Scrappy Marengo Joe
After discussing last week the debut of prize fighting in Arkansas in 1872, I am continuing the story with an emphasis on a fascinating early boxing promoter known as Marengo Joe, who makes Don King seem like a well-coiffed Sunday school teacher.
Marengo Joe was one of those characters from 19th-Century Arkansas history who typified the rough element which seemed to flock to the frontier regions of an expanding America. I don’t mean to overstate this phenomenon, since I suspect most actual settlers were hard-working yeomen farmers. However, there was a depressing seed of truth in the prevailing image of Arkansas as a rough-and-tumble place full of ruffians and cutthroats. I remind myself periodically that one early mayor of Little Rock fled to Texas when he was charged with counterfeiting.
Answering to several aliases, including the taunting “George Carryall”—an obvious joke given his supposed Italian background— was a crook who always seemed to stay one step ahead of the law. He was also the consort of Kate Merrick, perhaps the most notorious
madam of Little Rock’s many maisons de joie.
Marengo Joe was constantly in scraps with both lawmen and other “sharpers,” and he fled Little Rock in the summer of 1873, making his way to Fulton on the Red River in southwestern Arkansas. Fulton was an old town which had seen better days, but the arrival of the railroad gave it new life.
Marengo Joe left Kate Merrick in Little Rock but took along Billy Ward, the boxer whom Joe was managing. With its population of young male railroad workers, Marengo Joe rightly believed that Fulton would be more receptive to boxing—or “pugilism” as it was often called in the press. His confidence was undoubtedly bolstered when Hempstead County Sheriff John Bull made both Joe and Billy deputy sheriffs.
Joe had no trouble settling in at Fulton. His work as a deputy sheriff did not prevent his opening a gambling hall—which became known for a keno table said to be as long as a railroad car. He also had no trouble locating backers for a prize fight.
The first fight was scheduled for Aug. 16, 1873, with plans for Billy Ward to take on Jack Tobin of Chicago. But Tobin got sick and his trainer, named Butler, took his place. Standing five feet 11 inches tall and weighing 165 pounds, Butler dwarfed Ward, who was five feet six inches and weighed 138 pounds. After 11 rounds, Ward was awarded the bout due to two fouls attributed to Butler.
While the purse for the fight was relatively small, about $100, Marengo Joe had wisely scheduled the fight for the south side of the Red River—and he rented the ferry for the day, thus ensuring a nice profit from the $1 fee charged each passenger. Margaret Ross speculated that Joe “undoubtedly made more money from the fight than anybody else.”
A series of fights were held in Fulton during August and September of 1873, including one involving two unidentified black boxers. Another fight involved two men known only as “Australian Kelly” and “Happy Jack,” which lasted for a remarkable 28 rounds. This long bout might explain why Kelly died a few days later—with Marengo Joe paying for his burial.
Generous acts such as this resulted in a growing appreciation for Marengo Joe. When a newly widowed pregnant woman with three children showed up at Fulton, Marengo Joe found housing for the desperate family. The widow gave birth to twins, one of the babies having three hands while the other had three feet. Joe immediately announced that he would be exhibiting the babies at the state fair later that year.
The first passenger train arrived in Fulton on Sept. 4, 1873. Marengo Joe, who was the town’s unofficial mayor, took the passengers on a tour. He also had a prize fight arranged for that night at Howard’s Saloon. Billy Ward won once again, defeating Thomas “Pinch” McGraw of Memphis in seven rounds.
By December of 1873, Marengo Joe was back in Little Rock with Billy Ward. He organized a fight between Ward and a man named Grady. Fearing local authorities, Marengo Joe scheduled the fight for an undisclosed location on the Arkansas River south of Little Rock. He rented the steamboat Danville and a barge to ferry spectators to the fight. Again, Ward won the bout.
Upon their return to Little Rock, Marengo Joe and both boxers were arrested for “inciting and participating in a riot,” there being no law against prize fighting. The outcome of this arrest is unknown, but Marengo Joe died unexpectedly of pneumonia on May 7, 1874. His last words were reported to be “let the dance go on.”