Jack Dempsey - Colorado Champion

In early 20th century, boxing became one of the shortest ways to glory and wealth. Growing up in the tiny town of Manassa, William Harrison “Jack” Dempsey (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983) knew the humiliation and shame of poverty. From the age of 14, he was bumming rides on the railroads, hopping from town to town to find work and engaging in bouts for side bets with anyone who would fight him. Jack worked in the mines of Cripple Creek, using physical labor as his training for strength and endurance. Life’s hardships created mental resolve to press on to fulfill his dream of becoming a heavyweight champion.

In the 1880s, Colorado mining towns were rough and desolate, far removed from most cultural entertainment. Local saloons and gambling dens were filled with brawny men scratching out a living as they followed the state’s mining booms in search of gold, silver, copper and coal. 

Portland Mine and community, Victor, Colorado. 1890s.  

Standing against the bar, these heavily muscled men commiserated in their common lot at three dollars per day, working as pile drivers, timbermen, muckers and hoist men. After hours of playing cards, gambling and drinking excessively, a fight would often break out. The all-male crowd appreciated a “rock-‘em, sock ‘em” brawl, witnessing the strength of their working comrades pitting themselves against each another.

Miners in Saloon. Google image.

A boxer with talented fists might enter one of these free-for-all saloons late at night and challenge anyone in the joint. This was known as a pickup bout. A haphazard ring was often strung up with a clothesline. Twenty rounds were common. The lucky winner and bartender might split the take if a hat was passed around after the bout. It was a way to make a name and maybe some extra money. For the most part, these fights were not legal. In many communities, boxing was only allowed in the form of an exhibition. Exhibition matches received press in the newspapers – and the newspapers carried the blow-by-blow commentary describing every punch, every blow, and every foul.

The Morning Times, Cripple Creek, CO.

In poor communities, boxing fights were often the most excitement to be had. Such was the setting in the tiny Mormon village of Manassa, Colorado where William Harrison “Jack” Dempsey was born in 1895. Growing up in a large family with a dedicated mother and a shiftless father, Jack knew the humiliation and shame of poverty. He found solace in sharing his ambitions with his older brother Bernie, who had become a prizefighter himself whenever mining jobs were scarce.

“Bernie alone knew of my ambition to become a fighter and decided to teach me a few tricks of the trade. He took me seriously, despite my being only fifteen and dedicated long hours to my training. He taught me to chew pine gum to strengthen my jaw and to bathe my face in beef brine to toughen the skin.  (I trained in) a chicken coop turned into a gymnasium.”     

Jack Dempsey, 1977

 Chicken Coop. Google image.

From the time he was 14, Jack was bumming rides on the railroads, hopping from town to town to find work and engaging in bouts for side bets with anyone who would fight him. He “rode the rods” – the steel truss rods that supported the underside of freight cars. This was a dangerous activity that could result in death.

 “Sometimes it got real cold under the train. You’d hang on with your eyes shut to avoid the hot cinders. It wasn’t easy, especially when exhaustion set in. When that happened, I would tie my hands and feet (using anything from light chains to heavy cotton kerchiefs) to the train’s lower rungs, making sure the knots were tied as strongly as I could make them.”  

Jack Dempsey, 1977

Hobos Riding the Rails, Wikipedia image.

Jack worked in the mines of Cripple Creek, Durango and Telluride. He picked fruit, washed dishes, split wood, mopped floors, shoveled manure, loaded sugar beets onto railroad cars. In his mind, he used hard labor as his training for strength and endurance – building up his arm and back muscles and his lung power. Most importantly, the hardship formulated his mental tenacity, refusing to ever give up on his dream of becoming a heavyweight champion. After a fight, sometimes he got paid and sometimes he did not. The fire burned on.

Jack Dempsey, Portland Mine in Victor

Harold Pumphrey (1902-1992) of Woodland Park remembered watching an early fight of Jack Dempsey in Cripple Creek.

“My father heard of a Cripple Creek newspaper that was for sale, so he came to look at it and I came with him…Right on Bennett Avenue there was a small gymnasium where fighters could work out. One of these fighters was George Copelin. I followed him around, trying to (get permission) to be in his corner where he was fighting. He finally agreed. George was signed up to fight Bernie Harrison (Dempsey), who was fighting under the name Jack Dempsey. While getting ready for the fight, Bernie’s younger brother, whose name was William Harrison (Dempsey), but was fighting under the name Kid Blackie, came to see his older brother. Bernie wasn’t feeling so good, so Kid Blackie agreed to take the fight for him with Copelin. So in doing that, he also used the name Jack Dempsey. From there on, he used that name. He gave “Cope” a terrible working over. My thirteen-year-old impression was that he (Dempsey) was rough and ferocious! He wanted to kill Copelin!”        

Harold Pumphrey. UPHS Oral History, 1977

The profound killer instinct witnessed by Harold Pumphrey was clearly evident in 1919, when Dempsey beat Jess Willard to become the heavyweight world champion.

Jack Dempsey, Wikipedia Image

During a time later dubbed as the Golden Age of Sports (when legends Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Knute Rockne, and others established records), Jack became the greatest drawing card in sports history. On September 23, 1926, over 120,000 jammed the stadium in Philadelphia to watch him defend his crown. A year later, his rematch drew live gate receipts of $2,658, 6660 – a record that stood for fifty years.

Boxing is a sport of fighting with fists, also called pugilism (literally fist fight) and prizefighting. Dempsey referred to himself as an “Irish Pug” whose family sought sanctuary from poverty and hunger in the New World.  In the early years of the 20th century, boxing became one of the shortest ways to glory and wealth, and the Irish were the dominant national group.

Jack Dempsey became the most popular boxer of his generation (and perhaps of all time) because he changed the sport from a defensive battle of single punches and frequent holding into an aggressive battle of combination punches and blazing knockouts. Other champions have followed (Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Rocky Marciano, etc.) but interest in the sport has declined, perhaps due to its combative nature. However, true fans believe that boxing demands a unique blend of skills and heart not seen in any other.