George Lewis “Tex” Rickard (1870 – 1929)
Tex Rickard was born in Kansa City, Missouri and his family moved to Texas when he was four. He worked on a ranch before he married in 1894 and was elected town marshal of Henrietta, Texas. His wife and infant son died and in November 1895 he moved north to Juneau, Alaska where he played poker. In 1896, he moved on to Circle on the Yukon River where he worked for the professional gambler Sam Bonnifield. After news of the Klondike strike reached Circle, Tex and Harry Ash headed upriver by dogteam in February 1897. Tex acquired claims 3 and 4 Below Discovery on Bonanza Creek and quickly sold them for $60,000. He then partnered with Tom Turner and established The Northern saloon and gambling hall. They made $155,000 in four months and then, one night at the gambling tables, they lost everything, including The Northern. Tex spent the next fifteen months tending bar at the Monte Carlo saloon and dance hall.1) He and Wilson Mizner also promoted boxing matches.2)
In the spring of 1899, Tex left Dawson for Nome where he owned the Northern hotel and bar.3) In 1903, he established a casino in Goldfield, Nevada where, in 1906, he promoted a world lightweight title fight where Joe Gans defeated Oscar “Battling” Nelson on a foul in 42 rounds.4) That fight brought in a record $69,715 at the gate. A year later Rickard opened the Northern Hotel in Ey, Nevada, organized the Ely Athletic Club and owned several mining properties in the area. In December 1909, he and John Gleason staged the world heavyweight championship fight between James J. Jefferies and Jack Johnson in Reno, Nevada. Rickard and Gleason made a profit of about $120,000.5)
In February 1911, Rickard moved to Argentina. He acquired some land and managed a cattle ranch for the Farquhar syndicate. In 1913, he accompanied Theodore Roosevelt on part of the Roosevelt-Randon Scientific Expedition. The cattle ranch was in trouble, failing at the end of 1915, and Rickard was said to have lost about $1 million.6)
In 1916 Rickard returned to the United States and started promoting important boxing marches. Shortly after New York state established legal boxing in July 1920, Rickard secured a ten-year lease on Madison Square Garden where he hosted boxing matches and six-day bicycle races.7)