Native Americans have always taken great pride in the warrior's spirit, a desire to never give up.

One such warrior, Wathoe Huck, has become an enduring icon of that spirit.

But you may know him better by his other name, Jim Thorpe.

Born in Oklahoma's Sac and Fox Nation, Wathoe Huck means bright path.

It was just something that was in him from the time he was born.

It wasn't about ego or money.

They didn't pay them that much back in those days.

It wasn't even about winning.

It was about seeing what his body could do that day.

Jim Thorpe won two gold medals at the 1912 Olympics, competing in the pentathlon and decathlon.

He was the first Native American to do so.

While presenting Jim with his medals in Stockholm, King Gustav V of Sweden called Jim the greatest athlete in the world.

But the excitement of the Olympics would soon be overshadowed by controversy.

He played semi-pro baseball the summer before he went to the Olympics.

All the boys from Carlisle Indian School did that, but they used fictitious names.

Jim didn't.

He put down his real name.

Seven months after the Olympics, it was discovered that Jim Thorpe was paid to play baseball before, a violation of the Olympic rules.

His medals were taken back.

In their bylaws, it says that any challenge to a medal had to be brought within three months of those Olympics.

But they still took his medals away.

The controversy did nothing to dampen Jim's athletic career.

He would go on to play professional baseball and football, ultimately ending up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Jim was voted the greatest athlete of the first half of the 20th century by the Sportswriters Association.

Recently, they voted again for the greatest athlete of the 20th century, and Jim came in third.

Second was Babe Ruth.

First was Michael Jordan.

Now, no insult to either one of those two gentlemen.

Jim played every sport.

Baseball, basketball, football, track and field, ice hockey.

He even had a 200 average in bowling.

In one game, he had a separated shoulder, and he didn't tell the coach.

He played the game with a separated shoulder.

Unfortunately, the path wasn't always bright for Jim Thorpe.

He had so much tragedy in his life.

His firstborn son, Jim Jr., died when he was only two and a half years old.

His brother, twin brother, died when he was only eight years old.

And his mother died when he was young as well.

Things got tough for him.

I mean, there were times when he could barely pay the rent.

But he kept going.

He wasn't a quitter.

He just kept going until the very end.

That just shows what a kind of a spirit he had.

What the hawk.

Jim Thorpe would pass away in March of 1953 at the age of 65, but his legacy and name would live on.

His widow had to have him buried in a small cemetery in Tulsa, Oklahoma, even though Oklahoma had originally promised to build him a proper memorial when he died.

A new governor came in and said, No, we're not going to use the money for that.

Well, she thought that was wrong because he was an Olympic champion.

She heard about a guy from this town named Joe Boyle.

Joe was an old-time newsman, and he was trying to revitalize the economy.

So he asked everybody in town to donate a nickel a week.

He wound up collecting $35,000.

It made national news.

Mrs.

Thorpe heard about it, thought, well, this is a guy who could get things done.

So she contacted Joe.

It turns out he was a Jim Thorpe fan, and he welcomed the chance of having Jim's body brought here and honoring him the way he should have been.

And he thought it might encourage tourism again.

But they had to convince two towns.

At that time, it was Mock Chunk on this side of the river and East Mock Chunk, a separate town, on the other side.

Got them to put it to a vote.

It passed 3-1 to join together, become a new town called Jim Thorpe.

That happened in 1954, and he was put in there in 1957, and that's where he's been ever since.

We're very proud to have his name.

He was the greatest athlete of all time.

One in a century kind of a person.

Jim Thorpe had never been the Jim Thorpe, or Mock Chunk as it was called.

More than 70 years after his death, Jim Thorpe is still considered one of the greatest athletes of all time and a shining example of the Native American spirit.