Jim Thorpe was born and raised in Oklahoma. He went to the Carlisle Indian School in PA in his youth. How/why he went from Oklahoma to PA, I don't know. Excerpt from Wikipedia:
"During the early 20th century, the Carlisle Indian School was a national football powerhouse, and regularly competed against other major programs such as the Ivy League schools Harvard, Pennsylvania, Cornell, Dartmouth, Yale, Princeton, Brown, and Army (West Point) and Navy (Annapolis). Coach Pop Warner led a highly successful football team and athletic program at the Carlisle School, and went on to create other successful collegiate programs. He coached the exceptional athlete Jim Thorpe and his teammates, bringing national recognition to the small school. By 1907, the Carlisle Indians were the most dynamic team in college football. They had pioneered the forward pass, the overhand spiral and other trick plays that frustrated their opponents. The Carlisle Indians have been characterized as the "team that invented football."
Connie Mack of the old Philadelphia A's recruited both Hall of Fam pitcher Charles Joseph "Chief" Bender and hall of very good catcher Chief Meyers from that school.