Judge Sides With Sons About Legendary Athlete Jim Thorpe's Remains

A federal ruling is clearing the way for Jim Thorpe's two surviving sons to have his remains removed from the Pennsylvania town that bears his name and reinterred on American Indian land in Oklahoma.

U.S. District Judge Richard Caputo ruled Friday that Jim Thorpe borough in northeastern Pennsylvania amounts to a museum under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

Jim Thorpe's third wife arranged for his body to be buried in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania.

11/28/2011 Related Story: Family Fights To Bring Athlete Jim Thorpe's Remains To Oklahoma

A lawyer for Bill and Richard Thorpe says the men will pursue the legal process to have their father, an Olympic gold-medalist and college football All-American, returned to Sac and Fox land in central Oklahoma.

The brothers and the tribe sued the borough and local government officials. Calls seeking comment from attorneys for the defendants weren't immediately returned late Friday.

The ruling was first reported by The Legal Intelligencer.