Why Are Jim Thorpe’s Olympic Records Still Not Recognized? | History & Archaeology | Smithsonian Magazine: The discovery of Thorpe at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, the government-run boarding institution for Native Americans he attended from 1904 to 1913, between bouts of truancy, is a well-worn story. In 1907 he was ambling across the campus when he saw some upperclassmen practicing the high jump. He was 5-foot-8, and the bar was set at 5-9. Thorpe asked if he could try—and jumped it in overalls and a hickory work shirt. The next morning Carlisle’s polymath of a football and track coach, Glenn “Pop” Warner, summoned Thorpe.
“Have I done anything wrong?” Thorpe asked.
“Son, you’ve only broken the school record in the high jump. That’s all.”