What's In A Name?

The person Jim Thorpe 

aka

Wa-Tho-Huk...

(May 28, 1888 – March 28, 1953)

Overlooking the town of Jim Thorpe, 

formerly East Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania.

...was half Native American: Wa-Tho-Huk, (Bright Path) 

and half Caucasion: Jim Thorpe, 

He was also an 

Olympic Gold Medalist and 

All American Athlete.

The Asa Packer Mansion (red roof) 

Jim Thorpe, PA

The man had a difficult and storied life. 

Thorpe was raised in Oklahoma as a Native American, 

yet also as a Roman Catholic. 

Although he did come to Pennsylvania 

for athletic training, 

he had nothing to do with the town of Mauch Chunk,  

Houses in a Row

Jim Thorpe, PA

...until after his death, 

when his 3rd wife negotiated 

with the towns of Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk 

to buy the name "Jim Thorpe" 

to help attract business 

by cashing in on his famous name. 

Wa-Tho-Huk (Bright Light)

Jim Thorpe, PA

The two towns merged to become Jim Thorpe, PA 

and also bought his remains 

which were buried by a monument erected to the person Jim Thorpe,  

 His birth state of Oklahoma had refused to do this 

at the wife's request. 

Painted with Vines 

Jim Thorpe, PA

But that is not the end of the story. 

In 2010 his son Jack filed a lawsuit 

to have the athlete's remains 

returned to, and buried near, where he grew up 

 among the Sak and Fox people of Oklahoma. 

But Jack passed away 

and his living siblings, along with the

Sak and Fox Tribe members, 

continued the fight.

The Victorian Porch

Jim Thorpe, PA

In April 2013, 

the court ruled in favor of the Thorpe family.  

The family plans to have the remains 

reinterred in Oklahoma. 

While Jim Thorpe had never even visited 

the town that bears his name, 

it does have Native American history as well. 

The name Mauch Chunk 

means Bear Mountain in the language of the Lenape people. 

YMCA

Jim Thorpe, PA

I wonder if this quintessential small town, 

will retain the name Jim Thorpe, 

or return to its native name of Mauch Chunk. 

Or, perhaps they'll find another famous 

name to buy and start the process all over again. 

Come along....The Party's Here! 

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