William Henry Dietz
Biographical details | |
---|---|
Born | Rice Lake, Wisconsin, U.S. | August 17, 1884
Died | July 20, 1964 Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S. | (aged 79)
Playing career | |
Football | |
1909–1912 | Carlisle |
Position(s) | Albright |
Baseball | |
1923 | Louisiana Tech |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 105–60–7 (college football) 16–6 (college baseball) 11–11–2 (NFL) |
Bowls | 1–1 |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Championships | |
Football 1 PCC (1917) | |
College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 2012 (profile) |
William Henry "Lone Star" Dietz (August 17, 1884 – July 20, 1964) was an
Early life
According to census records and to his birth certificate,[1] he was born William Henry Dietz, or "Willie," on August 17, 1884, in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, at 16 West Humbird Street. His father William Wallace Dietz, settled in the area in 1871 and was elected county sheriff in 1877. His father married Leanna Ginder in November 1879.
Dietz was an employee of and briefly claimed to attend Oklahoma's
Contested heritage
Dietz's heritage was first contested in 1916 after former neighbors who settled on the Pacific Coast heard he was posing as a Native American. In December 1918 the Federal Bureau of Investigation looked into his heritage after he registered for the draft as a "Non-Citizen Indian" with an allotment. The Bureau found he had taken on the identity of James One Star, an Oglala man of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation 12 years his senior who had disappeared in Cuba in 1894. Dietz also claimed he was the head of an American film company that produced propaganda films for the war.
Dietz was tried in Spokane, Washington in June 1919 for the first offense. One Star's sister, Sallie Eaglehorse, testified after seeing him for the first time at the trial that Dietz was definitely not her brother.[2] Still, the judge instructed the jury to determine whether Dietz "believed" he was a Native American, not whether it was true. Despite that others had witnessed his birth in the summer of 1884 or had seen him the following day, Dietz's mother Leanna claimed he was the Native American son of her husband who had been switched a week or more after she had a stillbirth. Dietz's acting ability along with his mother's fallacious testimony (to protect him from prison) resulted in a hung jury, but Dietz was immediately re-indicted. The second trial resulted in a sentence of 30 days in the Spokane County Jail after he pleaded "no contest".[2]
Dietz's true heritage remains controversial. Although he is recognized as an "Indian athlete" by
Playing career
Dietz played at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, with teammate Jim Thorpe, under famed coach Pop Warner.[1]
Coaching career
In 1921, Dietz took a coaching position with
For the rest of his life, Dietz continued to promote himself as Lone Star Dietz, the son of W. W. and Julia One Star of Pine Ridge. He took on his last coaching job in 1937 for Albright College in Pennsylvania; in 1964, still married to Doris, Dietz died in Reading, Pennsylvania. Later in life, Dietz was an active painter exhibiting his work at Lafayette College with in an exhibit curated by Francis Quirk.[4] He and Doris were so poor that former teammates purchased his headstone. It reads: "William ‘Lone Star’ Dietz born in South Dakota."[2]
Recognition
Dietz was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2012.
Nickname
Dietz named himself "Lone Star" after James One Star, the alleged nephew of an Oglala Buffalo Bill Performer sometime after the
Personal life
Dietz divorced De Cora in November 1918, charging her with abandonment. It is not clear how much she knew about his identity. She died six days after his indictment. Later in life, Dietz was an active painter, exhibiting his work at Lehigh University with sculptors Joseph Brown and José de Rivera in a 1955 exhibit curated by Francis Quirk.[4]
Head coaching record
College football
Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Washington State (Independent) (1915–1916) | |||||||||
1915 | Washington State | 7–0 | W Rose | ||||||
1916 | Washington State | 4–2 | |||||||
Washington State (Pacific Coast Conference) (1917) | |||||||||
1917 | Washington State | 6–0–1 | 3–0 | 1st | |||||
Washington State: | 17–2–1 | 3–0 | |||||||
Mare Island Marines (Independent) (1918)
| |||||||||
1918 | Mare Island Marines | 10–1 | L Rose | ||||||
Mare Island Marines: | 10–1 | ||||||||
Purdue Boilermakers (Big Ten Conference) (1921) | |||||||||
1921 | Purdue | 1–6 | 1–4 | T–8th | |||||
Purdue: | 1–6 | 1–4 | |||||||
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (Louisiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1922–1923) | |||||||||
1922 | Louisiana Tech | 5–1–1 | 1–1–1 | 3rd | |||||
1923 | Louisiana Tech | 6–2 | 2–1 | T–2nd | |||||
Louisiana Tech: | 11–3–1 | ||||||||
Wyoming Cowboys (Rocky Mountain Conference) (1924–1926) | |||||||||
1924 | Wyoming | 2–6 | 1–6 | 10th | |||||
1925 | Wyoming | 6–3 | 4–3 | 5th | |||||
1926 | Wyoming | 2–4–2 | 1–2–2 | 8th | |||||
Wyoming: | 10–13–2 | 6–11–2 | |||||||
Haskell Indians (Independent) (1929–1932) | |||||||||
1929 | Haskell | 8–2 | |||||||
1930 | Haskell | 9–1 | |||||||
1931 | Haskell | 6–4 | |||||||
1932 | Haskell | 2–5–1 | |||||||
Haskell: | 25–12–1 | ||||||||
Albright Lions (Independent) (1937–1942)
| |||||||||
1937 | Albright | 7–0–1 | |||||||
1938 | Albright | 4–5–1 | |||||||
1939 | Albright | 5–4 | |||||||
1940 | Albright | 5–5 | |||||||
1941 | Albright | 6–4 | |||||||
1942 | Albright | 4–5 | |||||||
Albright: | 31–23–2 | ||||||||
Total: | 105–60–7 |
NFL
Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eastern ) (1933–1934)
| |||||||||
1933 | Boston Redskins | 5–5–2 | 3rd | ||||||
1934 | Boston Redskins | 6–6 | 2nd | ||||||
Boston Redskins: | 11–11–2 | ||||||||
Total: | 11–11–2 |
College baseball
Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs () (1923) | |||||||||
1923 | Louisiana Tech | 16–6 | |||||||
Louisiana Tech: | 16–6 | ||||||||
Total: | 16–6 |
References
- ^ a b Leiby, Richard (November 6, 2013). "The legend of Lone Star Dietz: Redskins namesake, coach — and possible impostor?". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e Waggoner, Linda M. "On Trial: The R*dskins Wily Mascot: Coach William "Lone Star" Dietz" (PDF). Montana, the Magazine of Western History – via National Museum of the American Indian.
- Indian Country Today Media Network, 5 pt. series, July 2, 12, 20, 27, Aug. 8, 2004.
- ^ a b "Brown and White Volume 67 Number 19 6 December 1955". Brown and White Lafayette University. 6 December 1955.
- ^ Tomasky, Michael (November 10, 2011). "The Racist Redskins". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved July 19, 2020. (a review of the book Showdown: JFK and the Integration of the Washington Redskins (2011) by Thomas G. Smith)
- ^ "Boston Team Will Be Known As Redskins". Portsmouth Times (image of newspaper clipping). Portsmouth, Ohio. 1933-07-18. p. 9.
- ^ McCartney, Robert (May 28, 2014). "1933 news article refutes cherished tale that Redskins were named to honor Indian coach". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
Further reading
- Keep A-goin': the life of Lone Star Dietz (2006) ISBN 0-9774486-0-6, softcover (2006)
- Doctors, Lawyers, Indian Chiefs (2008) ISBN 978-0-9774486-7-8softcover devotes a chapter to Lone Star Dietz
- At last, Lone Star in the Hall of Fame (May 22, 2012 by Cougfan.com)