A member
of the Yale Track and Field team in 1886 & 1887, Goodwin
organized the first college football team on the Pacific
Coast at the University of Washington in 1889 (American
Rugby rules). In 1892 he founded the Seattle
Athletic Club which won the first "championship" on
record known as, the Great Northern Railway Silver
Cup in 1894. From 1898 - 1899 William trekked
to the Yukon territory in search of gold, spending two
winters at the Arctic Circle. Upon his
return he added another footnote to his athletic career:
Referee of the very first transcontinental football game
between the University of California at Berkeley and the
Carlisle Pennsylvania Indian School. Even with
ringers from Stanford, the Californians lost to Carlisle
2-0.
A
constant pioneer with a passion for sport and adventure, Goodwin orchestrated the first
international rowing race between Vancouver and Seattle
in 1890 and the first intercollegiate four-oared boat
race between the University of California and his former
associates at the University of Seattle.
An astute
businessman with such companies as Aetna and J.P.
Morgan, Goodwin wrote books about Leif Ericsson and the
Vikings and historic ruins in Jamaica.
