Tex Rickard

George Lewis “Tex” Rickard was a well known boxing promoter and the founder of the New York Rangers hockey club. He was born January 2, 1870 in Kansas City, Missouri to Robert Wood Rickard and Lucretia J. Ferguson Rickard. When George was about four years old, his family moved to Texas, first settling in Cambridge, a few miles south of the Red River in Grayson County. They later moved to Henrietta in Clay County in North Texas where Robert worked as a carpenter. In the 1880 census, the family consisted of Robert and Lucretia, daughter Minnie, son George, son Merlin, son Robert Jr. and daughter Kate. Another sister named Alice was born after the census had been recorded. Robert was a veteran, having previously served four years in the Union Army during the Civil War and died of unknown causes in 1881 at the age of forty-three. Lucretia was left to raise her six children. She married Samuel C. Adams, a grocer, later in the 1880s. As the children of Lucretia and her late husband Robert matured and moved away, she and Samuel had two more children, one of whom lived to be an adult. They were living in Henrietta as of the 1900 census. Two years later, Samuel died from complications of asthma. Lucretia survived him another thirty-five years.

His birth father Robert Rickard died when George was only eleven years old. The Wichita Falls Record News issue of January 22, 1922 carried a column devoted to George, by then known as Tex. While in Henrietta, he had begun working on ranches as a youth before leaving home for Wyoming and Montana. As he was doing more ranch work, he became interested in mining during the gold rush in the northwest United States. The article says that there he also learned to gamble and developed his love for boxing and also developed an interest in promoting boxing as a spectator sport. He later made his way to the territory of Alaska where in Nome he opened a gambling house. His place was one of the busiest until gold fever faded. It was in Alaska that Rickard’s name is mentioned along with that of the legendary Wyatt Earp. Rickard and Earp had become acquainted earlier and Rickard is said to have told Earp and his wife about his life in Nome. This contributed to Earp’s move to Alaska for around three years.

Tex then settled in Nevada where he followed the mining to Tonopah and Goldfield. Goldfield was a boom town where he was again involved in the operation of a gambling house. Earp is known to have moved to Tonopah and Goldfield as well before he retired. The two remained friends afterward. Goldfield had bloomed from a tiny population to as many as 20,000 before once again declining to only a few residents. There in 1906 he promoted a lightweight title match between contenders Joe Gans and Jim “Battling” Nelson. In 1910, he promoted a heavyweight fight between Jack Johnson and James J. Jeffries. These adventures were followed by a time when Tex made an investment in Argentina operating a cattle ranch for some time, before returning to America, once again lured by his interest in boxing.

Tex began to promote boxing matches including a famous bout between Jack Dempsey and Jess Willard in Toledo in 1919. Though the newly constructed venue could have held 80,000, the match only drew 20,000. Even with the small crowd, it was a financial success for him. Tex went on to direct his focus to New York City, leasing Madison Square Garden for his matches. Boxing was quite popular, and countless newspaper articles reported on his matches over the years.

The same 1922 Wichita Falls Record newspaper issue included a headline reporting Rickard’s arrest for allegedly being involved an assault on two minor females. Tex denied all allegations and was ultimately acquitted of the charges. In connection with the case, the April 1, 1922 issue of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that Tex’s attorney revealed that two employees of the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children had attempted to extort $50,000 from Rickard to get the alleged victims to change their testimonies, casting further doubt on the allegations.

There have been four venues that operated under the name of Madison Square Garden. Originally built in 1879 at Madison Square and Twenty-sixth Street and named for President James Madison, that structure was rebuilt in 1890 and briefly featured the tallest tower in the country. The Galveston Daily News issue of January 5, 1925 carried an Associated Press article stating that that the 1890 venue would be demolished. It quoted Tex as saying that its passing would be mourned but that it would be commemorated by a three day festival to be attended by representatives of the state and the nation. A few days later, newspaper reports confirmed that a new $5,500,000 structure would be built at another location with a scheduled completion date of October 15, 1925. It would also be called Madison Square Garden as the name had been conveyed to new owners by those of the former structure. Organizers were listed as Rickard and circus promoter John Ringling, General T. Coleman Dupont, Kermit Roosevelt, P. A. S. Franklin and Mathew C. Brush. The first event held in late November in the new arena was a series of bicycle races, which Tex began by firing the starter’s pistol. In news reports, Tex called the Garden “his greatest plunge.” It was a success and the venue began to be called “the house that Tex built.” This incarnation of Madison Square Garden stood for over forty years until it too was replaced by the current building.

1925 was also the year of the creation of the New York Rangers hockey club. New York already had a team called the New York Americans but Tex wanted Madison Square Garden to have its own hockey team. Tex is credited for promoting the new club and getting well-connected backers through Col. John S. Hammond to obtain a second National Hockey League franchise for New York City. The club first competed in the 1926 – 1927 season and had a winning record. The team went on to win the Stanley Cup in its second season, a feat that no other club has achieved in its second year of existence. As of this year, the New York Rangers have competed for 98 seasons.

Tex first married Leona Viola Bittick, the daughter of a Henrietta doctor, in 1894. They had one child, a son. Both Leona and their son died within two months of each other in 1895 of “white fever,” a reference to tuberculosis. Leona and the child are buried in Henrietta where George was serving at the time as city marshal. He married Edith Mae Meyers around 1901. Tex and Edith had one daughter who died at about the age of five. They were married for about twenty-four years until Edith died in 1925. She is buried in the Bronx at Woodlawn Cemetery. Lastly, Tex married Maxine Hodges in 1926. The couple had one daughter.

Tex died on January 6, 1929 from complications of surgery for appendicitis while on a trip to Florida. His remains were returned to New York. Three days later, Madison Square Garden hosted a viewing of his casket. It was attended by a throng of 15,000 before he was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery.

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