By Chris Willis, NFL Films
Oorang Indians vs Columbus Panhandles, Oct. 8, 1922 (Marion, Ohio) (Source: Marion Star, 10-7-1922) |
Today, PFJ looks back at one of the more unique teams in NFL history, the famous Oorang Indians. The Oorang team was founded by its owner Walter Lingo to help advertise his dog kennel, the Oorang Kennels, located in tiny LaRue, Ohio—a town of 800 people in the 1920's. To help him with advertising Lingo hired his good friend Jim Thorpe to coach and play for a pro football team with all Native-Americans. This team, named the Oorang Indians would join the NFL in 1922. They would be mainly a traveling team, playing in other NFL cities, except for one local game in Marion, Ohio. They would also play several other non-NFL teams across the country.
Here are the football game ads for the 1922 season.
Oorang at Dayton Triangles
Triangle Park (Dayton, Ohio)
(Source: Dayton Daily News, 10-1-1922) |
Oorang vs Columbus Panhandles
Lincoln Park (Marion, Ohio)
(Source: Marion Star, 10-7-1922) |
Oorang vs Bucyrus
Seccicumm (Bucyrus, Ohio)
(Source: Bucyrus Evening Telegram, 10-10-1922) |
Oorang vs Canton Bulldogs
Lakeside Park (Canton, Ohio)
(Source: Canton Repository, 10-13-1922) |
Oorang vs Akron Pros
Elk's Field (Akron, Ohio)
(Source: Akron Beacon Journal, 10-28-1922) |
Oorang vs Minneapolis Marines
Nicollet Park (Minneapolis, MN)
(Source: Minneapolis Star-Tribune, 11-5-1922) |
Oorang vs Chicago Bears
Cubs Park (Chicago, IL)
(Source: Chicago Tribune, 11-12-1922) |
Oorang vs Buffalo All-Americans
(Buffalo Baseball Park, Buffalo, NY)
(Source: Buffalo Times, 11-25-1922) |
Oorang vs Durant All-Stars
(Pattengill Stadium, Lansing, MI)
(Source: Bob Lingo collection) |
A few games didn't have full ads, but these are most of the advertisements for the Oorang Indians in 1922.
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