Settled in the 1820s _ the name, in a local Indian dialect, means Bear Mountain _ as a canal town and then a railroad center in coal-mining country, by the late 19th century it thrived, handsome Victorian mansions testifying to its wealth.Īsa Packer moved in, making the community the headquartersfor his Lehigh Valley Railroad. In the 1950s the once-prosperous Mauch Chunk, too, had fallen on hard times. His widow appealed to Pennsylvania, where the athlete first won glory. He spent his final years working with the Indians of Oklahoma, but when he died nearly destitute in 1953 the citizens of his native state were quite willing to dump him in a pauper's grave. He went on to play baseball with the New York Giants, then switched to pro-football and in 1920 became the first president of the American Football Association, forerunner of the NFL.įrom sports, Thorpe moved on to Hollywood but never made thebig time. Somehow, Thorpe gritted his teeth and survived. There were those who condemned him as a traitor who had humiliated his country or simply dismissed him as an Indian and not a "real American" at all. It seems that in 1909 Thorpe had played semi-pro baseball in North Carolina, sacrificing, in the eyes of the Olympic Committee, his amateur standing.
"Sir," he said, congratulating Thorpe on his chestful of gold medals, "you are the greatest athlete in the world." Sweden's King Gustave summed it up nicely.
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