Too Cozy With Illegal Gamblers

  1948 A real or perceived protective relationship with illegal gambling operators got Nevada police superintendent, Lester C. Moody, fired. Governor Vail Pittman, who’d appointed Moody to the position two years before, terminated him in May 1948. The Nevada Tax Commission, charged with regulating gambling, supported Pittman’s action. The governor had lost confidence in Moody’s…

Animals Run Roadside Zoos

1940s A spate of “roadside zoos” opened along various Nevada highways, typically in rural areas, during the late 1940s. The owners were hustlers who lured unsuspecting tourists onto their grounds with the promise of seeing exotic birds, reptiles and/or wild animals then swindled them out of money via games of chance. The ruse often involved…