Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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42 MAY 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED IRISH ECHOES JIM LEFEBVRE I t's hard to imagine a more unlikely journey to national football fame than that of Joe Bach, the regular left tackle for Notre Dame's 1924 national champions. Born and raised in the rugged Mesabi Iron Range of northern Minnesota, Bach came from a family and a town steeped in iron ore mining. His parents came from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, among thousands who immigrated to the Iron Range in the late 19th century, creating the most varied ethnic stew outside of the major United States cities. The couple settled in the Shenango lo- cation, one of the myriad mining camps in the area. Joe Sr. began working in the mines, and later the family operated a boarding house for miners before mov- ing into the nearby town of Chisholm. It was a hard life for the Bachs and their four children. Houses built by the mining company and rented to the miners had no indoor plumbing aside from a cold water tap in the kitchen. Despite the austere conditions at home, Chisholm's schools were a different story. Heavily funded by the tax base of the min- ing companies, they were far advanced, with well-furnished classrooms, excel- lent instructors, a "college prep" curricu- lum and extensive activities. Improving the public's health was also a high priority. Chisholm schools not only had a school nurse, but starting in the fall of 1917 — as Joe Bach entered Chisholm High — a school doctor as well. A young Dr. Archibald "Moon- light" Graham saw an ad for the Ch- isholm schools' doctor position and traveled from his home in North Caro- lina for an interview. Doc Graham had a background that included a stint in organized baseball. A farmhand of the New York Giants, he was called up to the big team late in the 1905 season, and got into one game, playing one half inning in right field. After the season, Graham left baseball and began his march toward a degree in medicine. His story was immortalized in the 1989 film "Field of Dreams." For Joe Bach, sports were an outlet for an active, sometimes rambunctious youth. Joe was just 6 when his father died, and in Joe's teenage years, his exuberance once got the better of him, resulting in a brief visit to the Minnesota Training School in Red Wing. But he rebounded from that episode, focusing his consider- able energy into sports of all kinds. Back in Chisholm, Bach named himself captain of the school's newly formed swimming team, and was also a splendid running back in football and a major force in basketball. It was bas- ketball that first brought him attention outside the Iron Range. In his sopho- more year (1918-19), he poured in 15 field goals in a 60-5 win over Biwabik. The team won its district title. The state tournament was held not in Minneapolis or St. Paul, but the small town of Northfield at Carleton College. Bach was named second-team all-state, and was noticed by Carleton football coach Cub Buck, who invited Bach to attend the "Harvard of the Midwest." Freshmen were allowed to play on Car- leton's varsity, so in the 1921 football sea- son, Bach started at right half. He was a bruising, powerful runner and helped Carleton to a successful campaign. Bach's play in a hard-fought battle with rival St. Thomas College in St. Paul caught Bach, who was born and raised in the rugged Mesabi Iron Range of northern Minnesota, served as the regular left tackle for Notre Dame's 1924 national champions. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME Joe Bach's Journey From Remote Mining Location To Gridiron Glory CELEBRATING THE 1924 CHAMPIONS