Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1937-11-27
Early-Day Gambler Made Fortune in
Mining; Spent Last Days Splitting Wood

any other man In the west, wound
up his career as q wood sawyer In
! the mining city. He was familiar
character on the streets there 50
! years ago, when, though more than
! 20 years Of age he could be seen
/ daily meandering along with an ak
and wood saw In one hand and
sawbuck ON the other arm He was
gray, stopped with age, but In good
health, and, he claimed had no
regrets.
His name was Richard Scheckells
He was known to everyone as DICK.
Scheckells was born, April 81, 1880, at
Winchester, Va. His people were OF
good family, of the southern planter
class and owned many slaves. His
parents moved from Virginia TO Mis-
souri,, slaves and all. 1t seems TO have
been q poor move. The family was
a large one. During evil times which
fell upon it the slaves and other family
holdings were swept away: The Scheck-
ellis moved from Missouri to Indiana,
but remained there only compare
lively short time before returning TO
Missouri to engage in farming Young
Dick at that time was Is years OF age.
Father Died
Then the father died. Dick and his
three brothers took charge OF the es-
tate. settled up the fathers affairs,
saw their mother comfortably housed
in a home of her own. Then in 1858,
the three of them hit for the California
gold fields to seek their fortunes.
They joined a wagon train with
which there were 10 other men. The
train consisted Of three OK teams and
wagons under the leadership Of man
named Jim Wilson. Wilson, q man OF
parts apparently, drove along as spec
ulation, 600 head of mich COWS and 80
head Of horses. Herding the animals
along was part of the transportation
charges against the men who accom-
panied his train. They all found en-
ployment for the trip. Wilson had been
told that COWS which he could buy for
from So to SO head in the east could
be sold at 500 or more in California.
That he eventually arrived with them
would seem to be matter OF luck
more than anything else, for more
tempting bait could not have been
paraded before the tribes of hostile
Indians through whose country they
had to pass.
Arrive they did, however, after a
long. hard, five-months trip during
which they went through many dangers
and numerous Indian scares. But they
were not attacked and none OF their
cattle or horses were stolen during
the journey. They reached Volcano,
Calf. first and proceeded on TO lone
Citv. a mining camp. There wilson
sold his COWS and horses. Scheckclls
said the animals went like hot cakes,
as did everything else which the emf
grants decided they didn't want TO
carry further and offered for sale.
The Scheckells boys settled at Lam
chaplania and engaged in mining. DICK
seems to have been the only one who
did much drifting the other boys re-
manning there permanently and Dick
most of the time for ID years. Ihey
engaged in mining and the first sum-
mer Dick cleaned up $4,000 from
river claim which he had managed 20
get hold of. The first thing ne did was
to buy a draft for $1,000 on Page d
Bacon Co. bankers, and mailed 1t back
to his elder brother who had remained
in Missouri. He did it just in time, too, |
for his brother wrote him afterwards
that the bank failed the day after he
had cashed the draft. Dick also sent
$4,000 to an orphan girl cousin. Ihen,
he said, he squandered the remainder.
His mother had been left tolerably
well off in Missouri, but Dick used TO
send her $40 once in while.
At the end of his sixth year in Call |
ifornia, however, Dick was broke.
In the meantime he had drifted away !
from association and companionship I
with his brothers and had found other
partners. At their urging he started |
gambling. Sometimes he would win,
Sometimes he would lose When he lost /
he would play to get even. So gambling
became. little by little, his chief in
terest in life He was never sufficiently
successful at gambling not to have to
do anything else, but the money he
got from mining or whatever else he
did, went over the gambling board.
He finally decided to leave Lanchap-
LAMA. He got together prospector's
outfit, including a mule, and went to
French Carol. There he obtained work
as a miner at the very first place he
asked for 1t from an old sea captain
named Glister. One Of the first things
that the old fellow asked Dick was
whether he gambled. Dick assured him
that he didn't know one card from an
other and that he never went up
against any of the gambling games,
which of course, were one Of the lead
ing industries of every California min
ing camp at that time He learned from
his fellow workmen that the old sea
captain was very much opposed to
in all its various forms. Then
Dick was afraid to gamble for fear he
would lose his job and his employer
also would find out that he had lied
to him. AS a result he accumulated
quite a sizeable wad He stood 1t as
long as he could. Then he told Glister,
his employer, that he had had a letter
from his brother at Lanchaplania and
that his brother was sick and that he
would like to go to see him. Another
lie. However, the old sea captain didn't
know that So he paid Dick off-$600.
Dick really did intend to go back to
Lanchaplania and got as far as Marys-
vile intending to leave by boat the
next day. He went to the hotel for
supper and paid in advance for his
bed and breakfast That night he lost
all his money gambling. So he re-
manned in Marysville and stood the
hotel off for his board and room until
he could send and get 500 from one Of
his brothers When the money came he
paid his hotel bill. Then he thought
he would win back some of the $500
he had lost the first night he had spent |
in town. And again he lost all Of his |
en- - 4 -.