The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-03-09
Life Story of Tex Rickard, Soldier of Fortune, Reads
 Like Arabian Nights Tale
Former Cowpuncher, Gambler Oil Driller and Promote Tells Some Good Yarns About His Experiences
 in the Early Days of the West

Tex Rickard. cowpuncher, gambler fistic promoter. oil driller. and gen eral soldier of fortune. has chased the elusive dollar farther than any mar in America. The promoter of the Will lard-Dempsey heavyweight champion ship mill on July 4 operated the largest gaming house in Nome. Alaska, when the rush for gold was on. Later he ran faro bank in Goldfeld that made $1,0OO, 900 in one year
 The winnings of Richards Golddeld faro bank have never been exceeded except by the famous Monte Carlo es- tablishment at Monaco, Curt Gums Chicago Palace of Fortune. Dick Can fields noted Saratoga gambling estab- lishment and Honest John Kelly's cele- brated Forty second street house 1T New York city never equaled Rick ards Goldfeld game in winnings any one year of their histories.
 When Rickard closed his Goldfielo faro bank he had sl00,000 in bad checks He cashed everything that looked like check and pulled up with hundreds that came back, marked account ex- hausted.' Strange as it may seem. nc attempt was ever made to hold up any of Tex's gaming establishments. Speaking of hold-ups. Tex tells some
 
 robbers of the. early days in the west.
 Back in the sos I punched cattle for Jim Archer up to Wichita Falls said Rickard. "One cold winter chummed with a chap named Foster Crawford until I found that he had perverted brain. Foster confidet that his chief ambition was to rob the Wichita Falls bank.
 "'That bank belongs to the man W, f1r1r F1Y
 '"What's the difference. so long a. we get the coin?' replied Crawford.
 I'm a cowpuncher, not a bank rob ber,' said I.
 Crawford and another boy, knowr as the Missouri Kid finally tackled the Wichita bank, shot up the place anC got caught. The citizens of Wichita Falls then took the prisoners from the jail and strung 'em to the nearest tele. graph pole.
 T saw the lynching. The 'Missour Kid died game. but Crawford col lapsed and had to be dragged to tht scene of the lynching. Burk Burnett one man for whom the great Burkbur- nett oil field was named, handed thu Missouri Kid chew of tobacco jus before they strung him up'
 TEXANS ROB TRAIN In his early days Tex drove many 2 herd of cattle from Texas to Montana for summer grazing. He says there wasn't fence between the Red river and the mouth of the Missouri In those days
 "One spring I went north with tn, Archer herd" said Tex. Bill Newbury Newt Gibson and Mart Moore were witt me on that trip. After we got tt Montana the trio proposed holding up { train. I couldn't sec it and said noth ing doing. Bill, Newt and Mart thei did the trick themselves, sticking Ill the Northern Pacific express and get ting $60,00o in gold.
 Bill beat it back to Texas with hi share of the plunder and buried tn gold on his mothers ranch. The detec 1 tives traced Newbury to Texas an l finally arrested him. He was takel 1 back to Montana and after serving on year his mother dug up the stolen gold returned it to the express company, ant l Bill was pardoned.
 l Newt Gibson. while - nanacled l jumped off movnig train and escape | the Montana officers He also returne to Texas, grew a beard and rejoine l the Archer outfit the following spring | Newt was the funniest looking COW puncher you ever saw, with a bear a foot long. The boys knew who h was, but said nothing. But he couldn' fool the detectives, who eventuall grabbed him. Newt got off by return l ing his share of the swag. Moore the | Souare himself the same way The ex