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Long before there were big white letters that spelled out Hollywood, and a bodybuilder in the Governors mansion, California was still a wilderness as wild and free as the most unspoiled regions of Northern Canada. This was until gold was discovered in the hills of the nations westernmost state, than it all began to change.



  The gold rush was in full swing when 1849 rolled around. The presence of gold meant there were people walking around with disposable income. If human history has taught us one thing, it is that where there is money, there will be people looking for ways to relieve their fellow man of it. As the miners flooded to the region, so did gaming industry. Gambling houses popped up all over Northern California offering games of poker as well as music and attractive women to entertain the gamblers.



  These gambling houses grew into dance halls, which became the classic saloon most of us have seen represented in so many westerns through the years.



  As the momentum of the gold rush carried on, San Francisco surpassed New Orleans as the gambling capital of the nation. The number of saloons and brothels numbered well over a hundred. Travelers of all sorts found their way from San Francisco harbor to the infamous Barbary Coast Waterfront District.



  The game of the hour was Faro. That was to the old west saloon what holdem is to the poker table today. Other popular games were Brag, Three-card-monte and dice games such as -low, Chuck-a-luck, and Grand hazard.



  Where there are miners, cowboys, drinking and women of negotiable affections, trouble is not far behind. Law was scarce in this area, and the idea that an armed society is a polite society was pushed to its limits. Drunken miners would have gunfights with cowboys and shoot up the saloons that many of them called home. Winning a hand of poker could be death sentence, depending on the temperament and blood alcohol level of the person who just lost the pot.



  As the area grew, it became more civilized. Gambling, as always, became a political hot potato. In 1909, Nevada, ironically, became the first western state to outlaw gambling. California was not far behind. The classic days of cards, saloons, women and gunfights were over. They belonged to history now.



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