If you walked into a stadium in the early 1930s to see the Boston Redskins, you would have seen something bizarre by today’s standards. The head coach, a man with striking cheekbones and a stoic gaze, often paced the sidelines wearing a full feathered headdress and beaded deerskin. That was William Henry Lone Star Dietz.
He was a football genius. Honestly, he really was. He learned the game at the legendary Carlisle Indian Industrial School, playing alongside Jim Thorpe under the great Pop Warner. He led Washington State to a Rose Bowl win in 1916. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2012.
But there is a massive, uncomfortable shadow over his entire life.
For decades, the Washington Redskins used Dietz as their shield. Whenever activists called the team name a racial slur, owners like Dan Snyder pointed to "Lone Star" Dietz. They claimed the name was an "honor" for their first coach, a brave Sioux warrior.
The problem? William Henry Dietz might have just been a white guy from Wisconsin with a really good costume.
The Man, The Myth, and the Selective Service Act
The cracks in the story started showing as early as 1918. While the rest of the country was shipping off to fight in World War I, Dietz registered for the draft as a "non-citizen Indian." Back then, Native Americans weren't legally U.S. citizens—that didn't happen until 1924. By claiming he was Indigenous, Dietz was basically trying to skip the war.
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The government didn't buy it.
The FBI investigated him for identity theft. They alleged that the real "Lone Star"—a man named James One Star—had disappeared years earlier, and Dietz had simply stepped into his shoes to get into the Carlisle Indian School.
The trial was a circus. Dietz’s mother, a white woman from Rice Lake, Wisconsin, testified that he was her biological son. Local townspeople remembered him as "Willie," a kid who loved to draw and act in plays. They even found photos of him as a teenager, wearing a cheap "Indian" costume he’d bought for a photoshoot long before he ever went to Carlisle.
Despite the evidence, the first trial ended in a hung jury. Why? Because Dietz was charming. He wept on the stand. He looked the part. He was such a good actor that people wanted to believe he was Sioux. Eventually, he pleaded no contest to a lesser charge and served 30 days in jail.
Why the Washington Name Change Actually Happened
You've probably heard the story that George Preston Marshall changed the team name from the Boston Braves to the Redskins in 1933 specifically to honor Dietz.
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It’s a nice sentiment. It’s also mostly nonsense.
History shows it was a business move. Marshall was moving the team from Braves Field to Fenway Park, which was the home of the Boston Red Sox. He wanted a name that kept the Native American imagery (since they already had the logos and uniforms) but sounded more like the Red Sox. "Redskins" fit the bill perfectly.
Dietz was definitely a part of the marketing, though. Marshall was a promoter at heart. He loved the "Indian" persona Dietz brought to the table. He encouraged the war paint. He had the team do "war dances" at halftime. It was a minstrel show on grass.
Dietz didn't mind. He leaned into it. He spent his off-seasons in California acting in silent films, often playing—you guessed it—Native American characters. He was a man who lived his life as a performance.
A Legacy Built on Shifting Sands
It is hard to reconcile the two halves of the man. On one hand, you have a brilliant coach who pioneered the three-point stance and used complex "trick plays" that revolutionized the game. He wasn't just a figurehead; he knew his stuff.
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On the other hand, you have the "Identity Thief."
The Career Path of a Legend (or Imposter)
- Carlisle Indian School: Played tackle and learned the "Pop Warner" system.
- Washington State (1915–1917): 17-2-1 record. Complete dominance.
- Boston Redskins (1933–1934): His only NFL stint. He went 11-11-2 before being fired.
- Albright College: Where he spent his final coaching years before retiring to pursue art.
He even worked as an artist for Disney, contributing sketches for Bambi. He was a polymath. A creator. A liar? Most historians today, including researchers like Linda Waggoner, believe he was 100% German-American.
When he died in 1964, he was broke. His former teammates had to pass the hat just to buy him a gravestone. It says "William 'Lone Star' Dietz — Born in South Dakota." Even in death, the myth was the only thing he had left.
What This Means for Today
Understanding William Henry Lone Star Dietz isn't just about sports trivia. It’s about how we use history to justify the present. For eighty years, a professional sports team used a potentially fabricated biography to defend a name that many found offensive.
If you're researching this, don't just look at the stats. Look at the court records from 1919. Look at the Rice Lake census. The truth is rarely as clean as a Hall of Fame plaque.
Next Steps for Research:
Check out the National Museum of the American Indian archives on the Carlisle football program. They have digitized many of the student files, including the conflicting records for Dietz. If you want the full breakdown of the legal case, look for the 1919 FBI investigation summaries—they are a wild read for anyone interested in the intersection of sports history and identity.