1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:03,400 Speaker 1: Ridiculous Crime is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:07,880 Speaker 2: Zaren Elizabeth Zaron, Get over here, I'm here, I'm here questions. 3 00:00:07,880 --> 00:00:08,680 Speaker 3: Should I sit down? 4 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:09,160 Speaker 2: No? 5 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:09,559 Speaker 3: Yeah? 6 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:12,799 Speaker 2: Stay stay standing? Okay, you know it's ridiculous. 7 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:13,319 Speaker 4: I do. 8 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:16,200 Speaker 3: So. You know I've told you recently that that story 9 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:19,439 Speaker 3: about uh Keith Richards and John Lennon, right, Well, I 10 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:21,079 Speaker 3: did some research and I was bumping around in the 11 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:25,240 Speaker 3: Rolling Stones. I found something interesting about Mick Jagger and uh, 12 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:26,920 Speaker 3: you know he was married to Jerry Hall, the model 13 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 3: for like a long time. Yes, well they were made 14 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:32,400 Speaker 3: for about twenty three years, and apparently she got really 15 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:35,320 Speaker 3: tired of all the like infidelities on his part. Yeah, 16 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:38,280 Speaker 3: and she's like, look, you're a sex addict. Oh and 17 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:41,600 Speaker 3: he's like yeah, probably right. And so he's like, you 18 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:43,960 Speaker 3: need to go to therapy and deal with this if 19 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:46,680 Speaker 3: we're going to stay together. So Mick agreed. He's like, yeah, 20 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:49,080 Speaker 3: I'll do that, you know whatever. So he goes and 21 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:52,839 Speaker 3: h turns out he seduced his sex therapist. Stop it. 22 00:00:57,080 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 2: So he just like did the chicken walk? 23 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:03,000 Speaker 3: Can strutten over? She's like, I gotta have some of that. 24 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:05,640 Speaker 5: All I think about with Mick Jagger is that John 25 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:08,959 Speaker 5: mullaney bit about how when he was hosting Saturday Night Live, 26 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:13,320 Speaker 5: how he was deciding what, you know, skits they should do, 27 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:16,560 Speaker 5: and John Mulaney would pitch one and Mick Jagger would say, 28 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 5: not funny. 29 00:01:18,959 --> 00:01:19,679 Speaker 3: I thought that for. 30 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:26,440 Speaker 2: You, not funny. That's ridiculous, right, seducing. 31 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:29,679 Speaker 3: Going to for help? Who is a sex therapist? Like 32 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 3: she knows this is the one thing I cannot do well. 33 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:34,840 Speaker 2: But you know, I guess she's got she's got weaknesses. 34 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:38,120 Speaker 3: Yeah, let me see what made those lips smile. 35 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:41,039 Speaker 2: For some reason? These the ladies, they can't resist them. 36 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:43,000 Speaker 3: Yeah, he got the leading man itis. 37 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:46,240 Speaker 5: I guess he's so like that doesn't matter. It's like 38 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:48,640 Speaker 5: a dancing skeleton totally, that doesn't matter. 39 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 3: It's you're not really drawn to like the physical forms charm, 40 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:54,520 Speaker 3: it's the attitude. 41 00:01:54,440 --> 00:02:02,160 Speaker 2: Hands on the hips, yeah, the est pout, Yeah, not funny. 42 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:04,200 Speaker 2: Do you know what else is ridiculous? 43 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:04,360 Speaker 6: No? 44 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:07,320 Speaker 2: I do not making people. 45 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:12,200 Speaker 5: Believe they can win an unwinnable game, over and over 46 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:37,720 Speaker 5: and over. This is ridiculous Crime A podcast about absurd 47 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 5: and outrageous capers, heists, and cons. It's always ninety nine 48 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:46,320 Speaker 5: percent murder free. And one hundred percent ridiculous. 49 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:49,000 Speaker 2: Oh you damn right, I know I am. Are you 50 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:50,800 Speaker 2: familiar with Alan Pinkerton? 51 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 3: Do you want me to not cuss and go off 52 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:58,160 Speaker 3: on a rant and tirage pretend I'm familiar with that. 53 00:02:58,360 --> 00:02:59,920 Speaker 2: I was just born. I don't know. 54 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:03,200 Speaker 3: I think he was in maybe the last century or two, saren. 55 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:07,040 Speaker 5: He was one of the most significant figures in American 56 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:08,720 Speaker 5: law enforcement and private security. 57 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:10,480 Speaker 3: Why is that, Elizabeth? Whatever did he do? 58 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:12,480 Speaker 2: Let me tell you? You know? Oddly enough? 59 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:15,440 Speaker 5: Yes, he was a product of the Deer Green Place, 60 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:18,000 Speaker 5: my home away from home, Glasgow, Scotland. 61 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:19,840 Speaker 2: Oh really, he was a Glaswegian. 62 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:22,400 Speaker 3: I'd explain some of his tenacity. 63 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:25,560 Speaker 2: He was born there in eighteen nineteen. 64 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:27,600 Speaker 3: Okay, why did they get rid of him? They do? 65 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:28,799 Speaker 3: What he was like? 66 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:31,400 Speaker 2: I think you're going to be interested. So his dad 67 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:32,960 Speaker 2: was a police search I guessed that. 68 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:35,640 Speaker 5: And he died when Alan was young, and he left 69 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:38,400 Speaker 5: the family struggling. I mean, not on purpose, but you 70 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:42,880 Speaker 5: know who knows. Maybe so Alan he trained as a cooper, 71 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:45,960 Speaker 5: not a copper, oh, to make barrel cooper exactly, a 72 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:50,000 Speaker 5: barrel maker, and he became active in the Chartist movement. 73 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:52,920 Speaker 2: What is that I thought maybe you'd know it's working 74 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:55,440 Speaker 2: class agitation for political reform. 75 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm trying to play a long. 76 00:03:56,600 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 5: So okay, so all these workers right, they want workers right, 77 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 5: they want you know, it's not just labor issues, but 78 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 5: for those like just the working yes, and just you know, 79 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:11,360 Speaker 5: votes and all sorts of other stuff. So he gets 80 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:16,000 Speaker 5: really into the chartists, and his political activism brought him 81 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:17,480 Speaker 5: into conflict. 82 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:19,120 Speaker 2: With the authorities, you know, as it does. 83 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:24,239 Speaker 5: He went up against the Glasgow cops and maybe didn't 84 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:25,400 Speaker 5: always go so great for him. 85 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:27,680 Speaker 3: Yeah, I imagine they used the billy clubs too. Oh. 86 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:28,160 Speaker 2: Probably. 87 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:32,240 Speaker 5: In eighteen forty two he'd had enough. He immigrated to 88 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:35,480 Speaker 5: the US with his wife. You got run out of town. 89 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:39,279 Speaker 5: They settled in Chicago after spending a little bit of 90 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:40,080 Speaker 5: time in Canada. 91 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:41,040 Speaker 2: So they jumped over the. 92 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:44,360 Speaker 3: Common understand the Scots to go to Canada America. 93 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:47,280 Speaker 5: Yes, yes, And he at first he worked as a 94 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:51,080 Speaker 5: cooper again in Dundee township near Chicago, so he had 95 00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:53,279 Speaker 5: to stick with the Scottish connection Dundee. 96 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:54,080 Speaker 6: Uh. 97 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:58,840 Speaker 5: So he's orbiting Chicago and one time, just by chance, 98 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 5: he's out in the woods looking for wood because that's 99 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:03,160 Speaker 5: where they keep woods. 100 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:04,720 Speaker 3: That is true in the best place. 101 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:08,280 Speaker 5: That's the name he wants to He's like, I got 102 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:11,600 Speaker 5: to build a barrel, dude, and held raw material. It 103 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 5: goes out there and he finds a counterfeitters camp. I 104 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:17,920 Speaker 5: don't know why I enunciated that so hard. 105 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:19,320 Speaker 3: I maybe really wonder what was. 106 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:23,600 Speaker 5: Very formal counterfeit A gang counterfeitters camp. You know, I'm 107 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 5: trying not to allide over everything all the time and 108 00:05:26,279 --> 00:05:30,080 Speaker 5: slur my speed because remember when we first started doing this, 109 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:32,400 Speaker 5: and that guy said that if you play the show 110 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:35,919 Speaker 5: on like seven point seventy five or halftime, I sound 111 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 5: completely drunk and you sound normal. 112 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:38,920 Speaker 3: Because I talk so fast. 113 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:40,360 Speaker 2: Yeah, anyway, I don't remember what. 114 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:42,680 Speaker 3: People said like that about that. You do. I don't 115 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:45,159 Speaker 3: you can remind me of what people say about It. 116 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:49,039 Speaker 5: Lives in my head, but I make it pay rent. 117 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:53,200 Speaker 5: He finds his counterfeitters camp eighteen forty seven. 118 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:55,800 Speaker 3: We're talking money counterfeiting, right, yeah, yeah, and. 119 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:58,880 Speaker 5: He he channeled his dad and he helped the authorities 120 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:03,440 Speaker 5: arrest the counter and he gained this reputation for vigilance. 121 00:06:03,839 --> 00:06:05,480 Speaker 2: And also, I'm going to guess as. 122 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:08,960 Speaker 3: A narc exactly like Yan. 123 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 5: So he gets appointed as a result of this, like 124 00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:14,919 Speaker 5: a couple of years later, he's appointed the first police 125 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:19,720 Speaker 5: detective in Chicago in eighteen forty nine detection. They had 126 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:23,919 Speaker 5: just lance committee. Yes, and now they're like, how about. 127 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:25,440 Speaker 2: You, you nark, Yeah, we're gonna be you can't. 128 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:28,560 Speaker 5: Mind your own business, you go detect. So eighteenth Chicago 129 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:29,000 Speaker 5: the first. 130 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:30,479 Speaker 3: That's crazy. Wow. 131 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:33,840 Speaker 5: And so eighteen fifty the next year, he founded the 132 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:39,840 Speaker 5: Northwestern Police Agency, later renamed the Pinkerton National Detective Agents. Yes, 133 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:43,480 Speaker 5: now my question what happened at the Chicago PD that. 134 00:06:43,839 --> 00:06:46,000 Speaker 3: After a year they're like, a year, you should do 135 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:46,680 Speaker 3: this privately. 136 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:48,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe like settle down there, but. 137 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:49,840 Speaker 3: We don't want to pay you for this. 138 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:53,839 Speaker 5: No. So the agency's logo was this wide open eye 139 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:57,719 Speaker 5: with the motto we never sleep. Yes, ominous, but that's 140 00:06:57,720 --> 00:06:59,800 Speaker 5: where we get the phrase private eye. 141 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:04,000 Speaker 2: Yeah. So the firm they specialized. 142 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:06,680 Speaker 5: In railroad security, and then they added in like pursuit 143 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:10,040 Speaker 5: of fugitives and then later little dash of strike breaking, 144 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 5: little which is rich considering what got him in trouble 145 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:16,040 Speaker 5: as a lad. 146 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:18,120 Speaker 3: Thank you. I didn't want to get into all that, but. 147 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:20,000 Speaker 2: I mean like that. Yeah, so come on, now. 148 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 3: He's like you know what, I know what pays. Well, 149 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:23,880 Speaker 3: it's like you know. 150 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:26,000 Speaker 2: You change as you get older. 151 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:30,200 Speaker 5: So the Pinkerton Agency became the most prominent private detective 152 00:07:30,240 --> 00:07:34,040 Speaker 5: service in nineteenth century America. Yes, and the name became 153 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:38,920 Speaker 5: synonymous with like brutal private detectives and strongmens and strike breaking, oh, 154 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:43,400 Speaker 5: strike breaking and operating outside of the law and yet 155 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:48,080 Speaker 5: be thinking they are the law exactly. So eighteen sixty one, 156 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:50,000 Speaker 5: Pinkerton he uncovered a plan. 157 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:52,120 Speaker 3: They're like goons and suits. 158 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:55,000 Speaker 5: Total goons, total goons. He found out that someone who's 159 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:59,240 Speaker 5: going to try and assassinate President elect Abraham Lincoln, Yes, 160 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:03,840 Speaker 5: in Baltimore, a Balmore during his you know trip to Washington, 161 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:08,680 Speaker 5: d C. So Lincoln Chicago, right, so that like he 162 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:12,600 Speaker 5: then Pinkerton organizes it. So Lincoln arrives in secret, and 163 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:15,000 Speaker 5: he referred to it as the Baltimore Plot, and he 164 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:18,640 Speaker 5: was able to foil it. During the Civil War, he 165 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 5: served as head of the Union Intelligence Service, so that's 166 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:26,960 Speaker 5: like the pre secret service. He organized espionage networks behind 167 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:31,160 Speaker 5: Confederate lines, although a lot of times his reports like 168 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:32,840 Speaker 5: overestimated the. 169 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:35,840 Speaker 2: Confederate troop strength. Course, but like after the war. 170 00:08:36,480 --> 00:08:40,480 Speaker 5: The agency became famous for pursuing criminals like the Reno Gang, 171 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:43,480 Speaker 5: the James Younger Game, and then Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch. 172 00:08:43,520 --> 00:08:48,040 Speaker 5: Of course, so by the eighteen seventies, oh, he is, 173 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:51,960 Speaker 5: he is, he's got star power. Eighteen seventies, eighteen eighties, 174 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:53,760 Speaker 5: they're like, really. 175 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:54,960 Speaker 2: That's when they get into the strike breaking. 176 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:57,280 Speaker 5: Yes, and they're like, you know, we're here to protect 177 00:08:57,400 --> 00:09:02,640 Speaker 5: industry and destroy lives. And that tarnished his reputation among 178 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:07,000 Speaker 5: organized labor obviously, which again, you know, you look at 179 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:08,720 Speaker 5: his origins, it's an about face. 180 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:10,520 Speaker 3: So now this is what he's taking on. 181 00:09:10,559 --> 00:09:13,240 Speaker 2: Mother Jones, correct the muckraker. 182 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:15,880 Speaker 5: Now, let's get to what I want to talk to 183 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 5: you about today, but not just Alan Pinkerton. 184 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:19,960 Speaker 3: I'd love to hear what you'd love to talk about. 185 00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:22,280 Speaker 5: I want to talk to you about your poor performance 186 00:09:22,320 --> 00:09:25,760 Speaker 5: and our detective agency nose. 187 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:28,040 Speaker 3: I thought if I dressed like the job that I wanted, 188 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 3: that's all I had to do. 189 00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:30,240 Speaker 2: Time out. 190 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:34,640 Speaker 5: You're wearing an incredible yellow Hawaiian shirt today. 191 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:38,640 Speaker 2: That kind of is very magnum. 192 00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:40,720 Speaker 5: Pi, and I feel like you should be out, you know, 193 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:42,400 Speaker 5: scoping something with some give. 194 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:44,160 Speaker 3: Me some short shorts and I'm going to be there for. 195 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:47,160 Speaker 2: And some binoculars and then you just go sit in. 196 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:49,640 Speaker 3: The car, keep binoculars in my car for bird watching. 197 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:51,760 Speaker 3: You just did the air exactly. 198 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:55,720 Speaker 2: All right, very magnum. 199 00:09:56,600 --> 00:09:58,959 Speaker 5: This this all is going to start for us with 200 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:02,600 Speaker 5: one of Alan Pinkton's books. Ooh, because he wrote he 201 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:05,760 Speaker 5: wrote The Expressman and the Detective in eighteen seventy four, 202 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:09,800 Speaker 5: the Molly Maguires and the Detectives in eighteen seventy seven, 203 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:14,840 Speaker 5: and then Criminal Reminiscence and Detective Sketches in eighteen seven 204 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:18,679 Speaker 5: or memoir. Yeah, so these books widely read, but also 205 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:21,960 Speaker 5: they were like totally sensationalized. So there was you know, 206 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:25,199 Speaker 5: a lot of fiction up in that fact and it 207 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:26,600 Speaker 5: was mostly you know, just. 208 00:10:26,559 --> 00:10:28,600 Speaker 2: To promote the Pinkerton Agency here totally. 209 00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:30,920 Speaker 3: I mean him and dashil Hammett basically do it. 210 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:34,480 Speaker 5: And so but it's that last tone that kicks it 211 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:40,240 Speaker 5: off for us. In Criminal Reminiscences and Detective Sketches, Pinkerton wrote, quote, 212 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:44,160 Speaker 5: there are some men who naturally choose, or through a 213 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:48,239 Speaker 5: series of unfortunate blunders, drift into the life of social outlaws, 214 00:10:48,559 --> 00:10:52,200 Speaker 5: who possess so many remarkably original traits of character that 215 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:56,920 Speaker 5: they become rather subjects for admiration than condemnation when we 216 00:10:57,000 --> 00:10:58,280 Speaker 5: review their life and character. 217 00:10:58,400 --> 00:10:59,720 Speaker 3: It's a lot of words say outlaw folk. 218 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:03,400 Speaker 5: We've talked about a good number of these dudes totally. 219 00:11:03,559 --> 00:11:07,200 Speaker 5: But who in particular was Alan Pankerton talking about Zaren Who? 220 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:09,199 Speaker 3: Elizabeth? Because I do not have any guesses, No. 221 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:12,920 Speaker 2: Neither do I. It's a guy, We'll put it that way. 222 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:18,280 Speaker 2: He was. It's just established. It's a human being and a. 223 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:20,600 Speaker 3: Man, not a dog, a wolverine or a child. 224 00:11:20,679 --> 00:11:21,120 Speaker 2: Correct. 225 00:11:21,679 --> 00:11:27,240 Speaker 5: Who was a con artist at a riverboat gambler? He yes, hey, 226 00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:32,439 Speaker 5: and a card sharp about He's been described by many as, 227 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:37,360 Speaker 5: quote the greatest of confidence men, and quote, without a doubt, 228 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:41,040 Speaker 5: the greatest three card Monty Sharp ever to work the boats, 229 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:42,800 Speaker 5: perhaps the greatest of them all. 230 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:44,640 Speaker 3: Oh old fastthand Matthews. 231 00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:48,320 Speaker 2: I like being talked about working the boats. Work in 232 00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:48,760 Speaker 2: the boats. 233 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:51,200 Speaker 3: She's working the boats. 234 00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:53,080 Speaker 2: So was Sophie Smith. 235 00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:55,880 Speaker 3: But he wasn't a three card money guy. But he 236 00:11:56,040 --> 00:11:57,520 Speaker 3: was not the fastest. 237 00:11:57,520 --> 00:12:00,000 Speaker 5: He was like the best either way. I'm not talking 238 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:01,640 Speaker 5: came out so okay, I love him. I just kind 239 00:12:01,679 --> 00:12:04,240 Speaker 5: of wanted to say his name, you invoke his name, 240 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:08,240 Speaker 5: bring me there. This guy has a great name, though 241 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:10,680 Speaker 5: it is not as good as Soapy, but it's pretty proper. 242 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:14,760 Speaker 5: Alan Pinkerton and I are talking about Canada Bill Jones. 243 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:15,680 Speaker 3: Are you kidding? 244 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:16,880 Speaker 2: That sounds like I made it up. 245 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:20,880 Speaker 3: It totally sounds like he would make up every Jones 246 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:21,880 Speaker 3: over here. 247 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:25,240 Speaker 5: Now and then I'm tempted to just completely make up 248 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:28,520 Speaker 5: a criminal and a crime to tell you and just 249 00:12:28,679 --> 00:12:30,440 Speaker 5: never never revealed it. 250 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:31,360 Speaker 2: I've just made it up. 251 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:32,480 Speaker 3: That would be kind of fun. 252 00:12:33,679 --> 00:12:35,920 Speaker 2: So Canada Bill Jones sounds like one that I would make. 253 00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:38,200 Speaker 2: I don't know. 254 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:40,480 Speaker 3: We'll find out. Canada Bill Jones is incredible. 255 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:43,320 Speaker 2: We'll do a little fact checking when we're doing. 256 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:44,559 Speaker 3: So you got the name Bill Jones, are like, you 257 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:46,079 Speaker 3: know what, you need a Canada in front of that. 258 00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:49,720 Speaker 2: Canada Bill Jones. Well, it's not even cool. The Bill 259 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:52,320 Speaker 2: Jones part, like, go further with Bill Jones. 260 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:55,840 Speaker 5: So it's it should be like Canada, Jack McGill cuddy exactly. 261 00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:56,320 Speaker 2: Canada. 262 00:12:56,360 --> 00:13:01,959 Speaker 5: Bill Jones's false flat deflate so William Jones and also. 263 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:04,000 Speaker 3: Implies that there's another Bill Jones in town that you 264 00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:04,440 Speaker 3: needed to. 265 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:09,199 Speaker 2: Be differentiated from Mexico, La Colorado. Bill Jones. Which member 266 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:12,080 Speaker 2: of NAFTA are you so, Canada? Bill Jones? 267 00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:15,880 Speaker 5: William Jones born in a tent, of course, in Yorkshire, 268 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:18,000 Speaker 5: England in eighteenth forty seven. 269 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:21,000 Speaker 3: I was picturing in Canada. Born in his. 270 00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:25,960 Speaker 5: Family were Romanical. So the Romantical, often referred to as 271 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:29,880 Speaker 5: the Romneys, are a subgroup of the Romany people. Yes, 272 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:33,640 Speaker 5: aka what you know in the olden times they called gypsy. 273 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:37,079 Speaker 5: With this long history, the Romantical have this long history 274 00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:40,240 Speaker 5: in the British Isles, especially England. So they trace their 275 00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:43,800 Speaker 5: ancestry to the Romany people of northern India who migrated 276 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:45,800 Speaker 5: westward over one thousand. 277 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:48,120 Speaker 3: Years, with many deviations along the way. 278 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:51,280 Speaker 5: Yeah, and the first recorded Romany groups arrived in England 279 00:13:51,320 --> 00:13:54,920 Speaker 5: around the early fifteen hundreds. Okay, so over the centuries 280 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:59,200 Speaker 5: the community developed this really distinct identity within Britain, that's 281 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:02,640 Speaker 5: what they. Yeah, Well, this is different. So that the 282 00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:07,080 Speaker 5: Romantical or the English branch of the Romany diaspora, and 283 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:11,440 Speaker 5: they run parallel to other subgroups like the Welsh, Kale 284 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:16,360 Speaker 5: and Wales, the Scottish Travelers, the Irish travelers, although Irish 285 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:20,440 Speaker 5: Travelers are actually a separate ethno linguistic group, and they're 286 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:25,120 Speaker 5: not truly romany way, don't you. I mean, I am 287 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:29,120 Speaker 5: a font of knowledge, so speak. I'm just gonna hold on, 288 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:32,400 Speaker 5: all right. It just all came out. Speaking of language, 289 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:37,720 Speaker 5: the Romanical traditionally spoke Anglo Romany, which is this mixed language, 290 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:41,680 Speaker 5: the core vocabulary from Romany and the grammar and syntax 291 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:45,400 Speaker 5: from English and then Anglo Romany. That's spoken in a 292 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:48,120 Speaker 5: lot of families today, but most of them now, most 293 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:51,600 Speaker 5: of the Romanticals speak regional British English as. 294 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:52,800 Speaker 2: Their main language. 295 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:57,119 Speaker 5: So like historically they're itinerant. They moved in caravans wagons 296 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:02,400 Speaker 5: and they made their living through horse trading, tinkering or metalwork, yeah, 297 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:06,600 Speaker 5: fortune telling, and then entertainment, music fairs, circuses. 298 00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:08,200 Speaker 3: You mentioned also horse breeding, Yeah, that. 299 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:09,320 Speaker 2: Horse trading and breeding. 300 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:12,960 Speaker 5: They did seasonal agriculture work so like fruit picking and 301 00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:14,320 Speaker 5: gathering hops. 302 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:18,320 Speaker 2: And they you know, they would run run scams and come. Yeah. 303 00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:22,880 Speaker 5: So from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, Romanticals face 304 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:27,720 Speaker 5: really heavy persecution in England. From fifteen thirties to seventeen eighties, 305 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:30,640 Speaker 5: there were laws that made it a crime simply to 306 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:34,400 Speaker 5: be a quote gypsy, you could get whipped, you could 307 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:36,840 Speaker 5: get sent off to America or Australia. 308 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:38,640 Speaker 2: You could be executed on site. 309 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:38,920 Speaker 3: Wow. 310 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:39,280 Speaker 2: Yeah. 311 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:41,600 Speaker 5: And a lot of them get deported to the American 312 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:44,240 Speaker 5: colonies in the like seventeen eighteenth century. 313 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:45,920 Speaker 3: A lot of breaking up of families too, right, Like 314 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:48,160 Speaker 3: kids go to the poorhouse, family gets seut Australia. 315 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:48,720 Speaker 6: Right. 316 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:52,240 Speaker 5: But like in the US, that's why we have those 317 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:56,000 Speaker 5: traveler communities in the South and Appalachia. Right, they're the 318 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:58,400 Speaker 5: ones who were, you know, sent off to Georgia. 319 00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:00,920 Speaker 3: I remember growing up there always be outside of town 320 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:02,320 Speaker 3: and they were known for the horse trade. Yeah. 321 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:02,640 Speaker 2: Yeah. 322 00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:06,800 Speaker 5: So Canada, Bill Canada dry From a young age, he 323 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:11,640 Speaker 5: learned handling and short games rigged card players, and so 324 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:15,520 Speaker 5: in eighteen sixty he migrated to Canada. You can see why, like, you. 325 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:18,960 Speaker 3: Know, I got a home not appreciated, and his options. 326 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:22,240 Speaker 5: Are limited, and you know he's being like severely discriminated against. 327 00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:25,120 Speaker 5: So in Canada he partners up with this guy, Dick 328 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:29,480 Speaker 5: Caty and it was there that he owned three card 329 00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:33,400 Speaker 5: Monty as a specialist quote thrower, and the thrower is 330 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:36,800 Speaker 5: the con artist who performs the card manipulation has this 331 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:40,560 Speaker 5: like sleight of hand, their toss techniques to trick spectators 332 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:42,920 Speaker 5: into losing their money. And that's around the time that 333 00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:45,880 Speaker 5: he gets the nickname Canada Bill, and I suppose like 334 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:49,760 Speaker 5: Yorkshire Bill before that, and then he became Canadbill. He 335 00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:53,080 Speaker 5: had this really interesting look. According to Alan Pinkerton quote, 336 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:58,200 Speaker 5: his personal appearance, which was most ludicrous, undeniably had much 337 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:02,000 Speaker 5: to do with his success. He was the veritable country gawky, 338 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:06,920 Speaker 5: the ridiculous, ignorant, absurd creature that has been so imperfectly 339 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:10,240 Speaker 5: imitated on and off the stage for years, and whose 340 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:14,280 Speaker 5: true description can scarcely be written. He was fully six 341 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:17,080 Speaker 5: feet high, with dark eyes and hair, and always had 342 00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:20,840 Speaker 5: a smooth shaven face full of seams and wrinkles that 343 00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:24,400 Speaker 5: were put to all manner of difficult expressions with marvelous 344 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:29,400 Speaker 5: facility and ease. All this coupled with long, loose jointed arms, 345 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:34,000 Speaker 5: long thin and apparently a trifle unsteady legs, a shambling, 346 00:17:34,119 --> 00:17:38,000 Speaker 5: shuffling awkward gait, and this remarkable face and head bent 347 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:40,480 Speaker 5: forward and turned a little to one side like an 348 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:43,679 Speaker 5: inquiring and wise old owl, and then an outfit of 349 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:47,920 Speaker 5: granger clothing. The entire cost of which never exceeded fifteen dollars, 350 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:51,719 Speaker 5: made a combination that never failed to call a smile 351 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:55,640 Speaker 5: to a stranger's face or awaken a feeling of curiosity 352 00:17:55,680 --> 00:18:01,720 Speaker 5: and interest wherever he might be seen. He's describing Nick Checker. 353 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:05,880 Speaker 3: I mean, like all also, I love how Alan Pickerton 354 00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:10,639 Speaker 3: never hesitates to judge like everything. He's like, god, man, he's. 355 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:11,960 Speaker 2: Like, oh, is there an opening for that. 356 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:17,080 Speaker 5: Let's take a break and when we come back, we're 357 00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:20,560 Speaker 5: going to continue on following the life of Canada. 358 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:52,800 Speaker 4: Bill nice. 359 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:45,360 Speaker 5: Zaren Elizabeth welcome back. Yes, So all right, we're talking 360 00:18:45,359 --> 00:18:46,000 Speaker 5: about Canada. 361 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:46,240 Speaker 6: Bill. 362 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:49,439 Speaker 5: You can see that he's not too put together, like not, 363 00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:51,960 Speaker 5: but he's not really one way or another anything. 364 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:54,600 Speaker 3: He just seems really charismatic, especial when he's talking about 365 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:56,000 Speaker 3: the creases in his face and how they dance. 366 00:18:56,080 --> 00:18:58,960 Speaker 5: He's got this like charm that draws people in. That's 367 00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:02,439 Speaker 5: that's an important for So you got to be somewhat 368 00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:05,480 Speaker 5: memorable but not too much and like not too flashy, 369 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:09,280 Speaker 5: relatable put people at these So he Bill, he worked 370 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:12,280 Speaker 5: his card sharp skills, honed his talents, but he didn't 371 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:15,760 Speaker 5: stick around Canada very long. Soon he moved south into 372 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:20,119 Speaker 5: the US riverboat circuit on the Mississippi tributaries because that's 373 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:20,879 Speaker 5: where the money was. 374 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:21,960 Speaker 7: Oh yes, yeah, and. 375 00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:22,720 Speaker 3: You were the action. 376 00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:26,439 Speaker 5: And yeah, he worked with these teams of people and 377 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:28,160 Speaker 5: one of them was George Devall. 378 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:33,000 Speaker 3: That name sounds familiar, George Hildreth Deval, Okay, less familiar. 379 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:33,800 Speaker 2: He was born. 380 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:37,640 Speaker 5: I'll just keep adding names to it until it's like unrecognizable. 381 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:41,680 Speaker 5: Born in eighteen twenty nine in Ohio. He was a riverboat, 382 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:45,720 Speaker 5: railroad professional gambler and a card sharp. He also he 383 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:48,879 Speaker 5: wrote the best selling memoir Forty Years A Gambler on 384 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:49,720 Speaker 5: the Mississippi. 385 00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:51,720 Speaker 2: That's why, Yeah, I figured you probably read that. 386 00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:57,199 Speaker 5: So the memoir is like this nineteenth century picuresque filled 387 00:19:57,200 --> 00:20:01,120 Speaker 5: with bravado and like these kind of stock characters. It's 388 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:05,240 Speaker 5: more of this window onto the milieu and his self presentation. 389 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:07,600 Speaker 2: It's not a work of nonfiction really. 390 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:09,040 Speaker 3: Yeah, no exactly. And also I mean this is where 391 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:11,600 Speaker 3: we get like later on the character Maverick, who is 392 00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:14,959 Speaker 3: like a riverboat gambler. Yes, they're imitating the world he 393 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:15,760 Speaker 3: described in. 394 00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:18,400 Speaker 5: Yeah, and he grew up in it right like so 395 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:21,679 Speaker 5: he had he was early into steamboat life as a 396 00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:25,400 Speaker 5: cabin boy. And but then he really picked up all 397 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:28,320 Speaker 5: of like the card you know, tricks and slights really 398 00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:29,720 Speaker 5: really easily in his. 399 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:31,360 Speaker 3: Team and had to pick your marks too. 400 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:34,280 Speaker 5: Yeah, and so he was able to be a really 401 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:38,280 Speaker 5: good observer of people working on these boats, and so 402 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:41,280 Speaker 5: like he's a big part of this Mississippi Valley gaming 403 00:20:41,320 --> 00:20:45,600 Speaker 5: culture in the eighteen thirties. And he positioned himself as 404 00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:48,359 Speaker 5: like this fighter as well as a gambler, so like 405 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:51,040 Speaker 5: he would brag about getting into these tussles in order 406 00:20:51,119 --> 00:20:55,240 Speaker 5: to settle table outcomes or like protect his cash. So 407 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:58,520 Speaker 5: here's this bruiser and he teams up with Canada Bill 408 00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:01,560 Speaker 5: and they did this thing old decking, which is like 409 00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:06,440 Speaker 5: introducing a pre arranged pack second dealing or palming. They 410 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:10,120 Speaker 5: had marked cards and they ran just tons of card cons. 411 00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:14,720 Speaker 5: They exploited this like transit environment. So we have riverboats, 412 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:19,119 Speaker 5: junction towns, and like later the rail corridors because like 413 00:21:19,280 --> 00:21:22,320 Speaker 5: jurisdictional enforcement was thin in these areas. 414 00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:24,520 Speaker 3: A lot of times you're just down to us marshalls. 415 00:21:24,280 --> 00:21:27,119 Speaker 5: Right, And the techniques like that he used, he just 416 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:31,320 Speaker 5: lays them out in the memoir. Canada Bill and Deval 417 00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:34,719 Speaker 5: had like a really intense partnership, and so they had 418 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:38,000 Speaker 5: these like spectacular wins together. But then they had this 419 00:21:38,119 --> 00:21:41,400 Speaker 5: dramatic break after they accused each other of cheating. 420 00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:42,400 Speaker 3: Oh for real. 421 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:44,359 Speaker 5: Yeah, and that was right around the time that the 422 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:48,160 Speaker 5: Civil War broke out. So it's not entirely clear what 423 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:50,080 Speaker 5: Bill did during the Civil War. 424 00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:53,000 Speaker 3: Well, because all the riverboat traffic stops basically, so these 425 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:55,080 Speaker 3: guys all see it coming. And so that's why imagine 426 00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:56,679 Speaker 3: when they were doing the it's like one of those 427 00:21:56,720 --> 00:21:58,760 Speaker 3: I'm gonna get one last score before the war. I 428 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:00,560 Speaker 3: bet that's why they that was. 429 00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:02,360 Speaker 2: But then it's like, I don't know what he did, 430 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:04,080 Speaker 2: laid low, whatever he. 431 00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:05,600 Speaker 3: Did, I'm probably stage coach. 432 00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:07,679 Speaker 2: Yeah, that would be a good guess. I'll give you 433 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:09,760 Speaker 2: that mark that down, good guess. 434 00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:11,960 Speaker 3: You got to keep it moving, he always do. 435 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:12,719 Speaker 4: So. 436 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:15,399 Speaker 5: After the war, though, he popped up in Kansas City 437 00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:18,040 Speaker 5: and he was hanging out with this guy, Dutch Charlie. 438 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:22,240 Speaker 5: Canada Bill and Dutch Charlie. Now there are a few 439 00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:25,800 Speaker 5: bad dudes named Dutch Charlie floating around. Really, Yeah, there's 440 00:22:26,200 --> 00:22:29,480 Speaker 5: a but it was there was a prospector in the 441 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:34,119 Speaker 5: Gold Country. There was like a terrible Desperado in the Northwest, 442 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:37,919 Speaker 5: just terrorizing the Northwest. There was this murderous former fire 443 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:43,199 Speaker 5: chief in San Francisco. Yeah, but Bill's Charlie was not 444 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:45,040 Speaker 5: one of those guys. And from what I've read, this 445 00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:48,760 Speaker 5: actually was a very common nickname for German guys in 446 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:49,359 Speaker 5: those days. 447 00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:53,280 Speaker 3: Dutch charged the Dutch, so they're actually not Dutch. They're 448 00:22:53,320 --> 00:22:55,880 Speaker 3: usually like the Pennsylvania Dutch exactly. 449 00:22:56,400 --> 00:22:59,439 Speaker 5: So Bill and Charlie they worked to trains together on 450 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:04,760 Speaker 5: the Maha Kansas City Corridor. They ran mostly three card monty, Okay, 451 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:07,680 Speaker 5: and it is impossible to beat the dealer in three 452 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:11,399 Speaker 5: card manti. Just can't be done. People should know that 453 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:15,600 Speaker 5: they still fell for it. So this shill would like 454 00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:18,280 Speaker 5: sidle up to a mark and pretend to conspire with him, 455 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:20,560 Speaker 5: like let's go cheat the dealer, like I know how 456 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:22,639 Speaker 5: to break this, and the Mark is like this is 457 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:25,000 Speaker 5: my lucky day. I'm and this plot I can beat 458 00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:27,679 Speaker 5: the house at their own game. Shill obviously works for 459 00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:31,040 Speaker 5: the dealer, not the mark. The Kansas City Star newspaper 460 00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:34,520 Speaker 5: broke down the con in this nineteen seventeen article, quote, 461 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:37,919 Speaker 5: three card Monty was played with three cards, not the 462 00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:41,360 Speaker 5: ordinary playing cards. They were cards made for the very purpose. 463 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:44,120 Speaker 5: One of them had a picture of an elephant on it, 464 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:47,440 Speaker 5: another the picture of a snake, and the third a star. 465 00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:51,000 Speaker 5: The operator holds the star card in one hand and 466 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:53,399 Speaker 5: the other two between his thumb and forefinger in the 467 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:56,000 Speaker 5: other hand, and throws them on the table or cloth. 468 00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:59,760 Speaker 5: He bets, you can't pick the star card, but here's 469 00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:02,960 Speaker 5: the Canada Bill worked it in the first place. Most 470 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:05,359 Speaker 5: of his work was done on the railroad trains. You 471 00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:08,560 Speaker 5: know how lonesome you get riding along in a smoker car. 472 00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:12,160 Speaker 5: Canada Bill always had a capper who was a good 473 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:15,520 Speaker 5: makeup man too. The capper singled out his victim and 474 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:18,600 Speaker 5: took a seat alongside him and began to exchange confidences 475 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:21,920 Speaker 5: long before Canada Bill appeared. When the capper and the 476 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:25,160 Speaker 5: victim became good friends, Canada Bill would heave in sight. 477 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:28,600 Speaker 5: Sometimes he would be a Montana sheep man, sometimes a 478 00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:32,719 Speaker 5: retired farmer, sometimes a country merchant. He would plant himself 479 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:35,480 Speaker 5: in the seat opposite the capper and the mark and 480 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:38,000 Speaker 5: pull out a roll of greenbacks and began to brag 481 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:40,400 Speaker 5: about having the best of luck. Then he would tell 482 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:43,600 Speaker 5: about going into Butte and playing three card monty, and 483 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:45,920 Speaker 5: he would produce a set of cards which he said 484 00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:48,399 Speaker 5: he'd bought. The capper would ask him what kind of 485 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:50,840 Speaker 5: game it was, and so Canada Bill would throw the 486 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:53,200 Speaker 5: cards and the capper would try his luck at picking 487 00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:55,480 Speaker 5: out the Star card, and he'd win three out of 488 00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:59,000 Speaker 5: four bets. By this time, the sucker would be getting interested. 489 00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:03,360 Speaker 5: Seeing good pass Then Canada Bill's psychology mill would begin 490 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:05,919 Speaker 5: to work. While the cards were laying on the cloth 491 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:08,359 Speaker 5: or the car seat, he would turn his head and 492 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:11,359 Speaker 5: hunt a spittoon, and quick as a flash, the copper 493 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:13,800 Speaker 5: would turn the star cards so the sucker could see it. 494 00:25:14,119 --> 00:25:16,760 Speaker 5: And nine times out of ten, the sucker plays because 495 00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:19,439 Speaker 5: he thinks he's got a sure thing. When the cards 496 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:22,120 Speaker 5: were switched, the copper would encourage the sucker to make 497 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:25,160 Speaker 5: a huge bet. Whatever card the sucker picked would prove 498 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:27,560 Speaker 5: to be an elephant or a snake, and he would 499 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:30,520 Speaker 5: lose his money. That was because Canada Bill had definitely 500 00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:34,320 Speaker 5: replaced the star with superb sleight of hand. Moreover, when 501 00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:37,320 Speaker 5: the sucker lost, he was generally afraid to complain because 502 00:25:37,359 --> 00:25:39,320 Speaker 5: he'd have to fess up that he thought he had 503 00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:39,880 Speaker 5: a sure thing. 504 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:41,280 Speaker 3: Yeah, he thinks he's cheating. 505 00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:46,040 Speaker 5: It's so simple, like it plays on psychology, ego, hope, 506 00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:46,760 Speaker 5: it's genius. 507 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:48,919 Speaker 3: It's like an instantaneous con. You know, you do very 508 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:51,080 Speaker 3: quickly conning and then they get them to think, oh, 509 00:25:51,119 --> 00:25:53,320 Speaker 3: I'm going to get over on you, right. 510 00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:55,760 Speaker 5: Right, you know you can be the con. So the 511 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:59,040 Speaker 5: Union Pacific Railroad was not so happy to be this 512 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:02,960 Speaker 5: rolling thing you for this con, so they cracked down 513 00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:08,640 Speaker 5: on Monty. Bill actually tried to buy an exclusive franchise 514 00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:10,680 Speaker 5: for the game from the railroad. 515 00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:12,200 Speaker 3: Really, he's let me have this one. 516 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:15,800 Speaker 5: He wrote to the head of the railroad and said 517 00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:18,199 Speaker 5: that he was going to offer them money, and then 518 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:21,160 Speaker 5: some accounts it was ten thousand a year. Others say 519 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:22,920 Speaker 5: it was one thousand a month. There's one that said 520 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:26,399 Speaker 5: it was like thirty grand a year that I'll offer 521 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:28,520 Speaker 5: you money if you let me run three. 522 00:26:28,359 --> 00:26:29,200 Speaker 2: Card MONTI. 523 00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:31,320 Speaker 3: Yes what I'm doing. 524 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:33,240 Speaker 2: No matter how much he. 525 00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:36,760 Speaker 5: Offered, the railroad passed on the opportunity, like they don't 526 00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:38,600 Speaker 5: want to give him a carve out on the ban 527 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:40,520 Speaker 5: on three card Monty. 528 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:44,480 Speaker 3: For a reason, we're into this legitimate business because we're 529 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:45,440 Speaker 3: like this, we're. 530 00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:48,000 Speaker 5: Like that, and people don't want to ride the rails 531 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:50,960 Speaker 5: if they're going to get taken. So Canada Bill really 532 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:53,879 Speaker 5: put his game on in Omaha, Nebraska. He got really 533 00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:57,160 Speaker 5: good at it there and so you know, he always 534 00:26:57,160 --> 00:27:00,239 Speaker 5: he played the he dressed the part, you know, going 535 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:01,000 Speaker 5: to be a farmer. 536 00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:03,600 Speaker 2: But like he didn't go overboard, right, So if he. 537 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:06,399 Speaker 5: Said he was, that's right, and he didn't have it 538 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:08,960 Speaker 5: like tuck behind his ear, straw behind his ear and 539 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:11,879 Speaker 5: he would just look like, I'm a prosperous farmer, you know. 540 00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:13,160 Speaker 2: If he was like a merchant. 541 00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:16,040 Speaker 5: He he never overdid what they called the makeup, the 542 00:27:16,119 --> 00:27:19,440 Speaker 5: costume of it, and people just would remember him. And 543 00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:22,959 Speaker 5: so he pulled these cons over and over and it 544 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:26,760 Speaker 5: got him press as well as attention from the authority. 545 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:27,640 Speaker 3: That's not what you want. 546 00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:30,760 Speaker 5: It didn't stop people from becoming victims of his scams. 547 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:34,000 Speaker 5: But still so like in the April twenty third, eighteen 548 00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:39,200 Speaker 5: seventy three newspaper Omaha Evening Bee, Bill Is. 549 00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:42,680 Speaker 3: Reported read a minute the papers called the Omaha Evening b. Yes, 550 00:27:43,119 --> 00:27:45,280 Speaker 3: not a morning paper. Usually the B is the morning paper. 551 00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:49,360 Speaker 3: They're like the night paper might be to ad at night. 552 00:27:49,520 --> 00:27:52,239 Speaker 5: It's the it's the B side to Gregory, Isaac's night 553 00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:57,119 Speaker 5: nurses might be the night be so Billy, they reported. 554 00:27:57,280 --> 00:28:00,960 Speaker 5: Bill that morning At appeared in court. He was charged 555 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:04,360 Speaker 5: with conning a man and wife, last name of Jarvis, 556 00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:07,399 Speaker 5: at eight hundred dollars at three card Monty in a 557 00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:11,760 Speaker 5: saloon south of the Omaha Union Pacific Depot. It's like 558 00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:14,800 Speaker 5: the courtroom's packed. Everyone's loving this. They want to see it. 559 00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:17,679 Speaker 5: So the first up to testify is the wife of 560 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:22,479 Speaker 5: the saloon owner, Missus Gosman. She tells the Omaha Evening Bee, right, 561 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:24,639 Speaker 5: they noted in there in the paper that she's a 562 00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:25,120 Speaker 5: little deaf. 563 00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:31,600 Speaker 3: It's like, okay, was she asked him? Repeat questions, Gosman. 564 00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:32,200 Speaker 2: Who's a little deaf? 565 00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:35,320 Speaker 3: She testified, So she said, they're written in parentheses like 566 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:35,920 Speaker 3: the whispering. 567 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:38,360 Speaker 2: Well, I think this part is important, she said. 568 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:40,240 Speaker 5: She really wasn't sure what was going on out in 569 00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:42,960 Speaker 5: the bar room because she was at the stove in 570 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:43,479 Speaker 5: the kitchen. 571 00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:44,640 Speaker 3: All right, so I did actually happen. 572 00:28:45,040 --> 00:28:46,000 Speaker 2: What was she doing in there? 573 00:28:46,080 --> 00:28:46,200 Speaker 6: Well? 574 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:47,280 Speaker 3: What was she doing there? Elizabeth? 575 00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:49,640 Speaker 5: Thank you zer, and I'm so glad you asked? She 576 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:52,080 Speaker 5: was making a cup of coffee for Canada Bill to 577 00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:57,200 Speaker 5: study his nerves. Yeah, and then Henry the owner, he 578 00:28:57,320 --> 00:29:00,000 Speaker 5: said he saw Canada Bill like a bunch of times before, 579 00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:02,440 Speaker 5: and yeah, I saw him on that day, but I don't. 580 00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:03,920 Speaker 2: Know what he was doing in there. I don't know 581 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:05,000 Speaker 2: anything about gambling. 582 00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:10,400 Speaker 5: And so the deputy City Marshall, Marshall Snowden, he found 583 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:13,080 Speaker 5: Canada Bill later that day and Bill like straight up 584 00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:14,720 Speaker 5: told him, yeah, I beat a couple out of. 585 00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:15,800 Speaker 2: Some of the months of money. 586 00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:18,560 Speaker 5: And then he's like, but I gave it all back 587 00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:20,160 Speaker 5: except for like one hundred and fifty bucks. 588 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:21,240 Speaker 2: I kept one hundred and fifty. 589 00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:22,280 Speaker 3: I was going back and forth. 590 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:25,440 Speaker 2: I have to take you. 591 00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:28,800 Speaker 5: To jail, like you conned them. That was the extent 592 00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:31,880 Speaker 5: of the testimony. So Bill's lawyer makes this really good 593 00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:34,120 Speaker 5: case of like why he shouldn't get in trouble for it, 594 00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:37,160 Speaker 5: and then when he's rendering his judgment, the judge is like, 595 00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:41,080 Speaker 5: I am convinced that Bill is guilty of the charges 596 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:43,880 Speaker 5: against him, and he said I was also sure quote 597 00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:47,160 Speaker 5: that three card Monty was a swindle and all who 598 00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:50,520 Speaker 5: played it were swindlers dealers as well as Kapper's being 599 00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:52,840 Speaker 5: equally guilty. And he was like, you know, if we 600 00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:56,320 Speaker 5: keep letting this go. It's a blight on our beautiful city. 601 00:29:56,360 --> 00:29:56,760 Speaker 2: He wants the. 602 00:29:56,760 --> 00:29:59,000 Speaker 5: Authorities to crack down otherwise people aren't going to want 603 00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:02,800 Speaker 5: to come here anymore. But like, he also points out 604 00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:05,640 Speaker 5: that apparently there were other witnesses set to testify who 605 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:08,960 Speaker 5: just didn't turn up, and so the testimony that they 606 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:11,880 Speaker 5: had just wasn't enough to convict. So all he could 607 00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:15,080 Speaker 5: do was hand out like a severe reprimand, and so 608 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:17,960 Speaker 5: he imposed a fine of fifty bucks bills on his way. 609 00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:22,600 Speaker 5: Legend intact. I've talked about Bunkomen before. Oh yeah, so 610 00:30:22,720 --> 00:30:26,120 Speaker 5: those and like the three card body guys, they befriended 611 00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:29,640 Speaker 5: unsuspecting visitors in town all across the US, and they'd 612 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:32,840 Speaker 5: lure these roubes into card games, like you know Canada 613 00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:35,320 Speaker 5: Bill and his fellow card sharps, and they always had 614 00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:38,760 Speaker 5: like muscle in the wings waiting to put down an uprising, 615 00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:42,320 Speaker 5: and much to the chagrin of like the judges, the 616 00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:44,680 Speaker 5: Omaha police generally just left it alone. 617 00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:45,960 Speaker 2: They left all this just. 618 00:30:46,120 --> 00:30:51,000 Speaker 5: So it's kind of like, but see the real pressure 619 00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:55,240 Speaker 5: on Canada Bill and his compatriots were the railroad detectives. 620 00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:58,080 Speaker 5: So let's go back to Alan pinkertized, I. 621 00:30:58,040 --> 00:30:59,840 Speaker 3: Just about to say, I'm sensing some pankritis. 622 00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:04,240 Speaker 5: Here's another of his observations on Bill. Quote Canada Bill's 623 00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:07,600 Speaker 5: peculiar genius never failed to give him victory. And it 624 00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:09,800 Speaker 5: is said of him that he never made a mistake 625 00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:14,560 Speaker 5: and never failed to win money whenever he attempted it. Okay, 626 00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:18,480 Speaker 5: so he said that, oh yeah, he what set Canada Bill? 627 00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:22,200 Speaker 5: According to Pinkerton, set Canada Bill apart from all the 628 00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:25,280 Speaker 5: other card sharps was quote the fact that he was 629 00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:26,920 Speaker 5: the thing. He seemed to be. 630 00:31:27,840 --> 00:31:30,000 Speaker 3: Oh right, so he's not putting on some kind of airs, 631 00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:32,680 Speaker 3: and he goes. 632 00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:37,480 Speaker 5: On quote Old gamblers and sporting men could never fathom him. 633 00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:41,320 Speaker 5: He was an enigma to his closest friends. A short 634 00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:44,360 Speaker 5: study of the awkward ambling fellow would give one the 635 00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:48,120 Speaker 5: impression that he was simply supremely clever in his manner, 636 00:31:48,120 --> 00:31:50,360 Speaker 5: and makeup that he was merely one of the most 637 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:53,959 Speaker 5: accomplished actors in his profession ever known, and that he 638 00:31:54,040 --> 00:31:57,320 Speaker 5: only kept up this appearance of guilelessness for the purpose 639 00:31:57,320 --> 00:32:00,840 Speaker 5: of acquiring greater reputation among his fellows. But those who 640 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:03,520 Speaker 5: knew him, as far as it was possible to know, 641 00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:07,080 Speaker 5: the wandering vagabond that he was, assert that he was 642 00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:11,640 Speaker 5: the most unaffected, innocent and really simple hearted of human 643 00:32:11,680 --> 00:32:15,000 Speaker 5: beings and never had been anything and never could have 644 00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:17,560 Speaker 5: been anything save just what he was. 645 00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:20,400 Speaker 3: So he's almost like a holy fool, but without so 646 00:32:20,520 --> 00:32:23,760 Speaker 3: much of the aspect that we would describe to being dumb. Yeah, 647 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:26,440 Speaker 3: it's just an innocent lacking about And I. 648 00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:30,000 Speaker 5: Really think it's because of his upbringing, Like he learned 649 00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:31,760 Speaker 5: the cons as part of his culture. 650 00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:33,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, he's what he knows and part of survival. 651 00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:37,040 Speaker 5: He didn't carry the shame others may have hangen around 652 00:32:37,080 --> 00:32:38,680 Speaker 5: those activities. So that's just who he is. 653 00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:40,880 Speaker 3: Church. Yeah. 654 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:44,480 Speaker 5: Yeah, So there's this there's this great article in the 655 00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:49,240 Speaker 5: Beaver Crossing Times. You were just am I making him 656 00:32:49,280 --> 00:32:53,840 Speaker 5: up to say from eighteen ninety two that echoes much 657 00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:57,920 Speaker 5: of what others said. Quote he was large, formed man 658 00:32:58,120 --> 00:33:01,840 Speaker 5: with a cleanly shaven face, square jaw, deep set eyes, 659 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:05,480 Speaker 5: the expression of a sphinx. His favorite disguise was the 660 00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:08,480 Speaker 5: makeup of a cattle drover, and as there were more 661 00:33:08,520 --> 00:33:11,040 Speaker 5: members of that class on the road Canada, Bill had 662 00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:14,360 Speaker 5: no difficulty in passing himself off as one of them. 663 00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:17,960 Speaker 5: He always carried two or three confederates or cappers with him, 664 00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:20,720 Speaker 5: and the money that he won with his three little 665 00:33:20,760 --> 00:33:23,880 Speaker 5: cards during half a dozen years would buy a bank 666 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:28,440 Speaker 5: and pay officers' salaries for twenty years. Whenever arrested, Bill 667 00:33:28,480 --> 00:33:31,600 Speaker 5: would plead guilty, and no matter how large a fine 668 00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:34,400 Speaker 5: would be imposed, he would flash up a bundle of greenbacks, 669 00:33:34,720 --> 00:33:37,280 Speaker 5: thank the court for doing its duty, and bow himself 670 00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:37,920 Speaker 5: into the street. 671 00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:39,600 Speaker 3: How much was the fine? I got to go? 672 00:33:39,920 --> 00:33:42,240 Speaker 2: So again, he's you know, he's not remorseful. 673 00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:44,800 Speaker 5: He's not he doesn't feel guilty because he doesn't think 674 00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:46,320 Speaker 5: that there's no shame in this. 675 00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:48,120 Speaker 3: He think it's an operating cost. 676 00:33:48,280 --> 00:33:50,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, except cost of doing business. 677 00:33:51,280 --> 00:33:56,480 Speaker 5: Now, the Canada Bill Gang broke up in eighteen seventy candid, Yeah, 678 00:33:56,520 --> 00:33:58,600 Speaker 5: and most of the members they just went west and 679 00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:01,760 Speaker 5: hit up like the gold and silver fields of California 680 00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:02,280 Speaker 5: and Nevada. 681 00:34:03,160 --> 00:34:05,680 Speaker 2: But they left this mark on Omaha and. 682 00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:09,520 Speaker 5: The city had a reputation for illegal card rackets for 683 00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:11,799 Speaker 5: decades after because of them. 684 00:34:11,960 --> 00:34:14,680 Speaker 3: I was gonna say, my grandfather, who was the son 685 00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:18,160 Speaker 3: of farmers, and one of his his father's named James 686 00:34:18,160 --> 00:34:21,120 Speaker 3: Garfield after the President. All right. They he used to 687 00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:22,759 Speaker 3: always warned me when I would go to that, like 688 00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:24,759 Speaker 3: when I went to San Francisco and he would tell me, like, 689 00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:26,040 Speaker 3: you know, you got to make sure you don't get 690 00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:28,239 Speaker 3: involved in like three card MONI I'm like, yeah, people 691 00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:30,120 Speaker 3: don't really do that. And then they get to North 692 00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:33,040 Speaker 3: Beach and there was something throwing the car. I was like, 693 00:34:33,320 --> 00:34:36,560 Speaker 3: I'm putting down twenty on this. I gotta see it. 694 00:34:37,680 --> 00:34:41,400 Speaker 5: Well, that's what the omaha. They gave this reputation to him. 695 00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:44,080 Speaker 5: Let's let's stop here for a second and we'll get 696 00:34:44,120 --> 00:34:45,640 Speaker 5: more Canada Bill after the. 697 00:34:45,600 --> 00:35:08,080 Speaker 7: Break, please, Zaren Elizabeth. 698 00:35:07,560 --> 00:35:09,719 Speaker 2: Zaven So Canada Bill, can. 699 00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:10,960 Speaker 3: I tell you how much I'm digging this? 700 00:35:11,080 --> 00:35:11,839 Speaker 2: You know, is any great? 701 00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:13,040 Speaker 3: I love nineteenth century crime? 702 00:35:13,080 --> 00:35:16,279 Speaker 5: But this guy, I mean, if he existed, Canada Bill, 703 00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:16,959 Speaker 5: now he's real. 704 00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:18,600 Speaker 2: He cheated a lot of people. 705 00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:22,080 Speaker 3: It sounds like that's he wasn't a bad dude. No, 706 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:24,680 Speaker 3: he gave them entertainment and they don't feel like such 707 00:35:24,719 --> 00:35:26,360 Speaker 3: suckers that they're like losing their. 708 00:35:26,160 --> 00:35:29,000 Speaker 5: Homes or like and and there were parts when he 709 00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:30,640 Speaker 5: really was not a bad dude at all. 710 00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:32,920 Speaker 2: Because Zaren, close your eyes. 711 00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:44,839 Speaker 8: Yeah, as it closed, I want you to picture it. 712 00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:48,680 Speaker 5: It's the spring of eighteen seventy four. You are a 713 00:35:48,719 --> 00:35:52,439 Speaker 5: newspaper reporter based out of Chicago. You're on the Lake 714 00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:54,760 Speaker 5: Shore Train headed out to Toledo. 715 00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:55,640 Speaker 2: Going to visit some family. 716 00:35:56,280 --> 00:35:58,800 Speaker 5: You sit in the smoking car, puffing on a pipe 717 00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:01,200 Speaker 5: with your notepad in your lap app thinking about a 718 00:36:01,239 --> 00:36:04,800 Speaker 5: collection of short stories you're working on. The train chugs 719 00:36:04,840 --> 00:36:08,400 Speaker 5: along in a mesmerizing rhythm. The door to the carriage 720 00:36:08,440 --> 00:36:11,840 Speaker 5: slides open and a man enters. You'd know him anywhere. 721 00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:16,160 Speaker 5: That's Canada, Bill Jones. Everyone at the paper is fascinated 722 00:36:16,200 --> 00:36:19,200 Speaker 5: by him. There's a twinkle in his eye. He nods 723 00:36:19,239 --> 00:36:21,080 Speaker 5: at you and takes a seat across the aisle. 724 00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:22,880 Speaker 2: He starts sort. 725 00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:26,040 Speaker 5: Of carelessly tossing cards around on the chair opposite him, 726 00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:29,920 Speaker 5: laying cards on the seat, flipping him, sorting, shuffling. A 727 00:36:29,960 --> 00:36:33,000 Speaker 5: man approaches and watches Bill. Bill offers a game of 728 00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:36,880 Speaker 5: three card Monti. This is gonna be good. You think 729 00:36:37,360 --> 00:36:40,400 Speaker 5: the guy wins a hand. You know he must be 730 00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:41,040 Speaker 5: a capper. 731 00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:42,799 Speaker 2: He's in on it. There's just no way. 732 00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:45,279 Speaker 5: This is cemented in your mind when he wins a 733 00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:49,759 Speaker 5: second round. Soon, two more gentlemen approach and watch. One 734 00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:51,480 Speaker 5: of them takes the bait, and you wait for him 735 00:36:51,520 --> 00:36:54,399 Speaker 5: to lose his bet. He does, and he wins. More 736 00:36:54,440 --> 00:36:57,960 Speaker 5: men gather and watch. The second fellow tries again and loses, 737 00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:00,360 Speaker 5: but he doubles down on a third try and wins. 738 00:37:00,719 --> 00:37:03,279 Speaker 5: The gathered group lets out hollers and whoops it. 739 00:37:03,600 --> 00:37:06,840 Speaker 2: They can't believe their eyes. Bill shakes his head and 740 00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:08,320 Speaker 2: hands over twenty dollars. 741 00:37:08,760 --> 00:37:11,400 Speaker 5: Why that very well may be worth five hundred and 742 00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:13,879 Speaker 5: fifty dollars one hundred and fifty years time or so. 743 00:37:14,480 --> 00:37:15,920 Speaker 2: That's some cash. 744 00:37:16,239 --> 00:37:18,319 Speaker 5: Just then, a country boy with a pipe in his 745 00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:22,000 Speaker 5: mouth approaches, bow legged and obviously out of his element. 746 00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:23,120 Speaker 2: He stares at Bill. 747 00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:25,920 Speaker 5: You'd clocked him watching all of this from the end 748 00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:28,359 Speaker 5: of the car, and now he's standing right here next 749 00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:32,319 Speaker 5: to you, assessing the game for himself. He reaches into 750 00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:36,320 Speaker 5: his pocket and pulls out a stuffed billfold, producing ten bucks. 751 00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:38,880 Speaker 5: He bets Bill he can pick the right card. 752 00:37:39,239 --> 00:37:40,279 Speaker 2: Bill tells me he's on. 753 00:37:41,239 --> 00:37:45,080 Speaker 5: In quick successive hands, he manages to double his money. 754 00:37:45,440 --> 00:37:49,400 Speaker 5: The gathered men chuckle and cheer. He racks up more wins, 755 00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:54,000 Speaker 5: three than four, then five hands, then six. You don't 756 00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:56,600 Speaker 5: take this guy for a capper based on what you 757 00:37:56,680 --> 00:37:59,520 Speaker 5: know of this con Bill has been luring this guy 758 00:37:59,600 --> 00:38:02,279 Speaker 5: into a false sense of confidence in his skills at 759 00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:06,960 Speaker 5: an unwinnable game. With each win, the guy increases his bets, 760 00:38:07,040 --> 00:38:10,200 Speaker 5: ballooning the amount of money at stake. But then his 761 00:38:10,320 --> 00:38:15,719 Speaker 5: luck changes. He loses and loses again and again, and 762 00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:18,880 Speaker 5: he gets desperate. He tries to increase the bets in 763 00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:21,759 Speaker 5: order to make his money back. The smoking car is 764 00:38:21,840 --> 00:38:25,120 Speaker 5: now silent, just the sound of the train rolling down 765 00:38:25,120 --> 00:38:28,560 Speaker 5: the tracks and the occasional clearing of a throat. To 766 00:38:28,640 --> 00:38:32,160 Speaker 5: accompany a massive loss, the man runs out of money. 767 00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:35,680 Speaker 5: Two men stand behind you watching the scene. One turns 768 00:38:35,719 --> 00:38:37,960 Speaker 5: to the other and asks how much the guy lost 769 00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:41,600 Speaker 5: because he wasn't keeping track. Six hundred dollars, the other 770 00:38:41,680 --> 00:38:45,400 Speaker 5: man says, man whistles. In one hundred and fifty one 771 00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:48,600 Speaker 5: years time, in twenty twenty five, that would be seventeen 772 00:38:48,800 --> 00:38:51,880 Speaker 5: thousand dollars lost in a card game. 773 00:38:52,200 --> 00:38:54,359 Speaker 2: In the smoking car of a train on a. 774 00:38:54,360 --> 00:38:58,560 Speaker 5: Regional railroad, the country boy stands and straightens himself. Out 775 00:38:58,920 --> 00:39:03,440 Speaker 5: car remains quiet. He looks dazed. Excusing himself, he shuffles 776 00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:06,040 Speaker 5: past the gathered group and out into the next car. 777 00:39:06,400 --> 00:39:09,399 Speaker 5: The men all disperse, some to other ends of the car, 778 00:39:09,560 --> 00:39:13,360 Speaker 5: some to other carriages. Canada Bill Jones gathers his cards 779 00:39:13,400 --> 00:39:15,400 Speaker 5: and tucks him in the front pocket of his jacket. 780 00:39:15,880 --> 00:39:18,719 Speaker 5: He pulls his soft leather cash bag from the interior 781 00:39:18,760 --> 00:39:21,080 Speaker 5: pocket of his jacket and places his winnings in there, 782 00:39:21,480 --> 00:39:24,000 Speaker 5: a bundle of cash, Joining a crowd of other ill 783 00:39:24,040 --> 00:39:27,240 Speaker 5: gotten bills. He takes a newspaper from the seat beside 784 00:39:27,280 --> 00:39:30,399 Speaker 5: him and begins to scan the articles. You all ride 785 00:39:30,440 --> 00:39:33,160 Speaker 5: along in silence. You think about what you've just witnessed, 786 00:39:33,200 --> 00:39:35,880 Speaker 5: think about how to incorporate it into a short story. 787 00:39:36,320 --> 00:39:37,240 Speaker 2: Then there's a commotion. 788 00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:40,239 Speaker 5: The door to the smoking car flies open, and a 789 00:39:40,280 --> 00:39:42,839 Speaker 5: woman enters, dragging two small children with her. 790 00:39:43,160 --> 00:39:44,120 Speaker 2: She's crying. 791 00:39:44,560 --> 00:39:46,560 Speaker 5: She scans the faces of the men in the car, 792 00:39:46,840 --> 00:39:49,480 Speaker 5: most of her their eyes not Canada Bill. 793 00:39:49,560 --> 00:39:50,640 Speaker 2: He looks straight at her. 794 00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:56,840 Speaker 5: She approaches Canada Bill, she asks, yes, ma'am. He answers bawling. 795 00:39:56,960 --> 00:39:59,359 Speaker 5: She tells him that she her husband, and their two 796 00:39:59,360 --> 00:40:02,879 Speaker 5: small children and had sold out everything they'd owned in 797 00:40:02,920 --> 00:40:06,239 Speaker 5: Mercer County, Pennsylvania, and were on their way to Kansas 798 00:40:06,280 --> 00:40:09,520 Speaker 5: to start a new life. All the money they had 799 00:40:09,880 --> 00:40:11,839 Speaker 5: was the six hundred and some odd dollars that her 800 00:40:11,880 --> 00:40:15,040 Speaker 5: husband had just lost in three card money. She then 801 00:40:15,120 --> 00:40:18,200 Speaker 5: collapses to her knees, holding onto the seat across from Bill. 802 00:40:18,640 --> 00:40:22,319 Speaker 5: Her kids stare wide eyed at the scene. She exclaims 803 00:40:22,520 --> 00:40:25,440 Speaker 5: that children and I must starve mister, just because my 804 00:40:25,640 --> 00:40:26,880 Speaker 5: man was a fool. 805 00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:29,600 Speaker 2: Canada Bill shows no expression. 806 00:40:30,480 --> 00:40:32,840 Speaker 5: He stares at the woman and every soul in the 807 00:40:32,880 --> 00:40:37,359 Speaker 5: smoking car seems to simultaneously hold his breath. Slowly, Bill 808 00:40:37,400 --> 00:40:40,880 Speaker 5: reaches into his pants pocket. He pulls out an enormous 809 00:40:40,960 --> 00:40:44,640 Speaker 5: wad of money. Slowly, he counts off six hundred dollars 810 00:40:44,680 --> 00:40:47,720 Speaker 5: and hands it to the woman. Here's your money, madam. 811 00:40:48,080 --> 00:40:50,640 Speaker 5: I never rob women and children, but I want you 812 00:40:50,800 --> 00:40:53,080 Speaker 5: to keep it to yourself in the future, as that 813 00:40:53,239 --> 00:40:56,080 Speaker 5: husband of yours doesn't know enough to go without a guardian. 814 00:40:57,040 --> 00:40:59,360 Speaker 5: She is about to say something, but he raises his 815 00:40:59,400 --> 00:41:02,879 Speaker 5: hand to stop. He then continues to peel Bills off 816 00:41:02,920 --> 00:41:07,360 Speaker 5: the stack twenty after twenty. Then he speaks, here's a 817 00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:09,560 Speaker 5: present for the babies, Now run back to them and 818 00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:10,440 Speaker 5: stop your crying. 819 00:41:11,360 --> 00:41:13,160 Speaker 2: So Canada Bill. 820 00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:15,600 Speaker 3: I love him. Wasn't all bad, dude, I mean, like, 821 00:41:15,719 --> 00:41:18,160 Speaker 3: okay one that was fantastic scene like, you know, I 822 00:41:18,160 --> 00:41:19,919 Speaker 3: listened to, as I say, often a lot of old 823 00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:23,240 Speaker 3: radio shows that felt like something from like Frontier Gentleman 824 00:41:23,440 --> 00:41:26,759 Speaker 3: or from like Have Gunwheel Travel totally, I mean even 825 00:41:26,800 --> 00:41:29,360 Speaker 3: gun Smoke. I was like, oh, that was an amazing scene. 826 00:41:29,640 --> 00:41:31,960 Speaker 3: And then I love that he like wants to protect 827 00:41:32,719 --> 00:41:35,040 Speaker 3: the women and the women and the children from the 828 00:41:35,080 --> 00:41:36,640 Speaker 3: idiocy of the husband, like I know. 829 00:41:36,760 --> 00:41:38,680 Speaker 2: You shouldn't be traveling hat a guardian. 830 00:41:38,760 --> 00:41:41,560 Speaker 3: What a great line, babe. And also how amazing is 831 00:41:41,600 --> 00:41:43,960 Speaker 3: it what people used to do before we had cell phones, 832 00:41:44,040 --> 00:41:47,120 Speaker 3: iPhones and whatnot. But there's whole industries like that made 833 00:41:47,160 --> 00:41:48,880 Speaker 3: for boredom. You're just sitting on a trail and all 834 00:41:48,920 --> 00:41:51,200 Speaker 3: the sudden you got gambling. Everyone gets all excited. Yeah 835 00:41:51,280 --> 00:41:52,520 Speaker 3: we get none of that now. 836 00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:56,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, no exactly. And so and he's he refuses to 837 00:41:56,080 --> 00:41:57,080 Speaker 2: rob women and show. 838 00:41:57,000 --> 00:41:58,960 Speaker 3: Yes, love this outlawful caro. 839 00:41:59,120 --> 00:41:59,920 Speaker 2: But you know, here's the thing. 840 00:42:00,040 --> 00:42:02,359 Speaker 5: So not even his former partner in crime with whom 841 00:42:02,360 --> 00:42:05,120 Speaker 5: he'd had a falling out, would bad mouth him. Here's 842 00:42:05,200 --> 00:42:09,840 Speaker 5: what Devaal said quote there never lived a better hearted 843 00:42:09,880 --> 00:42:12,719 Speaker 5: man than Canada Bill. Many a time I've seen him 844 00:42:12,760 --> 00:42:15,359 Speaker 5: walk up to a sister of charity and present her 845 00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:18,080 Speaker 5: with as much as fifty dollars. Once I saw him 846 00:42:18,080 --> 00:42:20,200 Speaker 5: win two hundred dollars from a man on a boat, 847 00:42:20,360 --> 00:42:23,319 Speaker 5: and shortly after the little boy came running through the 848 00:42:23,360 --> 00:42:26,560 Speaker 5: cabin and Bill gave the boy two hundred dollars, telling 849 00:42:26,640 --> 00:42:28,560 Speaker 5: him to take it to his mother. He had no 850 00:42:28,680 --> 00:42:31,759 Speaker 5: heart for suckers, however, and he often said gullible people 851 00:42:31,800 --> 00:42:33,040 Speaker 5: had no business with money. 852 00:42:33,120 --> 00:42:34,719 Speaker 3: Yes, I'm with him on that. 853 00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:38,279 Speaker 5: So by eighteen seventy four he was in Chicago. As 854 00:42:38,280 --> 00:42:41,000 Speaker 5: we saw on the train, he teamed up with Jimmy 855 00:42:41,080 --> 00:42:43,560 Speaker 5: Porter and Colonel Charlie Starr. 856 00:42:43,760 --> 00:42:45,120 Speaker 3: Colonel Charlie Star and. 857 00:42:45,680 --> 00:42:48,279 Speaker 5: Who those guys were is lost to history, but their 858 00:42:48,360 --> 00:42:50,560 Speaker 5: names pop up with Bill and news reports. But I 859 00:42:50,560 --> 00:42:53,600 Speaker 5: guess they didn't build the reputation and legacy that build it. 860 00:42:54,280 --> 00:42:57,240 Speaker 5: So the guys they ran their train and boat cons 861 00:42:57,800 --> 00:43:02,400 Speaker 5: but they were also opening gambling houses in Chicago. What 862 00:43:02,520 --> 00:43:06,080 Speaker 5: a time in that city right now. So okay, So 863 00:43:06,280 --> 00:43:11,279 Speaker 5: here's a good final anecdote about him. One day Bill 864 00:43:11,400 --> 00:43:13,560 Speaker 5: was operating on the train. He's waiting for a mark 865 00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:16,799 Speaker 5: and he's strolling down the aisle when he happens upon 866 00:43:16,840 --> 00:43:20,040 Speaker 5: this young man sitting alone, and Bill could tell he's green. 867 00:43:20,640 --> 00:43:21,400 Speaker 2: He's a greenhorn. 868 00:43:21,480 --> 00:43:23,640 Speaker 5: So he slaps the kid on his shoulder, asks his name, 869 00:43:23,680 --> 00:43:26,160 Speaker 5: how you doing, son, what's your name? And the young 870 00:43:26,200 --> 00:43:29,000 Speaker 5: guy he's just like stoked to have someone talk to him, 871 00:43:29,080 --> 00:43:31,719 Speaker 5: and so he invites Bill to sit down, tells him 872 00:43:31,719 --> 00:43:34,080 Speaker 5: his name and he's you know, says I'm I'm the 873 00:43:34,120 --> 00:43:39,360 Speaker 5: nephew of Alexander Ramsey, Sheriff of Ellis County and now sheriff. 874 00:43:39,480 --> 00:43:43,919 Speaker 5: Ramsey was one of Bill's nemeses. Yeah, it was very 875 00:43:44,040 --> 00:43:47,680 Speaker 5: cat and mouse with those and so Bill he saw like, 876 00:43:47,800 --> 00:43:51,160 Speaker 5: this is my chance to get even with Ramsey. So 877 00:43:51,200 --> 00:43:54,200 Speaker 5: he sits down and like in a few minutes, he's 878 00:43:54,239 --> 00:43:57,320 Speaker 5: got all the young guys money, like and his watch 879 00:43:57,880 --> 00:44:01,040 Speaker 5: like every bill on him and the jewel. Oh yes, 880 00:44:02,160 --> 00:44:06,040 Speaker 5: after he had fleeced him. Bill turns to the boy 881 00:44:06,160 --> 00:44:09,680 Speaker 5: and he says, quote, you go home now and tell 882 00:44:09,800 --> 00:44:13,920 Speaker 5: Ramsey that Canada Bill got all your money. Don't forget now, 883 00:44:14,440 --> 00:44:18,279 Speaker 5: tell him that Canada Bill got your money for old 884 00:44:18,280 --> 00:44:19,200 Speaker 5: acquaintance sake. 885 00:44:19,680 --> 00:44:21,040 Speaker 2: Tell him you. 886 00:44:20,920 --> 00:44:24,560 Speaker 5: Had to go without your supper because I had your money. 887 00:44:24,760 --> 00:44:27,120 Speaker 5: And then I haven't forgotten the time he put me 888 00:44:27,200 --> 00:44:29,520 Speaker 5: off that Union Pacific train and made me walk. 889 00:44:29,719 --> 00:44:32,560 Speaker 3: It was like a crentin Tarantino. See can't tell him 890 00:44:32,600 --> 00:44:35,240 Speaker 3: Canada Bill was the one. 891 00:44:34,880 --> 00:44:36,360 Speaker 2: You said to go without dinner. 892 00:44:36,400 --> 00:44:38,480 Speaker 3: Take this car and I'm gonna ride on a Canada 893 00:44:38,520 --> 00:44:40,200 Speaker 3: Bill hand this to Ramsey. 894 00:44:40,360 --> 00:44:43,160 Speaker 5: The boy gets to his destination, his uncle's like picking 895 00:44:43,239 --> 00:44:44,120 Speaker 5: him up at the depot. 896 00:44:44,680 --> 00:44:48,439 Speaker 2: Tells his uncle what happened. The sheriff uncle like he Ramsey. 897 00:44:49,760 --> 00:44:51,480 Speaker 5: Order, yeah, So he and his buddy like top on 898 00:44:51,560 --> 00:44:53,640 Speaker 5: horses and they chase the train to the next station 899 00:44:54,480 --> 00:44:57,839 Speaker 5: and there they boord the train. They find Canada Bill 900 00:44:58,360 --> 00:45:00,719 Speaker 5: and Bill he's like in the smoking ca again. He's 901 00:45:00,760 --> 00:45:04,640 Speaker 5: like just you know, flouncing around. Ramsey comes in. Ramsey 902 00:45:04,680 --> 00:45:07,200 Speaker 5: he like pulled his hat over his eyes and he 903 00:45:07,280 --> 00:45:09,480 Speaker 5: went to the seat where Canada Bill had been playing, 904 00:45:09,640 --> 00:45:11,879 Speaker 5: and like started he bet on the game that had 905 00:45:11,960 --> 00:45:14,680 Speaker 5: just started, so like of course he lost, but he 906 00:45:14,719 --> 00:45:18,600 Speaker 5: didn't say anything until about one thousand dollars was put up. 907 00:45:19,160 --> 00:45:22,840 Speaker 5: And that's when Sheriff Ramsey pulls out two six shooters, 908 00:45:23,400 --> 00:45:26,640 Speaker 5: pulls him on Bill and said, quote, turn down that card, 909 00:45:27,200 --> 00:45:31,080 Speaker 5: you know me hand that money over damn quick and Bill. 910 00:45:31,200 --> 00:45:34,719 Speaker 5: Bill's not scared Bill is just like so cool, and 911 00:45:34,800 --> 00:45:38,800 Speaker 5: Conice hands over the cash and says, quote, of course 912 00:45:38,840 --> 00:45:41,200 Speaker 5: the money's yours. You want it, you hold the winning 913 00:45:41,239 --> 00:45:44,440 Speaker 5: cards in your hand, Fine take it. 914 00:45:44,520 --> 00:45:46,040 Speaker 3: I like that. The man of law and order now 915 00:45:46,120 --> 00:45:48,600 Speaker 3: is the criminal in the start. He's the one robbing Bill. 916 00:45:48,760 --> 00:45:52,959 Speaker 5: So the law man who'd heard about it later told 917 00:45:52,960 --> 00:45:56,120 Speaker 5: a reporter that the sheriff's play just like broke Bill, 918 00:45:56,960 --> 00:46:00,120 Speaker 5: but quote, he knew it wasn't worth fooling with Ramsey. 919 00:46:00,160 --> 00:46:01,000 Speaker 2: Bill was good. 920 00:46:00,840 --> 00:46:04,560 Speaker 5: Hearted, but he liked to snake in the Greenies. And 921 00:46:04,600 --> 00:46:06,480 Speaker 5: I'm not exactly sure what he means, like I like 922 00:46:06,560 --> 00:46:09,080 Speaker 5: to snake in the Greenies, like snake in the grass, right. 923 00:46:09,000 --> 00:46:11,239 Speaker 3: That's what I'm assuming. Yeah, and they getting by. 924 00:46:11,360 --> 00:46:13,440 Speaker 5: You don't want to all someone a snake in the grass. 925 00:46:13,480 --> 00:46:15,240 Speaker 5: Now I'm going to go snake in the greenies. 926 00:46:15,239 --> 00:46:16,440 Speaker 2: But I love it. 927 00:46:17,200 --> 00:46:18,680 Speaker 3: You want to like slide by. You don't want to 928 00:46:18,680 --> 00:46:20,880 Speaker 3: get good? Yeah, you don't want to get the hollies. 929 00:46:20,960 --> 00:46:23,600 Speaker 2: Take your head off doing it for me. So in 930 00:46:23,719 --> 00:46:28,759 Speaker 2: eighteen seventy seven, Bill fell ill with consumption, totally broke. 931 00:46:28,800 --> 00:46:30,160 Speaker 2: He was absolutely destitute. 932 00:46:30,160 --> 00:46:31,920 Speaker 3: Well once he can't operate, well, you know, because it 933 00:46:31,960 --> 00:46:33,879 Speaker 3: turns out not banking. You know, he's not a guy 934 00:46:33,920 --> 00:46:35,080 Speaker 3: that's saving for his retirement. 935 00:46:35,120 --> 00:46:37,719 Speaker 5: But even more so, he was a card sharp, but 936 00:46:37,840 --> 00:46:40,040 Speaker 5: he was a rube when it came to farrow. 937 00:46:40,760 --> 00:46:43,200 Speaker 3: He Oh my god, I really love. 938 00:46:43,120 --> 00:46:44,840 Speaker 2: To play farrow. He could not stop. 939 00:46:44,960 --> 00:46:47,320 Speaker 3: That game really fell off. I still have poker, we 940 00:46:47,320 --> 00:46:50,600 Speaker 3: can still find money. But Pharaoh, it just fell off. 941 00:46:50,760 --> 00:46:54,600 Speaker 5: Everything he made with the cards he turned around and lost. 942 00:46:54,680 --> 00:46:55,520 Speaker 3: Are you kidding me? 943 00:46:55,880 --> 00:46:59,040 Speaker 5: So? On October twenty second, eighteen seventy seven, he. 944 00:46:58,920 --> 00:47:02,279 Speaker 2: Died at the age of around forty Yeah. 945 00:47:02,040 --> 00:47:04,560 Speaker 3: Who is thought early sixties? 946 00:47:04,640 --> 00:47:04,759 Speaker 6: No? 947 00:47:04,840 --> 00:47:08,359 Speaker 5: So in his funeral was something so the Chicago Inter 948 00:47:08,520 --> 00:47:13,240 Speaker 5: Ocean newspaper, they said of the event, quote, his funeral 949 00:47:13,400 --> 00:47:17,440 Speaker 5: was probably the strangest ever seen in the Charles Evans Cemetery, 950 00:47:17,880 --> 00:47:21,520 Speaker 5: for there were neither tears, nor women nor minister about 951 00:47:21,560 --> 00:47:23,920 Speaker 5: the grave that now holds the remains of a man 952 00:47:24,200 --> 00:47:27,480 Speaker 5: who died penniless in a strange land, but had the 953 00:47:27,600 --> 00:47:30,720 Speaker 5: name one time of having won nearly half a million 954 00:47:30,800 --> 00:47:34,799 Speaker 5: dollars at three card montellion dollars and then turn around 955 00:47:34,840 --> 00:47:35,440 Speaker 5: and blew it all. 956 00:47:36,040 --> 00:47:38,000 Speaker 2: But you know he also he spread the money around. 957 00:47:38,000 --> 00:47:39,520 Speaker 2: He took care of people really paid. 958 00:47:39,560 --> 00:47:41,560 Speaker 3: Yet he's got payroll for people. 959 00:47:41,600 --> 00:47:45,239 Speaker 5: Right, So a bunch of fellow crooked gamblers paid for 960 00:47:45,280 --> 00:47:48,880 Speaker 5: his funeral, yes, And they gathered at the cemetery to quote, 961 00:47:48,920 --> 00:47:51,719 Speaker 5: do the last honors for the old sport who'd won 962 00:47:51,800 --> 00:47:54,640 Speaker 5: money on nearly every railroad in the United States east 963 00:47:54,680 --> 00:47:59,080 Speaker 5: of the Rocky Mountains. So the hearse rolls up the 964 00:47:59,120 --> 00:48:01,880 Speaker 5: carriage and the undertaker and his staff go to like 965 00:48:01,920 --> 00:48:05,560 Speaker 5: pull the walnut coffin from the carriage, and then one 966 00:48:05,600 --> 00:48:08,960 Speaker 5: of the con men asks if Bill's remains are actually 967 00:48:09,000 --> 00:48:13,160 Speaker 5: in there, and the Undertaker's like, yeah, they are, but 968 00:48:13,200 --> 00:48:15,279 Speaker 5: like the group's not happy with that, and they're like, 969 00:48:15,440 --> 00:48:18,120 Speaker 5: unscrew that lid right now. We want to make sure. 970 00:48:18,600 --> 00:48:20,200 Speaker 5: And the main guy, who was like kind of the 971 00:48:20,280 --> 00:48:23,719 Speaker 5: ringleader of all these cons said, quote Bill was in 972 00:48:23,880 --> 00:48:27,120 Speaker 5: many a tight box and worked himself out somehow or another, 973 00:48:27,200 --> 00:48:29,759 Speaker 5: and it's no dead sure thing that he ain't got 974 00:48:29,760 --> 00:48:31,239 Speaker 5: out of the trip to the cemetery. 975 00:48:31,719 --> 00:48:33,960 Speaker 2: Yes, so there's just like and this. 976 00:48:34,080 --> 00:48:37,200 Speaker 5: So like the undertaker he starts unscrewing the lid, and 977 00:48:37,280 --> 00:48:40,360 Speaker 5: one of the mourners pointed out that the screws weren't 978 00:48:40,400 --> 00:48:43,600 Speaker 5: solid silver like they'd paid for. Oh and then another 979 00:48:43,760 --> 00:48:46,880 Speaker 5: said quote, Well, Bill's game wasn't one of the squarest, 980 00:48:46,920 --> 00:48:48,879 Speaker 5: but I guess there are tricks in all trades, as 981 00:48:48,880 --> 00:48:50,200 Speaker 5: well as the Monty players. 982 00:48:50,760 --> 00:48:52,560 Speaker 2: So they're just like respect, fair play. 983 00:48:52,880 --> 00:48:53,280 Speaker 3: Everybody. 984 00:48:54,760 --> 00:48:57,120 Speaker 2: Everyone cracks up, like they all thought that was hilarious. 985 00:48:58,040 --> 00:49:00,120 Speaker 5: So Bill's body was in fact in the coffin and 986 00:49:00,160 --> 00:49:03,879 Speaker 5: they're like, okay, wow, he's dead. And the guy who 987 00:49:03,920 --> 00:49:06,759 Speaker 5: was supposed to read like a short prayer never showed up, 988 00:49:07,600 --> 00:49:09,879 Speaker 5: so they screwed the lid back on the coffin, lowered 989 00:49:09,960 --> 00:49:13,160 Speaker 5: him into the ground, and there was That's the end 990 00:49:13,200 --> 00:49:13,680 Speaker 5: of Canada. 991 00:49:13,719 --> 00:49:13,919 Speaker 2: Bill. 992 00:49:14,000 --> 00:49:15,640 Speaker 3: There was no one to say words over him, No. 993 00:49:15,600 --> 00:49:17,160 Speaker 5: Because the guy who's going to read a prayer and 994 00:49:17,200 --> 00:49:18,840 Speaker 5: say something didn't show up, So no one. 995 00:49:18,680 --> 00:49:21,200 Speaker 2: Else that was not their jobs, Darin, I get it. 996 00:49:22,360 --> 00:49:25,839 Speaker 5: So Bill, he was known for two famous quotes. They 997 00:49:25,880 --> 00:49:28,200 Speaker 5: may or may not have been things that he actually said, 998 00:49:28,239 --> 00:49:33,080 Speaker 5: but they're attributed to him in films like Rounders or Yeah, 999 00:49:33,200 --> 00:49:36,920 Speaker 5: or in American Gods by that super creep Neil Gamon. Okay, 1000 00:49:37,280 --> 00:49:40,520 Speaker 5: so the first is quote, it's immoral to let us 1001 00:49:40,560 --> 00:49:41,760 Speaker 5: sucker keep his money. 1002 00:49:41,840 --> 00:49:44,320 Speaker 3: I'm telling you it is kind of like the street wisdom. 1003 00:49:44,480 --> 00:49:48,120 Speaker 5: Yes exactly, We've heard similar sentiment from other con artists. 1004 00:49:48,920 --> 00:49:51,759 Speaker 5: And then there's quote, I know it's crooked, but it's 1005 00:49:51,760 --> 00:49:55,480 Speaker 5: the only game in town, which is so often this story, 1006 00:49:55,719 --> 00:49:59,000 Speaker 5: so often the story. So, Saren, what's your ridiculous takeaway? 1007 00:49:59,239 --> 00:50:03,080 Speaker 3: Oh my god, I just loved this ride. And I'd 1008 00:50:03,200 --> 00:50:06,720 Speaker 3: like that his earnestness ironically allowed him to do crime 1009 00:50:06,760 --> 00:50:09,800 Speaker 3: without having like you didn't mention him getting beaten really badly, 1010 00:50:09,920 --> 00:50:13,640 Speaker 3: nobody like taking potshots at him, no angry people. Also, 1011 00:50:13,680 --> 00:50:15,239 Speaker 3: he was just a great guy in terms of like 1012 00:50:15,600 --> 00:50:17,920 Speaker 3: how he separated a wife and the children from like 1013 00:50:17,960 --> 00:50:20,680 Speaker 3: the sucker husband and realized that, you know, suckers are 1014 00:50:20,680 --> 00:50:23,200 Speaker 3: one thing, families or another thing. So he has a 1015 00:50:23,280 --> 00:50:26,040 Speaker 3: very simple view of the world. And I think it's 1016 00:50:26,080 --> 00:50:27,920 Speaker 3: a little bit ridiculous that he's out of all the 1017 00:50:27,920 --> 00:50:31,600 Speaker 3: people you're mentioning, you know, Allan Pinkerton, the Ramsey, the sheriff, 1018 00:50:31,800 --> 00:50:35,320 Speaker 3: he's the most moral person that you mentioned. Yeah, yeah's 1019 00:50:35,320 --> 00:50:36,760 Speaker 3: you're a ridiculous takeaway, Elizabeth. 1020 00:50:36,840 --> 00:50:40,640 Speaker 5: I was really struck by him not having the built 1021 00:50:40,719 --> 00:50:44,719 Speaker 5: in shame, yes, and that it actually allowed him to. 1022 00:50:44,719 --> 00:50:45,640 Speaker 2: Be more moral. 1023 00:50:45,800 --> 00:50:49,120 Speaker 5: I think because he wasn't trying to cover up any 1024 00:50:49,160 --> 00:50:53,480 Speaker 5: of his behaviors, and he just was exactly what he 1025 00:50:53,680 --> 00:50:56,080 Speaker 5: was and unapologetic in it. 1026 00:50:56,800 --> 00:50:59,160 Speaker 2: But that allowed him to kind of let things come 1027 00:50:59,200 --> 00:50:59,600 Speaker 2: and go. 1028 00:51:00,640 --> 00:51:03,279 Speaker 3: I found have you found that have you've known Rama? 1029 00:51:03,360 --> 00:51:05,160 Speaker 3: I found that often to be the case with the 1030 00:51:05,200 --> 00:51:08,799 Speaker 3: roma I've known, is that because there's like not those pretensions, 1031 00:51:08,800 --> 00:51:11,120 Speaker 3: they're allowed to just be a person. You know, they 1032 00:51:11,120 --> 00:51:13,480 Speaker 3: don't have all these well I gotta shave face and 1033 00:51:13,520 --> 00:51:15,080 Speaker 3: act like I'm this and I go to church on 1034 00:51:15,080 --> 00:51:16,800 Speaker 3: Sunday to forget what I did on Saturday. 1035 00:51:16,840 --> 00:51:19,719 Speaker 2: They just are understanding that things come and go. 1036 00:51:19,840 --> 00:51:21,839 Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly, That's what I mean. It's just part that's 1037 00:51:21,880 --> 00:51:23,680 Speaker 3: like how nature is. So you're much more in tune 1038 00:51:23,719 --> 00:51:25,920 Speaker 3: with the rhythms of nature than the pretensions of man. 1039 00:51:26,000 --> 00:51:28,320 Speaker 5: Yeah, and so I just that's one of the fascinating 1040 00:51:28,360 --> 00:51:30,719 Speaker 5: things about him was that that element of it. 1041 00:51:31,239 --> 00:51:33,520 Speaker 2: What I would love to cap this all off with 1042 00:51:33,680 --> 00:51:34,680 Speaker 2: is a talk back. 1043 00:51:34,600 --> 00:51:36,920 Speaker 3: I can't help you, producer, d can you? I got you? 1044 00:51:39,440 --> 00:51:46,400 Speaker 3: Oh my god, I like. 1045 00:51:50,360 --> 00:51:52,800 Speaker 6: His eyes. My name is Morgan. I'm a new listener 1046 00:51:52,840 --> 00:51:55,120 Speaker 6: to the podcast and I love it. It's so funny, 1047 00:51:55,360 --> 00:51:57,239 Speaker 6: but the other day, I was listening and Zara said 1048 00:51:57,320 --> 00:52:01,000 Speaker 6: he had a cuddle site with the interns, and I 1049 00:52:01,040 --> 00:52:03,000 Speaker 6: had no idea who the interns were, so I seemed 1050 00:52:03,000 --> 00:52:07,399 Speaker 6: a little inappropriate, but Elizabeth them clarified that they are 1051 00:52:07,480 --> 00:52:11,480 Speaker 6: four legged interns, not too so thank you for clarifying 1052 00:52:11,520 --> 00:52:17,440 Speaker 6: that you have mutant four legged human interns. Thanks guys, 1053 00:52:22,040 --> 00:52:22,640 Speaker 6: sorry for that. 1054 00:52:24,840 --> 00:52:25,400 Speaker 2: Workplace. 1055 00:52:25,600 --> 00:52:26,920 Speaker 3: Yeah, no, it's not that kind. 1056 00:52:27,080 --> 00:52:28,680 Speaker 2: And they're also they're not mutants. 1057 00:52:28,880 --> 00:52:31,480 Speaker 3: And they started the cuddle fight. I just responded, and 1058 00:52:31,680 --> 00:52:32,759 Speaker 3: they are dogs. They are. 1059 00:52:35,640 --> 00:52:39,120 Speaker 2: That's the funniest thing ever. I love Thank you for that. 1060 00:52:39,120 --> 00:52:42,839 Speaker 2: That's it for today. With the notion of you just 1061 00:52:42,920 --> 00:52:46,000 Speaker 2: like aggressively cuddling like college students. 1062 00:52:46,680 --> 00:52:48,600 Speaker 3: You take this pillow, hit me with it, I'll hit 1063 00:52:48,680 --> 00:52:50,399 Speaker 3: you back, don't give me a hug. 1064 00:52:50,640 --> 00:52:59,000 Speaker 2: All the iHeart lawyers line. That's it for today. You 1065 00:52:59,040 --> 00:53:01,560 Speaker 2: can find us online at ridiculous crime dot com. 1066 00:53:01,600 --> 00:53:04,879 Speaker 5: Did you know the website got a speeding ticket over 1067 00:53:04,920 --> 00:53:05,400 Speaker 5: the weekend. 1068 00:53:05,880 --> 00:53:10,840 Speaker 3: I'm sorry about the house. I should have told you. 1069 00:53:11,040 --> 00:53:14,239 Speaker 5: The website lost its license and now it rides a 1070 00:53:14,280 --> 00:53:15,000 Speaker 5: bike everywhere. 1071 00:53:15,239 --> 00:53:17,480 Speaker 3: That explains why it was locked up next to mine. 1072 00:53:17,520 --> 00:53:18,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. 1073 00:53:18,880 --> 00:53:22,000 Speaker 5: We're also Ridiculous Crime on Blue Sky and Instagram. We're 1074 00:53:22,040 --> 00:53:25,680 Speaker 5: on YouTube at Ridiculous Crime Pod. You can email us 1075 00:53:25,719 --> 00:53:27,800 Speaker 5: at Ridiculous Crime at gmail dot com. 1076 00:53:27,880 --> 00:53:32,279 Speaker 2: Most importantly, leave a talkback on the iHeart app reach out. 1077 00:53:37,960 --> 00:53:40,880 Speaker 5: Ridiculous Crime is hosted by Elizabeth Dutton and Zaren Burnett, 1078 00:53:41,040 --> 00:53:44,880 Speaker 5: produced and edited by inventor of twelve Card Monty Dave Cousten, 1079 00:53:45,200 --> 00:53:49,920 Speaker 5: starring Analys Rutger as Judith. Research is by Riverboat Detective 1080 00:53:49,960 --> 00:53:53,280 Speaker 5: Marissa Brown. The theme song is by Card Sharp Cappers 1081 00:53:53,280 --> 00:53:56,359 Speaker 5: with Hearts of Gold Thomas Lee and Travis Dutton. Post 1082 00:53:56,440 --> 00:53:59,560 Speaker 5: wardrobe is provided by Botany five hundred. Guest hair and 1083 00:53:59,640 --> 00:54:03,960 Speaker 5: makeup by Sparkleshot and mister Andre. Executive producers are Pinkerton 1084 00:54:04,200 --> 00:54:15,399 Speaker 5: HR representatives Ben Bollen and Noel Brown. Gridicous Crime, Say 1085 00:54:15,400 --> 00:54:17,840 Speaker 5: It One More Times Crime. 1086 00:54:18,880 --> 00:54:22,200 Speaker 1: Ridiculous Crime is a production of iHeartRadio. Four more podcasts 1087 00:54:22,239 --> 00:54:25,400 Speaker 1: from my Heart Radio visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 1088 00:54:25,480 --> 00:54:27,320 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.