Otto Floto
Floto (right) standing with James J. Jeffries (right), 1909
Born
Otto Clement Floto

1863
Cincinnati, Ohio, US
Died14 July 1929 (aged 66)
Denver, Colorado, US
Occupation(s)Sports journalist
Promoter
EmployerHarry Heye Tammen

Otto Clement Floto (1863 – July 14, 1929) was an American sports journalist and sports promoter who worked as a sportswriter for the The Denver Post. Floto was the namesake for the Sells Floto Circus, despite the fact he was not involved in the circus.

Early life

Otto Clement Floto was born in Cincinnati in 1863.[1] In early 1896, he moved to Cripple Creek, Colorado. Before becoming a sports editor, he worked as a billposter and saloon owner. While living in Cripple Creek, he dated a dance hall worker named Jennie LaRue.[1] On April 25, 1896, an argument between them resulted in an oil lamp being thrown at a curtain, which started a fire that burned down most buildings on the street.[2]

Journalism

Floto was hired to The Denver Post by Harry Heye Tammen as a columnist for sports journalism. Floto was barely literate, and his articles had to be rewritten by other editors.[3]

Floto worked as an advisor for Jack Dempsey[1] and John L. Sullivan.[4] He was a rival to Denver sports journalist Bat Masterson, after Floto duped him in a business deal. In July 1900, they got into a street brawl where they kicked each other in the groin.[3]

In 1903, when Tammen and Frederick Gilmer Bonfils bought the Sells Brothers Circus, Tammen renamed it to the "Sells Floto Circus", despite the fact that Floto was never involved in the circus. The reason for the name change was that Tammen liked the name Floto.[5]

Floto died of epilepsy on July 14, 1929, in Denver, Colorado, aged 66.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Collins, Jan MacKell (2004). Brothels, Bordellos & Bad Girls: Prostitution in Colorado, 1860-1930. UNM Press. ISBN 978-0-8263-3343-8.
  2. ↑ "Cripple Creek Colorado - Worlds Greatest Gold Camp - Page 2". 2014-05-23. Archived from the original on 2014-05-23. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  3. 1 2 Post, Dick Kreck (2017-10-15). "How many sports editors can claim a circus with their name on it and a street fight with a one-time outlaw buddy?". The Denver Post. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  4. ↑ Allen, Paula (23 December 2023). "Sells-Floto Circus regular visitor during San Antonio's 'season of joy' in the early 1900s". San Antonio Express-News.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ↑ DeArment, Robert K. (2014-04-14). Bat Masterson: The Man and the Legend. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 352. ISBN 978-0-8061-7073-2.
  6. ↑ "OTTO FLOTO DIES IN DENVER AT 66; Prominent Sports Writer Organized Pony Show Out of WhichGrew Sells-Floto Circus". The New York Times. 1929-08-05. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
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