Sep 10, 2006 - 02:06:20 CDT
One small town in North Dakota is associated with two people who were stars in two different sports.All sports fans are aware of Travis Hafner, born in Sykeston, who has had a tremendous impact on major league baseball. Fewer people know that Richard Sykes, Sykeston's founder, is called "the father of Rugby."
Sykes was the captain of the football (rugby) team at Rugby School in England and helped popularize the new game throughout England.
When he first came to America in 1880, he is attributed more than anyone else with helping promote the game in this country.
Rugby became so popular in the U.S., that this country won the gold medal in 1920 and 1924; both times it was an Olympic event.
Sykes is widely credited with introducing rugby in the U.S., but the game had been played here prior to 1880. One claim that does carry more merit is that he introduced the game of golf in what is now North Dakota, when he built the first golf course in the early 1880s.
Richard Sykes was born May 11, 1839, in Edgeley Park in Cheshire, England. In 1860, he founded a rugby club in Manchester and was captain of that team for the next seven years.
Sykes went into business in Manchester, eventually becoming a partner in a syndicate of land investors in England, Scotland and Wales. Seeking to branch out into America, the syndicate bought farm land in northwestern Iowa. When this appeared to be a profitable venture, Sykes returned to America in August 1881 to investigate other areas for purchase.
After traveling extensively throughout Dakota Territory, Montana and Manitoba, he concluded that "the best soils and nicest country was to be found in Northern Dakota." On Dec. 4, 1881, Sykes bought 45,000 acres of land in Wells, Stutsman, LaMoure and Morton counties.
This land was purchased from the Northern Pacific Railroad for $1 an acre. To supervise most of his Dakota land, Sykes hired fellow Englishman Walter J. Hughs/Hughes as his farm manager. The spelling of his last name differs in several sources.
Hughes arrived in March 1882 and established the farm headquarters just east of what would later become the town of Sykeston.
Sykes' syndicate was one of only two British companies in Dakota Territory that developed the land they purchased. That is not to say that Sykes did not make a huge profit, he did. His company broke the land for cultivation and erected buildings on the properties. If the land contained a house and barn it sold for $8 an acre, and additional prairie land sold for $5 an acre.
In Jamestown, Sykes organized the Alliance Mortgage and Investment Co. so that farmers could borrow money to purchase the land he had to offer.
When a branch of the Northern Pacific came through his large holdings in 1883, Sykes had town lots plotted and created the town of Sykeston, where he built a grocery store and a large elevator.
He sold residential lots for $35 and choice business lots for $175. To provide water for the residents, he also built Hiawatha Lake, the first man-made lake in what is now North Dakota. The area that contained much of Sykes' land was organized as Wells County on Aug. 28, 1884. Since Sykeston was the only town in the county, it was named county seat.
Sykeston remained the place of county government until 1894 when it was challenged by Fessenden. A contest for the seat of government was held on Nov. 6, 1894, and Fessenden received more than three-fifths of the votes necessary.
Sykeston land agent D.T. Davis, grandfather of Gov. John Davis, prepared an injunction to stop the transaction. Residents from Fessenden descended on Sykeston and forcibly removed the court house and all of the county records.
Sykes developed another bonanza farm in LaMoure County, and established the town of Edgeley in 1886. Sykes also established Bowdon in 1899, Arthur in 1903, and Chaseley in 1905. Up to 1904, Sykes had spent much of his time back home in England.
After marrying Fanny Walton on June 29, 1904, they sailed for the U.S., which would become their permanent home. In 1910, Sykes, his wife and two children moved to Montacito, Calif. He died in California on May 31, 1923.
The legacy of Richard Sykes in North Dakota is notable aside from the five towns he established. He set up the Sykes Theological Education Fund to encourage North Dakotans to enter the priesthood. He also built the first golf course in the state, and, along with Lyman Casey, a Carrington farmer and later U.S. senator, introduced flax as a cash crop to North Dakota.
The roots of American football are traced back to the English game of rugby. If Richard Sykes is called "the father of Rugby" doesn't that also make him the grandfather of American football?
(Written by Curt Eriksmoen and edited by Jan Eriksmoen. Reach the Eriksmoens at cjeriksmoen@; cableone.net.)
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