The Coffee House Philosopher

The women gamblers discussed in this series were initially discovered when Patti and I made a day trip from Angel Fire, New Mexico, to Trinidad, Colorado, and surrounding towns. Being somewhat frugal and opportunistic, I happened to spot a free publication (a price after my own heart) with the title of “New Legends Magazine” in a Trinidad restaurant. The magazine contained an article titled “Gamblers and Gun-Toting Ladies” by Bob Silva. The article covered a number of lady poker players of the late 1800s with a short paragraph or two about each one.

Using the article, I located the book “The Lady was a Gambler” by Chris Evans, which covered most of the same women in much more detail. I also found numerous informative articles on the Internet. The sources made the lady gamblers much more human, and revealed additional interesting characters.

One example is that of Eleanore Dumont, who was a very attractive blackjack player from New Orleans. She followed the gold rush of California, where she was also known by the name of Simone Jules. She had many proposals of marriage, but turned them all down until at age 30 she met a handsome scoundrel of a man named Jack McNight. Within a month McNight cleaned out her bank account and disappeared. Never timid, Eleanore tracked him down and ended his life with a double barreled shotgun.

In her later 30s, facial hair began to grow on Eleanore’s upper lip, and she acquired the unflattering additional nickname of “Madame Mustache,” which was given to her by a drunken miner. It was, however very unwise to mention that name anywhere close to her. In 1879 she wrote in a tear stained last letter that she had tired of her life, and took poison at the age of 50.

A woman gambler who entered the trade not by choice but out of circumstances was Kate O’Leary. In her young adulthood, Kate lived with her husband on a small ranch near Kansas City. One night three riders from the local Anti Horse Thief Association brought the body of her husband to her after they’d hanged him for stealing horses. They also left her $400.

Having no marketable skills to fall back on, Kate headed for Dodge City to try to make it as a gambler and saloon owner. She soon became attracted to a competitor saloon owner named Joseph Lowe, and they began living with each other although they argued almost continuously over their living arrangements. Then after several years of trying to maintain order in their saloon as an enforcer, Joe shot and killed a rowdy patron, and had to run for his life. Joe and Kate never saw each other again.

After Joe’s disappearance, Kate sold all of her assets and moved to Texas, where she bought another saloon. There while traveling aboard a stagecoach headed for Fort Worth, she happened to meet a stranded orphan girl who completely changed her life. Kate had paid the girl’s coach fare, because the girl had no money.

Kate became so influenced by the girl’s presence that she completely gave up her rowdy lifestyle, and she and the young girl became lifelong friends. The two of them supported numerous charities for the rest of their lives.

Probably the most prosperous lady gambler of the time was Mary Hamlin, who also acquired the nickname of “Mary the Owl.” But much of the money that Mary amassed was gained by illegal means involving a mining scam, which at the time amounted to the West’s biggest diamond hoax. So her financial accomplishments are more than a little tainted.

At the age of 20 Mary became involved with a con man named Phillip Cartwright from Chicago. But after several years of Cartwright’s tutelage, Mary started conning people on her own.

Mary made enough to live on by gambling at cards, but she wanted to be set for life by making one large score with a big con. Consequently, in 1871 she set into motion an elaborate scheme by which she rented one of the largest safety deposit boxes in San Francisco.

Then in front of the bank’s clerk, she “accidentally” spilled some of the contents she intended to deposit. The exposed contents appeared to be several very large diamonds, emeralds, and opals.

Mary was aware the bank clerk would soon be hotfooting it to the bank’s owner, William Chapman Ralston. Ralston was anxious to have any new businesses in San Francisco developed as soon and as fully as possible. As part of her plan to separate a large sum of Ralston’s money from the bank, Mary and several accomplices manufactured a story that there were valuable diamonds and other minerals located in the remote hills around San Francisco.

Ralston insisted that an expert inspect the mining sites before any money was paid. Somehow, Mary made certain the so-called expert opinion rendered was favorable, and Ralston paid out the monumental sum of $1 million (worth $20 million in today’s money).

Mary quickly left town with her share of the money, and hid out in London for a period of ten years, after which she returned to New York, and lived in luxury for the rest of her life. A case in which even a sophisticated person could be tricked by a smooth talking lady gambler.

Today high stakes poker is restricted and/or heavily regulated. But penny ante poker is widely played as a popular pastime activity. One of its avid female participants is none other than Supreme Court Justice Sonia Maria Sotomayor. I’ll bet she’s not too bad at the game.