Jess Willard - Kansas Boxer and Entertainer

 S.M.

January 1. 2024

One of the entertainers highlighted in the current exhibit “Cowboys of the Silver Screen” at the Santa Fe Trail Center is a Kansas legend, Jess Willard.     Willard was born in 1881 in Saint Clere, Pottawatomie County,  Kansas, and worked as a cowboy in his early career.  He was a cattle puncher and horse handler in Elk City, Oklahoma, and by 1910, became an overland freighter.    He did not begin boxing until the age of 27, although other reports say he was 29.   At six feet inches, he was larger than most fighters. His massive strength gave him the reputation to be able to kill with a single punch, although he was actually a gentle man who did not enjoy hurting people. He was nicknamed “the Pottawatomie Giant.” In 1915, he had won the title of world heavyweight champion in his boxing fight in Cuba against Jack Johnson, the first African American heavyweight champion.    After his win, he returned to the life of a cowboy and joined the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show in April, 1915.    In September of that year, the Sells-Floto and Buffalo Bill Shows came to Larned.  It is not known if Willard performed in Larned.   Willard was an attraction in the wild west shows due to his sports fame and his riding skills.  He signed on to the Miller Brothers’ 101 Ranch Real Wild West show, but would return to buy the Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show in 1917 after the death of Buffalo Bill Cody.   In 1919, he starred in the film The Challenge of Chance, which showed in Larned at the Electric Theater in 1920.  In 1919, he lost hist prizefighting title when he fought Jack Dempsey in the famous boxing match in Toledo.    He also appeared in 1933 in the film The Prizefighter and the Lady, which also featured another famous boxer Max Baer and actress Myrna Loy.   Willard passed away in 1968.