William "Billy" Laswell

Multomah Amatuer Athletic Club / Butte Football Club

Fullback / Punter / Place Kicker

 1892 -1897

The fastest 220 and 440 man in the Northwest, Billy Laswell got his start with the Multnomah Amateur Athletic Club as a track athlete and bicycle racer, before starring as a footballer.  He was playing as a solid reserve in 1892-93 before his role expanded.  By 1895 he was recruited to play in Butte, Montana by one of the "Copper Kings"; millionaire mining company owners with a desire for football competition, prestige and a little bit of drama in their claim to be the Best.  He was one of the fan favorites of the Great Butte teams of 1895-1897.

Laswell along with a collection of former collegiate stars were dominating the Northwest and West Coast in such fashion, that on a December 1896 trip to California, Laswell was threatened with "suspension" pending an investigation by the Pacific Athletic Association into professionalism prior to two games with the Olympic Club of San Francisco.  The charges could not be proven and with Laswell on the field, the Buttes dominated Olympic 18-0 with Laswell scoring on a 30-yard run, kicking goals and hammering long punts during the Christmas Day event. 

The following game played on New Years Day came off after a drama-filled week of threats and grumbling about Laswell.  Just prior to the game, W.F. Humphrey, president of the AAU of the Pacific Coast declared Laswell a "professional" for having been a pacer in a bicycle race and thereby declared ALL of the Butte players professionals and subject to suspension for 1897.  The distraction was enough for Olympic and their "ringers" from Stanford to defeat Butte 14-4, the only loss of the season that saw victories over teams from Nebraska, Colorado, Iowa, Oregon, and California.

More drama ensued as Olympic withheld the proceeds of the gates owed to Butte claiming the ruling by Humphrey as grounds.  In February, Laswell's suspension was overturned and the charade exposed.  Butte vowed to never play Olympic Club ever again.

Billy Laswell was such a disrupting force on the gridiron as a runner, as a kicker, and as a tackler in 1896, his selection as the top player in the Northwest was undisputed, despite opponents trying every trick to keep him off the field which continued into 1897.

In November, 1897, the Butte squad again faced a California team in Reliance of Oakland in a two game set in Butte, and once again, Laswell was at the center of attention as he, "Buck" Hall, "Bob" Perham, and Donald Gillis were held out by Calfornia officials of the Pacific Amateur Athletic Union.  Butte still won 6-4.  Ironically, the bulk of the Reliance team would be signed to play for Anaconda the following year which ignited the Anaconda-Butte rivalries to come. Butte defeated Reliance 4-0 in the second game finishing undefeated in a shortened season.

Billy played one more season with Butte turning his focus to mining and in 1900 came down with pneumonia and died at the age of 27 leaving behind a mother residing in Portland, Oregon.