In 1976, my best friend’s father, Craig Solomon, published a book titled “Play Like The Dealers Play.” It is based on Craig’s actual experiences, he moved to Las Vegas in 1945 and lived there until his death in 1998. During that same time he worked in and around casinos and clubs from the time he was old enough beginning in 1955. The following is an excerpt of that book after an edit and rewrite, it will be published and available in 2011. More information will be available through this blog. I hope you the following.


“Las Vegas, My Vantage Point”
“A brief history and insight from a former casino employee.”
By Craig Solomon, with David L. Sullivan

NEVADA = GAMBLING

LEGALIZE IT TO CONTROL IT

TAX IT TO BUILD A STATE

The first settlement in Nevada was established about 1850.

The famed COMSTOCK LODE was discovered and mining begun in 1859.

It is reported that a gambling game was operating in Nevada’s Carson Valley, along the route to California’s gold fields, by the end of 1850. As one can imagine that game was patronized by early travelers on their way to the gold fields of California. So I think it can safely be said that gambling has always been a part, a large part, of Nevada from the very beginning.

The founding of the COMSTOCK LODE led to the establishment of Virginia City and other nearby towns. It also marked the beginning of plans for Nevada as a separate territory or state. Prior to that time it had been more or less taken for granted that Nevada was, and would continue to be a part of either Utah or California.

Although the first settlers in Nevada were Mormons under the direction of Brigham Young, miners had no desire to be governed by a group of church people in Salt Lake.

Fortunes changed hands daily in Virginia City. That town soon boasted a fantastic opera house, featuring the top performers of the day. Samuel Clemens was a reporter on the Territorial Enterprise. It was there that he first wrote fiction and published it under the name, Mark Twain. The original development money for the Comstock came through San Francisco, but as the mines continued to yield twenty-four (24), hours a day, the mills ran and the casinos and saloons reaped their harvest. Fantastic schemes were concocted. Among those schemes was a separate state called Nevada.

On October 31,1864, the longest telegram in history was sent to the Congress of the United States. It was ratified as a state constitution, and Nevada became the thirty-sixth (36th), state of the Union. The timing was important as the nation was embroiled in the Civil War and ensured the continued flow of silver to the government and the vote of another ‘Free̓ state in the Congress. The nickname for the new state became “Battleborn.”

For many it seemed that Nevada gained statehood by being on the side of goodness and right. As a result the first Legislature passed morality laws which prohibited gambling. The law had little effect on gambling in the state. The casinos went right on operating. In 1867, after seeing that the ban had little to no effect the Legislature voted to legalize gambling. The action was vetoed by the Governor. In 1869, the Nevada Legislature again passed laws legalizing gambling in Nevada. When the Governor again vetoed the law, the united legislators promptly overrode the veto. Legal gambling flourished in Nevada for the next fifty years.

This was the time of settlement in the west, and a period of growth and change for Nevada. Prior to Nevada’s statehood, Las Vegas was settled by Mormons in 1855, their first fort has been restored and can be visited during the week. While the Mormons regularly sent their taxes to Salt Lake City, they were billed again by the Territory of Arizona, which at that time laid claim to Las Vegas. This caused some discontent. Finally, in 1857, all Mormon settlers in what has become Southern Nevada were recalled to help defend Salt Lake City against the advance of the US Army under the command of General Albert Sidney Johnston. Over the next few years a few ranchers drifted in, but much of Nevada, especially southern Nevada, remained barren desert.

The Comstock Lode was operable for almost twenty years, from about 1859 to 1878 until it became unprofitable to mine. The last few years of operation the mine shafts filled with hot water. While various means of draining the shafts were tried, including a tunnel through the mountains, most of the works were shut down and abandoned. It has been estimated that modern mining methods could extract more silver and precious metals from the tailings of the old mines than was produced from the mine themselves during their heyday.

It seems that different areas of the state experienced their own growth spurts at different times. For a brief period of time the main activity of the state moved from the western edge, the California border, to the eastern edge, the Utah border. The “Tn-cities” of Lincoln County were established in the 1860's. Panaca, the first of these communities was founded by Mormons as a farming community and prior to 1866, when state boundaries were re-drawn, was part of the state of Utah. It doesn’t seem to have much of a past, instead remaining constant with almost the same population today as a hundred years ago, most of those residents are related to the original settlers. Farming is still the primary industry.

The town of Caliente was built to satisfy the Union Pacific railroad’s need for a division point. The town straddled the railroad tracks and was built around a large, Spanish style railroad depot. Caliente remained the live spot in Lincoln County until the Union Pacific railroad adopted diesel locomotives which didn’t need a stop between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas.

Prior to the 1940's, the change from Mountain to Pacific time took place in the center of town, but in the late 1940's the time zone was moved to the eastern edge of time. Before that change, school children delighted in running clear across town and arriving at school before they left home.
Around the same time the time zone was moved the town hired a well known Nevada lawman. His official title was Town Marshall, his job was town tamer. Within a short time Caliente became a handy gas stop for adventurers on the road between Las Vegas and Elko.

Different from Panaca and Caliente, Pioche was built on silver mining, many would say a typical mining town and quickly became the county seat. Typical of the time the courthouse in Pioche was one of the most ornate in the west although it took several decades to be completed.
As has happened with towns built on the fortunes of mining, Pioche began to die in the 1870's as the returns from mining began to dwindle. While it saw resurgence of mining, for lead and zinc, during World War II, it never regained the boomtown status of the mid 1800's.

The US Mint was established in Carson City. This was the home of CC Trade dollars and dimes prized by coin collectors. Transportation costs closed the Mint in the 1880̓s. Today, it is a museum, not far From the State Capitol Building.

Mining didn’t only occur in the northern and eastern parts of the state. About 1898, silver was found along the Colorado River near Searchlight at the southern tip of the state. Silver ore was shipped by river steamer to the Gulf of California, and transferred to ocean going ships for transport to San Francisco. Searchlight boomed, becoming the biggest town in Southern Nevada for a short time. Today it is not much more than a ghost town.

In the years around 1900, gold strikes at Tonopah and Goldfield created towns which blazed to glory and then faded with the quality of the ore. Old timers tell how there was no such thing as paper money in Goldfield. Silver dollars were the rule, with five dollar gold pieces, $10 Eagles, and $20 Double Eagles being used for the large sums. Small wonder that miners looked for trousers with sturdy pockets.

In 1902, the Union Pacific began regular train service to Las Vegas. They inaugarated the service by holding a real estate auction. The railroad owned land near the right of way which was quickly sold. Within days, a tent city was flourishing. Many of the lots nearest the train stop were taken up by casinos and saloons. Soon the road between Searchlight and Las Vegas was busy with loaded wagons and gas operated trucks. The river steamers were no longer profitable and stopped operation. As the profits from the mines dwindled, Searchlight dwindled too. Soon, Las Vegas was the large, important city in Southern Nevada, which didn̓t mean much then. Reno, near Carson City, was a much larger and more important town.

In 1919, the Nevada Legislature once again outlawed gambling. This act was about as effective as it had been in 1864. It practically coincided with Prohibition, and was honored much in the same way.

Much of Las Vegas̓ Wild West period came with the 1920̓s. One of the well known citizens of the time ran a grocery store just a block from the railroad station. He first became known for his generosity with credit at the grocery store. After a few years, he ran for sheriff, and there were few voters who felt that they could vote against him. He served as sheriff for several years. Typical of his policy was his reaction to a gunfight staged on Fremont Street by two would be̓ toughs. When he was told the two were standing in the Street, waving guns, he simply walked up, grasped each by the back of their necks and banged their heads together and carried them to the jail.