The Catcher Was a Cahuilla - A Remembrance of John Tortes Meyers (1880-1971)

Oct 22, 2026

Biographical overview of John Tortes Meyers (1880-1971), a Santa Rosa Reservation–linked Cahuilla athlete who rose to become one of his era’s best baseball catchers. The text places his career in the broader context of Native American athletes’ recognition from the turn of the century through the 1920s, connecting him to major-league teammates and notable pitchers. It also reviews evidentiary difficulties, corrects recurring birth-date errors, and reconstructs birthplace details and family history through interviews and documentation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

A Remembrance of John Tortes Meyers (1880-1971)

Native American athletes and early connections

Cautionary notes and birth-date corrections

Family background and education

Early baseball experience

The Catcher Was a Cahuilla: # A Remembrance of John Tortes Meyers(1880-1971) HENRY C.KOERPER Dept.of Anthropology,Cypress College,Cypress,CA 90630 NATIVE American athletes achieved their greatest recognition in modern sportsduring the period from the turn of the century through the 1920s(Oxendine 1988).Among the notables were several Californians.For instance,Antonio Lubo,ElmerBusch,and Peter Calac all served as gridiron captains under Coach“Pop”Warnerat Carlisle Indian Industrial School(Koerper 2000),where at various times theywere teammates of the legendary Jim Thorpe(Peterson n.d.;Steckbeck 1951).Calacwas Luiseno,Busch was Pomo,and Lubo was a Santa Rosa Mountain Cahuilla. Another athlete with ties to the Santa Rosa reservation,John Tortes Meyers(Fig. 1),developed into one of the best baseball catchers of his era.A roommate of Thorpewhen the two played for the Neco York Nationals(Giants)(Fig.2),then managed byJohn MeGraw,"Chief"Meyers counted as battery mates at New York and elsewhere,Baseball Hall of Fame pitchers Christy Mathewson(see Robinson 1993),RubeMarquard(see Hynd 1996),and Walter“Big Train”Johnson(see Kavanagh 1995).For his many accomplishments,Meyers became the first Californian inducted intothe American Indian Sports Hall of Fame,presently housed at Haskell Indian NationsUniversity in Kansas.This biographical overviecw chronicles the life of this giftedand courageous athlete who tenaciously embraced his Indian identity whileoperating mostly in a white world.¹ autionary notes attend the childhood biography of John Tortes Meyers.PrimaryUdocumentation is elusive,and Meyers'octogenarian recollections do not always clarifycontradictions in the record.Certain inconsistencies,however,are easily corrected,such as theerroneous but oft-repeated birth date of July 29,1882,printed,among other places,on sportstrading cards featuring the“Chief.”Concerned about age discrimination,Meyers,already 28 yearsold when he first broke into major league ball,by his own admission moved his birth date twoyears forward (Ritter 1966:171;Riverside Press Enterprise June 24,1969). In an interview with Lawrence Ritter(1966:62),Meyers reported his birth in a small Cahuillavillage on the lower slopes of Mount Rubidoux,but when interviewed by George Ringwald(Riverside Press Enterprise,Aug.23,1964),he placed his birth in downtown Riverside at SeventhStreet (between Market and Main Streets),presumably in the family quarters at the rear of hisfather's saloon.His affidavit of birth lists the downtown Riverside location.Goodman's(1993:74)speculation that the future big leaguer was born on the Cahuilla Reservation near Anza is notcredible. His father,John Mayer (not Meyers),a German-American Civil War veteran from Terra Haute,Indiana,ran the saloon until his demise in 1887(Patterson 1971:135,236).A misunderstanding on the part of a grade school teacher or admin-istrator resulted in the “Meyer”spelling(Col.John Meyers,personal communication 1997).It is not known why the son of this former UnionArmy captain later added an“s”to Meyer. Before her marriage,his mother,Felicite,anoted Cahuilla basket maker of the Tortes clan,had resided at Spring Rancheria,so-named forthe perennial stream(Spring Brook)just belowthe settlement.She may have worked as a do-mestic for the Louis Robidoux(later“Rubidoux”)family in the 1860s(Patterson1971:136;Riverside Press Enterprise,June 16,1985,Sept.16,1990;see Holmes 1912).Shebore two other children,Marion,a son and theoldest,and Christine,the youngest,who be-came a registered nurse.After her husband'sdemise,Felicite Mayer found employment atthe Glenwood Hotel,predecessor to the MissionInn,Riverside(Riverside Press Enterprise,Oct. Figure 1.John Tortes Meyers.New York Giants publicityportrait,circa 1910.Photograph courtesy of MicheleCornejo. 20,1969;Patterson 1971:136). John Meyers'formal education is known ingeneral outline.Although he attended the SixthStreet School in Riverside,later known as Lin-coln

FAQs

Why does the document emphasize caution when reconstructing Meyers’s childhood biography?

It states that primary documentation is elusive and Meyers’s recollections do not always resolve contradictions in the historical record.

What birth-date issue does the text address?

It notes an erroneous and frequently repeated birth date of July 29, 1882 printed on sports trading cards featuring the “Chief,” and explains that Meyers moved his birth date two years forward due to age discrimination concerns.

How does the document describe Meyers’s early baseball career before major-league entry?

It explains that, beyond schoolboy days, about eight years of semi-professional bush-league baseball preceded his 1906 enrollment at Dartmouth College, with playing across Southern California and beyond.

Oct 22, 2026

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