THE SOUTH DAKOTA ORAL HISTORY CENTER V O L U M E

Points of Interest: Listen to the audio from “Pardoning Poker Alice” at: sdohc.blogspot.com _________________ “I would Rather Play Poker with five or six experts than to eat” – Poker Alice _________________

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I S S U E

Poker Alice Ivers is one of the more colorful characters in South Dakota’s history. Originally hailing from England, she was married as a young woman in the mining camps of Colorado. She learned to play poker by watching her husband, Frank Duffield, and caught on quite quickly. After his death, she made a living by playing and dealing poker. She had a fondness for fashionable clothing, and the lovely lady attracted quite a few men to the halls that she dealt in—either to test their gambling skills against her, or to gaze upon the novelty of a modest but beautiful woman working in a saloon. After moving to the Black Hills area, she married Warren G. Tubbs, and card games were few and far between as she helped him ranch and raise their 7 children. It was surely hard work, but she remembered those years fondly. When her second husband died, however, she returned to gambling for her living. In her later years she owned her own saloon between Sturgis and Fort Meade. “Poker’s Palace,” as it was called, provided a place

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“Kate,” he said, “I want you to go to Pierre, take Poker Alice to Pierre.” Well, I said, “Mr. Atwater, I don’t know what to say.” “Just go down and tell them you don’t know what to say but,” he said, “I want that Photo from nationalcowboymuseum.org pardon when you come back.” […] for gambling, drinking (during Well, I had a Chrysler with one of Prohibition, no less) and these old turtle-backs, you know, and prostitution. These were the I went down to Poker’s […] and said, “Alice we’re leaving for Pierre years that Katherine Soldat tomorrow and I want you absolutely talked about when Gene Van Alstyne interviewed her for the sober.” “Oh, honey,” she said, “you know I wouldn’t get drunk.” Well, I South Dakota Oral History knew she was going to get drunk. Center. Katherine Soldat was the first woman mayor in South But she had her warning. […] I went down with my […] Chrysler and I Dakota (for the town of Sturgis), and was a close friend picked her up early in the morning. At that time it was a dirt gravel road to Poker Alice up until her pretty well under construction, death. She spoke very warmly gravel pits every place, you know. of her, assuring her interviewer And we hadn’t hardly been out of that Alice was a good, town until she started to twisting and kindhearted woman who often fidgeting, you know. She had on her fed her and anyone in need, campaign hat, her khaki shirt, and took good care of “her girls,” her great big huge khaki skirt, and and never gambled on a that big campaign hat with a quarter Sunday. Kindhearted or not, on it. And she twist and wiggled. I finally said, “Alice, what’s wrong?” she often landed herself in She said, “Not a thing.” […] And she trouble with the law, and pulled out a cord and on the end of Soldat’s interview provides that cord was a hot water bottle and anecdotes about Alice that are it was full of booze. […] both amusing and touching! –Jessica Neal

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