The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-09-23
'Tex' Rickard Becomes Uni
yersally Known Through
NelsOn-Gans Go.
SHOWS GREAT ABILITY
AS A FIGHT PROMOTER
Once Punched Cows in Texas;
Now Worth a Half Million
Dollars.

Until ne promoted The recent nelson
Cans fight At Goldneld. TEX" Rickard
was comparatively little known-that is,
he WAS only known to those present at
the time OF his birth, those sturdy boys
with whom he punched COWS in his early
youth, those who Joined In the rush to
Klondike and a few other rushes. and
those who have cast their lot upon the
desert Of southern Nevada. But now
TEX" Rickard enjoys q universal repu-
tation, and the following story from the
San Francisco Chronicle viii, therefore,
be OF interest to local lovers OF sport
and his wide circles of friends among
Utahns who have visited Gold1eld:
or course you know George Lewis Rick
ard. Stop shaking your head. you over
there In the corner! Perhaps you fail to
recognize him under that name! Now as
Tex Rickard-Ah. you have the idea,
Yes. he's the very same man. the one
who handled the big Goldfleld fight that
has come TO be matter OF history. Ger
tainly, you knew him all the time, but
failed to recognize the dress that the
first part OF his name gave
It's n far cry from punching cattle on
the broad plains OF Texas at monthly
drawdown OF 30 simolcons and found
to owning the est-patronized gambling
hall In the country. that brings In
cool quarter million dollars a year, Yet
that is what happened to Tex Rickard.
only 1t has been n long time coming
To you or me a quarter million dollars
means something. We have to stop and
think about 1t. Tex Rickard drawled It
out in a most inconsequentlal manner.
when he was enumerating his riches. He
has lost that sort OF a fortune during
his career-that has stretched all the way
from Henrietta, in the Lone Star State,
up to Alaska and then to South Africa
and back again-several times. Just now
he Is up in the world. Tomorrow he
might be down, so It's all the same to
him-and happy life while II lasts.
Rickard has been some years in this
world-years that have meant more In
experience than full lifetime In the
history OF the average mortal. He has
herded cattle in the South, stampeded
with the rest Of the crowd for gold
| In the Klondike and sat behind a faro
| table, but II took a prize fight to make
| him famous the world over.
Always With the Minors.
Rickard Is. and has been. known in
| every mining camp along the Pacific
coast. He has followed the game-that's
why. But II Is to be doubted II more
than dozen people in San Francisco
| knew who he WAS when the press dis
| patches burned up the wires to say that
Tex Rickard and his associates wanted
that Cans Nelson fight. and wanted 1t bad
| enough to offer $4,000. II they did not
know of Tex, they heard Of him later,
and with all the greater force.
| 1t requires some nerve to brace q man,
| especially one who comes from Texas,
and ask him TO tell all about his habits,
II he liked 10 play with rag doll when
| he was boy. how many men he has shot,
and all that. II you don't think So Try
| 1t yourself some day. We did it-Car-
| toonist Fisher aud myself-and we es-
capped to tell the tale-as much Of 1t as
l he wnnld tell n al
Tex was in the cafe. He was talking
| to George Siler about the fights of days
| gone by, but he came without urging, and
| led the way to his rooms on the sixth
floor OF the Baltimore,
Then came the trouble. Tex had lost
| his key. First In one pocket and then
In another he hunted, but no key. He
| jerked the door-in fact, three DOORS
Finally he tried another. and sighed with
relief as 1t opened.
| But he was out IN moment.
THAT wasn't my room" he explained
shame-facedly, as he told the elevator
boy to hustle up another key.
Rickard Talks of Himself.
And 30 you want to know all about
/ me7' he questioned,
Richard is not d man you would take
for red-hot sizzling sport. He Is quiet
and reserved, but he has an eye that
looks you through and through all tho
| time he Is talking, He has more than
leaning toward badness. but with wife
and baby Tex is past the age where he
| cares about such trines
! mo; / wasn't born In Texas"
| He had anticipated the question
| But / might as we'll have been" he
continued, for went there when I was
2 years old, and lived there until was
| grown up. Yes. lived on q ranch. I
don't mean q farm, like you Californians
L IL tz,,r 1,.,t x,,lI
was nothing but cattle. Until 1 was IA
years old l don't believe I ever saw q
| railroad train"
Here was where the current OF his
| thoughts was changed.
| What was the greatest ambition Of
your life, when you were a boy2"
| He paused. You could hear his watch
| tick, and l for one expected that HE was
| he wanted to perform. Possibly he wanted
to be boxer. But no.
| Here came the answer,
| "It's just this. / always wanted to be
| a cowboy.
And Rickard. unlike many men, at
tained his ambition. He was a cowboy.
After he was 10 years old he COM
| menced to earn his own living, and he
did 1t by working on the range
Was City Marshal Once,
Popularity among the bronco busters
| led to his election as city marshal OF
| Henrietta, away out from Dallas. His
pay was raised. 1t was $75 month. with
plenty OF excitement. for Rickard lived
his young life In a frontier town; but
even that palled on him,
| The turning point In his career came
In 1894 Sounds like history. doesn't it?).
| Rickard had accumulated s400, the most
money he ever had In his life, and hied
himself away to Juneau for an outing.
Once there, he stayed.
How did you break into gambling?"
ought to have asked the question with
difidence, but 1t came out rather sharp.
well / had a friend In Juneau. ]
spent the winter there, and once in
| while / would sit In to deal faro, Just
| to be doing something. That way I
learned the ruin OF the games. Then
bought an interest in one OF the houses