to Hattie Buck Following the resolution of his legal problems, Short was now financially stable. He traveled to Kansas, where he married Hattie Buck (born October5, 1863) in Oswego, Kansas, on March15, 1887. Harriet Beatrice Buck was born in Coles County, Illinois, on October5, 1863. She was the fourth of eight children born between 1858 and 1878. Buck's family later moved to Emporia, Kansas, where her father died a few years prior to her marriage. Short and his wife went to Fort Worth shortly after their wedding, but soon boarded a train "for a brief stay in Hot Springs." A.G. Arkwright later recalled, "Luke Short came there, to the hotel where I was staying, with his wife, the beautiful and accomplished daughter of an Emporia banker, whom he married under romantic circumstances." Horse racing and the Palais Royal "Doing the racing circuit" was a large part of Short's career as a sporting man. His friend Jake Johnson and he, along with their wives, attended the inaugural running of the Futurity Stakes on Labor Day 1888. That event was held in New York at the Sheepshead Bay Race Track on Coney Island. By October 1888, Short and Johnson were back in Fort Worth. Short was no longer connected with the White Elephant, and Johnson had decided to open what the local paper headlined as a "super resort" called the Palais Royal, which was designed to rival the White Elephant. Short may have been part owner, but if so, remained a silent partner. Chicago Boxing promoter Short spent part of each year, from 1889 until 1893, in Chicago. He usually went there during the summer to get relief from the Texas heat and to attend Thoroughbred horse races. Hattie always went with him. By the end of 1889, Chicago was well aware who Short was. The Daily Inter Ocean reported that Short, "who is numbered as one of the prominent figures of the Richburg battle" had cabled Charles E. "Parson" Davies offering $20,000 to have John L. Sullivan defend his title in a championship fight at Fort Worth. On February8, 1890, Short's father, Josiah Washington Short, died in San Angelo, Texas, "at the ripe age of 78years", although Short only learned of his father's death after the burial. Soon thereafter, Short's youngest brother, William B. Short, was killed at the age of 22 "by a herd of stampeding cattle on the Tankersly