Poker Alice Pictures
Sitting Bull
Poker Alice was anything but the traditional female of the late 1800’s. Born Alice Ivers in Devonshire England in 1851, she moved to the United States as a small child. Trained in fancy boarding schools until her teenage years, Alice’s parents were determined to move up from their origin as poor Irish Immigrants. May 22, 1987 Directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman. With Elizabeth Taylor, Tom Skerritt, George Hamilton, Richard Mulligan. Alice Moffit, 'Poker Alice' (Dame Elizabeth Taylor), has been disowned by her Boston, Massachusetts family because of her incurable penchant for gambling. The Poker Alice House is a perfect central location for touring all of the Black Hills and Badlands areas. We are located in a residential area and most nights are quiet. During the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, feel free to sit out on the lawn and watch 1000s of motorcycles ride by - a private parade location - JUST FOR YOU!
A Brief History of Deadwood
The ownership of the sacred Six Grandfathers Mountain, in the Black Hills of South Dakota, was granted to the Sioux people in perpetuity by the 1868 Treaty of Ft Laramie. However, in 1874, General George A. Custer led a military expedition to the Black Hills and discovered gold.
Although Sitting Bull led his warriors successfully in June, 1876, to defeat Custer, their victory was short-lived. The Sioux mostly dispersed and went to Canada. Eventually, Sitting Bull returned to the U.S. and was forced to live on a reservation. He was killed in December, 1890.
Read the complete story, HERE.
Although the U.S. government tried to keep it a secret, once the public learned of the discovery, the gold rush was on. The city of Deadwood was established in 1876, attracting notorious people like Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane to the town. The mostly male population living in rough mining camps frequented the numerous saloons, gambling halls, and brothels, welcoming the company of the prostitutes. 1890 brought the railroad to Deadwood, and with it, people from many ethnic groups. Chinese immigrants arrived to build the rail and work in the mines. Chinatown evolved at the north end of present-day Main Street.
Six Grandfathers Mountain
Deadwood, circa 1890s
The dawn of the twentieth century still saw gambling and prostitution thriving in Deadwood as legitimate businesses. In 1919 the Prohibition Act banned the sale of alcohol. Later, gaming became illegal but continued behind closed doors. After the Prohibition Act was repealed in 1935, gambling flourished once again. By the 1950’s, gambling was gone and the brothels were being shut down by the state’s attorney. The last one to close was Pam’s Purple Door in 1980.
'Poker Alice'
Adams Museum Collection, Deadwood, SD
Poker Alice
Alice Ivers Duffield Tubbs Huckert (1851–1930), better known as Poker Alice, was a famous poker player in the American West. She started playing poker seriously after the death of her first husband, to support herself. Soon she was winning large amounts of money, using her good looks to distract the male players. Alice was known to always be carrying a gun with her, preferably her .38, and frequently smoked cigars. She met her third husband in Deadwood, at Bedrock Tom’s saloon.
Madam Dora DuFran (1868 – 1934) was one of the most successful madams in the Old West days of Deadwood and coined the term “cathouse”. Born in England, she emigrated to the United States with her parents around 1869.
Dora had several brothels over the years. The most popular was called “Diddlin’ Dora’s”, located in Belle Fourche, South Dakota. Her other brothels in South Dakota were located in Lead, Sturgis, and Deadwood. While in Deadwood, Dora got married and continued her brothel operations.
Dora DuFran
Courtesy Deadwood History,
Adams Museum Collection, Deadwood, SD
In 1986, local businesses lobbied for legalized gaming. The gaming issue was placed on the state ballot in 1988, passed, and was authorized to begin on November 1, 1989. Gambling has created economic development in Deadwood, increased tourism, and allowed the city to preserve its historic buildings and past.
The Gift of South Dakota
Subscriptions to South Dakota Magazine make great gifts!
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By Jerry Wilson
Editor's Note: This story is revised from the January/February 2003 issue of South Dakota Magazine. To order a copy or to subscribe, call 800-456-5117.
Poker Alice had been dead for 19 years when Nick Schwebach was born. But when Schwebach and three friends were trolling for a name for their new band in the early 1980s, they resurrected her.
Why Poker Alice? “I’m sorry,” guitarist Schwebach said. “I don’t have a good answer for that. We knew about as much about Alice then as anybody who goes to Deadwood and looks at the postcards — that cigar and that squatty face.”
“The name was Newt’s idea,” Schwebach said. “We were throwing around names, some of them not printable, and not coming up with anything, when all of a sudden Newt said, “Poker Alice!” When Avon’s Brenda Fennema sang with the band in its early days, some people thought she was Alice.
Gary “Newt” Knutson died in the early 1990s, and a couple of other originals, drummer Tom Voss and bass player “Smilin’ Jack” Carlson moved on. Various other well-known musicians played with the band over the years, but in recent memory, the regulars have been Schwebach, fiddler Owen DeJong, bass player Larry Rohrer, drummer Al Remund and guitarist/organist Denny “Crazy Legs” Jensen.
In the beginning, the Clay County group played mostly country; two decades later, the band is known not only for virtuosity, but for its vast range of songs. “The band has been a revolutionary process,” Schwebach said. “It’s a great, eclectic mix. If people want a country band, we can be a country band. If they want blues or rockabilly, we can do that. I think I could safely say that over the years we’ve played more than 300 different songs. Our last gig we played three songs we’d never played together before. You get those songs in your reptilian brain, and every now and then they resurface. I can just look at the boys and say ‘it’s one-four-five with a two somewhere in there,’ and that’s about all it takes. Everybody kind of thinks on the same wave length.”
Poker Alice plays somewhere almost every weekend. Some people plan their weddings to be sure Alice can come. A favorite venue is for the hometown crowd at Carey’s in Vermillion. Owen, Nick and Larry also play classic folk and country as The Public Domain Tune Band.
“Poker Alice was an astute businesswoman, and she liked to have a good time,” Schwebach said. “I think she’d love the Poker Alice band.”
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