Customer Reviews

The Lady Was a Gambler: True Stories of Notorious Women of the Old West

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've just finished "The Lady Was a Gambler" and it is a great read! Non-fiction can easily become boring, but this book takes you in right from the start and holds you all the way through. Each chapter is the story of a different lady gambler of the frontier days, and each story is equally captivating. Ms. Enss paints pictures with her words that take you back in time to the degree that you can actually hear the honky-tonk piano playing in the corner and smell the perfume over the cigar smoke. The period artwork and photos add to the adventure. It's a world that's seldom talked or written about, and she leaves the reader wanting even more. If you like the old west, or western stories, this book should be in your library.

This book is full of interesting stories about the gambling women of the Old West. The photos were very telling and well selected. I'd recommend this to anyone interested in women's history or the Old West in general.

First Line: An attractive, statuesque woman with golden blonde curls piled high on top of her head sat behind a large table in the back of the Pacific Club Gambling Parlor in San Francisco, California.

There's something about the ching of spurs, the slap of the bat-wing doors of a saloon, and the alluring smile of a beautiful faro dealer. They are some of the most common sounds and sights that come to mind when people think of the Wild West. Author Chris Enss provides names and histories to fifteen of these pretty gambling faces, and it's a pleasure to get to know them all.

Alice Ivers ("Poker Alice") was in the gambling profession for more than sixty years. She died broke at the age of seventy-nine. "I gambled away fortunes," she once told a friend, "but I had a ball doing it." She also never sat down at the table without her gun.

The right face, the right name, and the right personality meant added business for gambling houses, and the very best of these ladies could rake in thousands of dollars. (Just ask Doc Holliday who once lost $30,000 to Lottie Deno.)

Speaking of Lottie Deno, many historians claim that the character of Laura Denbo in the movie Gunfight at the OK Corral and the character of Miss Kitty in Gunsmoke are based on her.

Although there are many instances in these ladies' lives that provoke laughter, it wasn't all fun and games. When large sums of money, alcohol, quick-tempered men and pretty women are all in one place, abuse, death and tragedy are frequent visitors.

Enss provides just enough biography, history and photography to make readers want to do their own research and learn more. I've walked down Allen Street. I've walked past the OK Corral, and I've seen the gallows at the Courthouse in Tombstone, Arizona. I've heard the rustle of skirts, the ching of spurs, the shouts of laughter, and the slap of those bat-wing doors when I strolled past Big Nose Kate's Saloon. But it's only now that books like Chris Enss' The Lady Was a Gambler are being written that I'm getting a real feel for the people who lived in these legendary towns.

If you like to read books about the history of the Old West and about women's history, you'll want to read The Lady Was a Gambler. The only real problem I had with this book was that I would've enjoyed an extra 200 pages!

It was interesting to read about these women gamblers of the west. Each lady had a special title and chapter and then 2-4 pages of info about her. There are a few pictures, but not many of the ladies themselves. When history is taught, there is usually very little emphasis on the women and their lives and contributions or works. This little book helps to put a personality on some of the ladies of the west who lived by gambling. Some of the women used their winnings to help build hospitals, schools and such for the town. It is a quick read.

Great look at the ladies of the west who gambled, smoked and all the things they were not supposed to do. Nice reference.