slowly vanishing right before my eyes. 

As a historian, I’ll lose sleep over this one. I wonder what Jim Thorpe or Charles Curtis would think? 

————————————- 

You can find more of Bob's work on his website bobfordshistory.com and videos on YouTube, TikTok and Clapper. 

Have a great year History Buffs!