Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1928-10-04

Dan X. Conway were placed upon the
floor midway between The two contest
ants. One of the old warriors took Two
Of these placing a short piece in one
ham and a longer n in the other. Then
he chanted a tribal song which lasted
for several minutes working the while
his hands held closely and vigorously to-
gether. Presently both clenched fists
were held out from him in the rear and
then in the front n about n loot
apart. His opponent was given an OPP
portunity to guess which fist held the
longer of the two sticks. If the guess
was correct. the opponent was allowed to
rake in one of the sticks on the floor. II
1t was wrong, he was expected to place
one therein. And. If the guess was right,
the opponent was given the small sticks
and vice versa
This procedure was kept up until all OF
the sticks were IN the hands OF one play
err. An interpreter explained that this
was one Of the old traditional gambling
games and that it was often played in
days gone by by the representatives OF
different Piegan secret societies to de-
termine which Of these organizations
possessed the most powerful medicine"
And so it is. Seeking the favor of
Lady Luck" has not been new to any
era. Even today. when red-blooded men
gather by themselves. u"ntrammeled by
the thin cloth OF restraint and morality
which civilization in the course of GEN.
turtles has managed to make them wear,
they revert to habits supposedly outlawed
by society. 1t may be the turn OF a wheel
or a card, running q business risk, sink
ing an oil we'll, Drawing a mining hazard
or tempting fortune in other ways. Call
it what you will. 1t is seen in the fulfill
ity of the law when coping with more
sophisticated gaming in civilized and
populous centers. 1t was, however, most
apparent in the new mining camp or the
new settlement" of Montana 40 years
ago, when these places were remote from
the cold eyes of convention.
A few there are today who can recall
that eventful era when the majority of
Montana saloons bore signs over their
front doors announcing Licensed Gam
bling" And 1T may sound appalling to
the more conventional of the modern
era to know that in the eighties and
nineties few thought of gambling as a
disreputable pastime. Establishments
ran wide open and were regulated by
law. Some earned fame from popularity
or fast play. Their table stakes often
ran into thousands of dollars. In some
the roof was the limit. Butte. Virginia
City. Diamond City, Helena, Great Falls,
Maiden, BoZeman and Fort Benton were
one time noted for such emporiums.
Each Of these camps or towns had its
special period of prosperity. In Butte it
was during the mining excitement: in
Virginia City, Diamond City and Helena,
during their placer eras; in Great Falls
during it's rapid growth; IN Fort Benton,
when that city was head of Missouri river
navigation, and in the other centers dur
ing the cattle era.
Doors Never LocKed
Drinking and gambling establishments
of early-day Montana bothered little with
keys. Doors of these places were seldom
locked. 1t has been told of certain pio-
neer characters that when they opened a
new saloon land saloons and gambling
houses usually went hand in hand), they
went out to the front step and threw the
door key into a clump of sagebrush. 1t
was a foregone conclusion the proprietor
would never have need of 1t. Two or three
shifts of bartenders were the rule. There
might not be enough play to warrant
this, but 1t was sort of traditional. There
was never any telling when a gam of
thirsty and eager miners or cowpunchers
might burst upon the scene, pockets
burning with money and spirits primed
to action. 1t was foolish to take chances
of their turning their ponies toward some
rival camp.
Lined up at the bar ano the edge gone
from their liquor desire, the gang would
turn to the green covered tables and
their favorite plays. The piano would
tune up; the girls would be routed out
and invited to the dancing hall, and the
fun would settle down more or less to
routine until such time as whisky n
youthful enthusiasm would explode in
horseplay or shooting. When any of the
crowd made a winning, 1t was Everybody
to the bari" Little of the money won
was ever carried out Of such a place.
The games most patronized were the
old standbys-roulette, faro, chuck-a-
luck, blackjack, wheels of fortune, crap
tables, mechanical horse races, Klondike
tables, Chinese dice games and stud and
draw poker. There was usually also a
row Of ubiquitous slot machines, in
which a man could drop anything from a
nickel to a dollar, and the customary
array of handy bar and counter contriv-
ances that took your coin. and gave you
cigars, II you were lucky.
Rivalry Among Dealers
In the palmy days of Butte, for in
stance, there was O keen rivalry between
town gamblers as to which should draw
the largest crowd round his table. They
We'd with each other in making their
games popular and attractive, not only
by frequent treating with drinks or
free lunches, but by inventing new ways
of risking money. But, in that camp, the