William Henry Dietz William Henry " Lone Star " Dietz ( August 17 , 1884 – July 20 , 1964 ) was an American football player and coach . In 2012 he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame . He served as the head football coach at Washington State University ( 1915 – 1917 ) , Purdue University ( 1921 ) , Louisiana Tech University ( 1922 – 1923 ) , University of Wyoming ( 1924 – 1926 ) , and Albright College ( 1937 – 1942 ) compiling a career college football record of 70 – 47 – 6 . From 1933 to 1934 , Dietz was the head coach of the National Football League ' s Boston Redskins , where he tallied a mark of 11 – 11 – 2 . Playing career . Dietz played at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School of Carlisle , Pennsylvania , a teammate of Jim Thorpe , under famed coach Pop Warner . Coaching career . Dietz was the 14th head college football coach for the Washington State University Cougars located in Pullman , Washington , a position he held for three seasons , from 1915 until 1917 . His coaching record at Washington State was 17 wins , 2 losses , and 1 tie . As of the conclusion of the 2007 season , this ranks him eighth at Washington State in total wins and third at Washington State in winning percentage ( . 875 ) . He also led Washington State to its only Rose Bowl win in 1916 . Dietz also coached at Purdue University , the University of Wyoming , Louisiana Tech University , and Albright College . He coached professional football for the Boston Redskins . George Preston Marshall , owner and founder of the Boston Braves in 1932 , sought to rename the franchise in 1933 after leaving the stadium they shared with the baseball team of the same name . Marshall chose the name Redskins in honor of Dietz , who claimed to be of the Sioux Nation , by analogy with the Red Sox who shared the team ' s new home , Fenway Park . Recognition . Dietz was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2012 . Personal life . Noted Indian artist Angel De Cora was married to Dietz , and they collaborated on some illustrations together . They met at the 1904 World ' s Fair where Dietz was hired as supervisor for the Native art display . Dietz died of cancer at the age of 79 . Nickname . Dietz named himself " Lone Star " after James One Star , the alleged nephew of an Oglala Buffalo Bill Performer sometime after the 1904 St . Louis World ' s Fair . " Lone Star " and " One Star " are the same name in Oglala . Contested heritage . Dietz ' s Indian heritage was first contested in 1916 after former neighbors who settled on the Pacific Coast heard he was posing as an Indian . In December 1918 the Federal Bureau of Investigation looked into his heritage after he fraudulently 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 12 years his senior who had disappeared in 1894 . Dietz also falsely claimed he was the head of an American film company that produced propaganda films for the war . He was tried in Spokane , Washington in June of 1919 for the first offense . One Star ' s sister , Sallie Eaglehorse , who Dietz had been writing to as if her brother for several years , testified after seeing him for the first time at the trial , that he was definitely not her brother . Still , the judge instructed the jury to determine whether or not Dietz " believed " he was an Indian , not whether it was true . Despite the fact that others had witnessed his birth in the summer of 1884 or had seen him the following day , Dietz ' s mother , Leanna Ginder Dietz Lewis , claimed he was the Indian 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 2nd trial , which focused on his claim he should be exempt from the draft because he headed a film company necessary to the war effort , resulted in a sentence of 30 days in the county jail after he pleaded " no contest . "