The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1900-05-03
liked Poker and Drink
vr.ek Of 4 Lake Captain on the Ruin
Of . Royal Flush.
HALF-DOZEN lake captains wei

y sitting together when the conver-
afion switched to poker; and then
Can't, Miner Davidson told this story:
1T has always struck me as rather
singular that you seldom hear poker
Nories from this region. You hear of
sseat sums lost in the east, plantations
e1changing hands at single sitting in
iae south, and in the west of great
heaps Of gold crossing the table in a
aieht; but for some reason you never
kear anyone tell about the games that
used to be played on the Great Lakes.
lam willing to bet now that some of
~ largest, stiffest and longest games
eef played anywhere took place at
its ports and on lake vessels between
1850 and 1860. Several of you must re-
J nember it. 1t was not SO long ago. 1t
/ NJ quite natural that such things
Aeuld be, too. There were very few
steamboats and every one was making
naney, even the seamen. More than
tlat the trip from Chicago to Buffalo
elteu took as long as two weeks and
enetimes 90 days and the sailors had
~ do something to relieve the monot-
~ Of the trip. Poker was tEied and
4 1tted to a IT, and it also made 4
whole lot of lakemen poor and a lot,of
5smblers rich.
dare say some of you have heard
teh Of Capt. John Gibson of The two
Master Will-o'-the Wisp. He was we'll
hown for time. The boat las been
ont Of commission for 20 years. Well,
John Gibson was the gamest gambler
t1at ever shuffied card along these
hkes, Il you measure by liberal and
ssieless playing, which most people do.
e came up to Buffalo from Bradford,
81 some time in the 4O's and took to
sallang He was hard worker and in
asht years he was captain of small
eoas named the Acorn, which was
eNaed IN Bay City. In a few years
more be bought boat of his own eni
named her the Will-o'-the-W -Wisp. aud
aItef working her few seasons T..
I .as able to pay her off and own he-
sRsf q everything. In 1857 he was
PROPRIETOR of her and captain, too, and
xss making good money. Twas second
I na!e for him and in 1859 was made first
n.se' Now. the captain was an in
vsefate poker player and was known
z 'ae rooms at all the lake ports and
- the rowing gamesters who spent
-. time on the lakes. He often de-
,,e ms departure from port SO he
e.a nnish game and it was nothing
=. nun to miss three or four meals and
Aof know it.
49, s 5 1903 in the early part of Sep
npef, we left Chicago one after
.Oa ior Buffalo with a load of mer-
u'se' crew of nine and two pas
fs. The latter were introduced
S., & ~ captain as Bennett and McDon-
:, ooa'ness men who desired to make
~. ..e trip for the benefit of their
s..a "a. we had fair sailing the first
a. out, and the captain and his
ss sat on the deck till late telling
- ana getting acquainted. The
49, uay was scorcher, and at night
q a.e was as quiet and shiny as q
= quicksilver, and there wasn't
xsaser in the air. The moon was
- ~ 50 bright that you could read
q. Ssk. The crew lounged on the
-. ueck, it was too warm to sleep
~ ana the captain, his guests and
0a the deck just aft of the deck
smoking and talking. Some
u 81 game of poker was suggested,
81 = .ess time than it takes to tell
ssoie had been fetched from the
2 ONCE, and we four were play
- no use dwelling on the
- stages of the game: no need
now | was cleaned out in an
ao how Mcdonald lost a big
~ captain on full hand. The
Ia. ~. good from the start, and it
esf when Bennett and the cap
Sa with stack of coin and a
- oiiis in front of him, began
= out Anyone who knew John
eould have told thst he was
= anything. and the calm