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The Frontier Gambler is one of the most recognizable stock characters of the American West, usually portrayed as a gentlemanly southerner living outside of the law. Historically, gamblers were of both sexes, came from a variety of professions and class backgrounds, were of many different nationalities, and were part of a well-respected profession. As the west became increasingly populated and domesticated, the public perception of gambling changed to a negative one and led nearly all of the state and territorial legislatures to pass anti-gambling laws in and effort to "clean up" their towns. The gambler continues to be a captivating figure in the imagery of the west, representing the openness of its society and invoking its association with risk-taking. ==History== The heyday of gambling in the west lasted from 1850-1910. Gambling was the number one form of entertainment in the west and nearly everyone living there engaged in it at one time or another. Cowboys, miners, lumberjacks, businessmen, and lawmen all played games of chance for pleasure and profit. Whenever a new settlement or camp started one of the first buildings or tents erected would be a gambling hall. As the settlement grew, these halls would become larger and more elaborate in proportion. Gaming halls were typically the largest and most ornately decorated buildings in any town and often housed a bar, stage for entertainment, and hotel rooms for guests. These establishments were a driving force behind the local economy and many towns measured their prosperity by the number of gambling halls and professional gamblers they had. Towns that were friendly to gaming were typically known to sports as "wide-awake" or "wide-open" for their acceptance of gambling.〔Robert K. DeArment, ''The Knights of the Green Cloth: The Saga of the Frontier Gamblers'', (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1982), 43.〕 Most western citizens considered gambling to be a respectable profession and those who chose to make a living doing it were respected members of society. "Gambling was not only the principal and best paying industry of the town at the time, but it was also reckoned among its most respectable," wrote Bat Masterson in 1907.〔DeArment, Knights of the Green Cloth, 7.〕 Professional gamblers ran their own games by renting a table at a gambling house and banking it with their own money. Because of this, many professional gamblers settled in one place and in order to be successful as an established businessman, a gambler needed cultivate a reputation for fairness and running a straight game. These men were known as sports and did not drink, cheat, or swear, paid rent and licensing fees, encouraged customers to run up bar tabs, and did their best to act as historian Hubert Hoover Bancroft put it, "reputable and respectable merchants." Bancroft distinguishes between three types of professional gamblers, the free-floating professional, the established legit, and the recreational gentleman.〔Time Life Books, ''The Old West: The Gamblers'', (Alexandria: Time-Life Books, 1979), 117-119.〕 The California Gold Rush of 1849 created one of the largest draws for migrant gamblers, and San Francisco soon became the gambling hotspot of the west. Famous gambling houses included the Parker House, Samuel Dennison's Exchange, and the El Dorado Gambling Saloon. Portsmouth Square was famous for the many houses that clustered closely around it. Gambling was also popular in the many mining camps throughout California and the southwest. Gambling was so closely associated with the Gold Rush that the overland route to California that passed through Panama became known as the "Gambler's Route."〔Schwartz, ''Roll the Bones'', 253-262.〕 Dealers lay in wait everywhere, and it is said that many an expedition to the gold fields ended in camp before it even began. Mining towns outside of California developed large-scale gambling as well. Deadwood, Silver City, and Tombstone were all as well known for their many gambling halls and saloons as they were for their rich mineral deposits.〔DeArment, ''Knights of the Green Cloth, 113.〕 Cattle towns in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska became centers of gambling as well. Thanks to the railroad and cattle industries, a great number of people worked in and around these towns and had plenty of money to wager. Abilene, Dodge City, Wichita, Omaha, and Kansas City all had an atmosphere that was convivial to gaming. Not surprisingly such an atmosphere also invited trouble and such towns also developed reputations as lawless and dangerous places.〔Henry Chafetz, ''Play the Devil: A History of Gambling in the United States'', (New York: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc, 1960), 145-150.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Frontier gambler」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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