Page 83 - All About History - Issue 54-17

moved fast, faro was very easy to cheat at and is
no longer used in American casinos.
Roulette was harder to cheat at. The rules weren’t
that different to the are today, this old French game
used a wooden spinning wheel with numbers on
it divided by small metal partitions. As the wheel
spun around, a little metal ball was dropped in.
Players bet on which numbered slot the ball would
land in. But in the West, roulette wheels in the
1880s featured a single zero, a double zero and an
American eagle. If the ball landed in any of these
slots, the house automatically won and the dealer
took all money on the table. Later, these elements
were declared unfair and removed from the game.
Craps was an adaptation of the early English
This bordello in Cheyenne, Wyoming,
game of Hazard and was based on what numbers featured pretty girls, a piano player
might be rolled with a pair of dice. Although it could and most certainly alcohol
be played on a sidewalk, crap tables with a ‘layout’
were present in the fancier saloons. Essentially, a
player threw the dice and then attempted to roll THE WEST’S WILDEST SALOONS,
the same number again. Bets could be made by
anybody — not just the player — on whether he BARKEEPS AND FLOOSIES
would roll the number or ‘crap out’. Varied ways
of betting could make the game escalate, with BOB LEE
hundreds or thousands of dollars on the line. You Member of Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch
can still find craps in casinos across America. A cousin of the notorious Kid Curry,
Poor patrons could still play non-betting card Bob could play fiddle and deal poker.
games or billiards. Billard tables first appeared in He also helped rob a train and worked
the nicer taverns, but soon caught on as a great way as a miner when he wasn’t bartending
to pass the time in any bar. Although players could
At the Birdcage Theatre in Harlem, Montana.
bet on the games, billiards limited the number of in Tombstone, Arizona,
people who could participate. Faro and poker offered a life-size poster of
‘Little Egypt’ the BUCKET OF BLOOD SALOON
betting for more players and more ways to bet. belly dancer remains
as testament to her Holbrook, Arizona
This rowdy tavern, also known as the Pioneer
performances there
BAWDY ENTERTAINMENT Saloon to many, was a favourite watering
A good saloon offered some sort of entertainment. hole of the famed Hashknife cowboys of
Female singers were highly popular, usually Arizona, who enjoyed kicking their heels up
performing with accompaniment by a small on Saturday nights.
orchestra. The songs could range from bawdy CHICAGO JO HENSLEY
numbers to opera pieces. During the 1870s in
Globe, Arizona, the St Elmo Saloon featured female Helena, Montana
acrobats and singers who doubled as prostitutes Josephine Airey “mortgaged everything,
between their acts. including her underwear — three dozen pairs
Other places, such as the Theatre Comique of underclothes” to eventually build her
in Pueblo, Colorado, offered plays — although rowdy Red Light Saloon. She became one of the
wealthiest landowners in Helena.
The writer’s great-grandfather is number 24
in this image of Greer & Woods’ Bucket of PEARL DEVERE
Blood Saloon in Holbrook, Arizona
Cripple Creek, Colorado
Pearl’s Old Homestead Parlour House was
among the most palatial in the west. The
prices ran between $50 per ‘trick’ or $250
for all night. Today the house is a most
unique museum.
THE WHITE ELEPHANT
Fort Worth, Texas
This historic tavern opened in 1884 and
quickly evolved into one of the classiest
places in the southwest. The quality food and
drink drew wealthy men but also scallywags.
The bar remains quite popular today.

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