South Dakota: The West Gets Wilder

The West Gets Wilder

After Jack McCall shot Wild Bill Hickok in the back during an afternoon poker game in the Saloon Number 10 a century ago, gambling became a part of the rugged Wild West image prized by Deadwood, S. Dak. But in the 1960s the tiny town (pop. 1,900) nestled in the Black Hills outlawed gambling. And when the town's four brothels were shut down as public nuisances by a posse of federal, state and local law-enforcement personnel in 1980, Deadwood's tourist trade began to fade. "When we had open gambling here, when we had the cathouses, we had hunters by the droves,"...

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