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 William
"Canada Bill" Jones (18??-1880) -
One of the greatest card sharps in
history, "Canada Bill” Jones was actually born in
Yorkshire,
England in the early 1800s. At some point, he immigrated to Canada, where
he first learned three-card monte from a veteran layer named Dick Cady.
The con game occurs when the "dealer” shows three cards to the player then
throws the cards face down on the table, rearranges them and then asks the
"mark” to find one of
the cards he showed him.
Many times, the dealer is "working” with an accomplice who appears to be a
bystander, who tries to ensure that the player chooses the wrong card.
Jones soon took his game "on the road”
playing primarily on the Mississippi River. One of his greatest "assets”
in making a profit was his ability to play the "fool.” With a squeaky
voice and appearing as a klutz and a simpleton, Jones easily his "marks”
that he was harmless.
Of Canada Bill, fellow gambler George
Devol said of him:
"Canada Bill was a character one might travel the length
and breadth of the land and never see his match, or run across his equal.
Imagine a medium-sized, chicken-headed, tow-haired sort of a man with mild
blue eyes, and a mouth nearly from ear to ear, who walked with a
shuffling, half-apologetic sort of a gait, and who, when his countenance
was in repose, resembled an idiot. For hours he would sit in his chair,
twisting his hair in little ringlets. His clothes were always several
sizes too large, and his face was as smooth as a woman's and never had a
particle of hair on it. Canada was a slick one. He had a squeaking, boyish
voice, and awkward, gawky manners, and a way of asking fool questions and
putting on a good natured sort of a grin, that led everybody to believe
that he was the rankest kind of a sucker-the greenest sort of a country
jake. Woe to the man who picked him up, though."
When the
action on the riverboats dried up, Jones began to work the railroads. At
one point, Jones even wrote the general
superintendent of the Union Pacific Railroad, offering $25,000 a year for
the exclusive rights to run a three-card monte game on the trains. The
railroad official politely declined the offer.
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For decades,
Jones made money swindling people, not only in three-card monte, but also
as a card sharp at poker and other games. However, he too, was a gambler,
who loved the game of Faro, generally re-circulating his profits rather
than holding on to them. When he died in 1880 in Reading, Pennsylvania, he
was penniless and was buried at public expense. However, when many of his
fellow gamblers heard of his death, a group from Chicago raised some
money, repaid the City of Reading and erected a marker for "Canada Bill.”
James "Umbrella Jim" Miner -
One of best known shell game men on the Mississippi, James Miner was
called "Umbrella Jim" for his habit of beginning his con game under an
umbrella, whether indoors or outside, in rain or shine. He also utilized a
little gimmick of introducing his game with a song, earning him the
additional moniker of the "Poet Gambler." The shell game, also known as
Thimblerig, Three Shells, and Pea, is portrayed as a
gambling game, but it is really nothing more than a fraudulent slight of
hand trick.
The game uses three shells,
which were often thimbles or walnut shells, and a small round ball about
the size of a pea. Played on a flat service, the swindler places the pea
under one of the shells, then quickly shuffles the shells around.
Afterwards, he "bets" with his audience to see if anyone can "guess" the
correct location of the pea, and if they win, they double their money.
In the meantime, the
swindler, using a skillful slight of hand has moved the pea, and the
gambler rarely if ever wins, unless, of course, the swinder, chooses for
him or her to win. This famous swindle, is referred to, in bunko slang, as
a short-con, because it is quick and easy to pull off.
Umbrella Jim always began
his con game with this little diddy:
A
little fun, just now and then,
Is relished by the best of men.
If you have nerve, you may have plenty;
Five draws you ten, and ten draws twenty.
Attention given, I'll show to you,
How 'Umbrella' hides the peek-a-boo.
Select your shell, the one you choose;
If right, you win; if not, you lose;
The game itself is lots of fun,
Jim's chances, though, are two to one;
And I tell you your chance is slim
To win a prize from Umbrella Jim.
Lawrence
Murphy (1831 or 1834-1878) - An Irishman who immigrated to the
United States, Murphy was a
Civil War
Veteran, cattleman, and businessman, whose greed ultimately spawned
New Mexico's Lincoln County War.
More ...
Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith II (1860-1898) -
The most famous bunko man in the Old West, Smith was a con artist and
gangster who had a major hand in the organized criminal affairs and
operations of Denver and Creede,
Colorado,
as well as Skagway, Alaska. He was killed in a
gunfight with Frank Reid on July 7, 1898.
More ...
Al Swearengen -
Al Swearengen was a terrible man
who made his move to Deadwood during the gold rush. Running a
saloon, he
lured dozens of women to the camp by falsely promising good jobs in local
hotels and promising to make them stage performers in his popular
Gem Theater. Once they arrived, the women were virtually forced into white slavery or
thrown into the street. The man was married three times and was
brutal to his wives, as well as the women that worked for him. The
Gem Theater
caught fire twice in 1879, the second time burning it to the ground. On both occasions
Swearengen rebuilt. Twenty years
later it was demolished again by a third inferno. By this time,
Swearengen called it quits and
left
Deadwoodfor good.
Not long after, the drunk and penniless
Swearengen was killed while
trying to hitch a ride on a
Colorado
train like a common tramp.
More ...
William B. "Lucky
Bill" Thornton (182?- 1858) -
Hailing from Chenango County, New York, "Lucky
Bill” Thornton headed to
California in 1849 when gold was discovered.
Joining a wagon train, he operated a shell game among the other travelers
and by the time they reached the Golden State, many of the pioneers had
given up their hard-earned savings to the conman. In Sacramento, he
continued the ruse, making as much as $24,000 in the first two months.
Thornton was also an avid gambler, addicted to the game of Faro, to which
he was not so proficient. He often lost his shell game profits at the Faro
table, causing him to "hustle” even more with his con game.
In 1853, he moved to
Nevada where he
established a ranch in the Carson Valley. He also built a sawmill and
operated a toll road. By this time, Thornton had a family and primarily
lived and respectable life. However, he still continued to gamble and many
of those who chose to participate, were soon left with empty pockets.
But, for Thornton, his luck would run out. In June, 1858, he and several
others were arrested for the killing of a Frenchman in Honey Lake. After
conviction by a "mock court,” he was hanged on June 18, 1858.
©
Kathy Weiser/Legends
of America, updated January, 2010.
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