1954 Two gambling-related issues — cheating by operators and prostitution — in Nevada’s town of Searchlight came to a head at the July meeting of the state tax commission, then responsible for overseeing gaming. Regarding the roughly 300-resident community, commissioners 1) had heard rumors that its local ladies of the night mingled with customers in…
1961 This ad for the El Rey Club invited people to escape one sunny desert town (Palm Springs, California) for another (Searchlight, Nevada), as the enticement ran in the former’s newspaper, The Desert Sun. Owner Willie Martello began chartering groups of people to and from his casino this same year after he paid about $1 million of his…
1947-1962 A wild burro sauntered into the popular gambling spot, the El Rey Club in Searchlight, Nevada at about 11 o’clock every morning. It approached the proprietor, Willie Martello, who always fed it something he had in his pocket. Then the donkey retreated back into the desert. Photo from freeimages.com: “The key is the donkey,”…