Kearns asked Shelby officials to guarantee him and the champion an advance for their traveling costs, as airplanes were available at the time but not safe, and train travel to Montana from the more populated areas of the United States took up to a week (it is said that Dempsey and Kearns took a week to get there by train). He also asked for the champion to have a guaranteed purse. So Kearns convinced Shelby to commit money or lose the fight to somewhere else.