C.O.C.A. Times

This is another look et the 1902 Mills
DUPLEX. David Meed points to one of the
colored coin slots into which a player could
insert a nickel to bet on which of the five
colors on the spinning wheel would pay off.
Two people could play et once.
says Britt. There are several stories
about his over-loaded trucks.
Britt goes on to say, "The important
thing is that Lyon was the first to col-
lect any of this Western stuff. Everyb-
ody else condidered it junk."
The president of American Express,
the company that bought out Wells
Fargo, gave Lyon a letter he'd carry
around to Wells Fargo offices-now
American Express offices-in Califor-
nia. The letter said that anything hav-
ing the words Wells Fargo on it could
be given to Mr. Lyon. "So that's how he
got all the stuff that was marked Wells
Nore Meed points to the pointer, en unusual feature of this Berger OSHKOSH. Most machines
use arrows for indicating winners, but this machine uses a polished metal hand with a pointing
finger. Oddly enough, the OSHKOSH end most other Berger machines were electrified.
Because electricity was herd to find in 1897 when Berger began to produce the OSHKOSH, it
ran on batteries. All the Berger machines were named after pieces of American reel estate, end
were very similar. Collectors find that the ancient electric mechanism keeps wearing out, but
the feet these early machines ere electric, end battery operated at that, has made them increas-
ingly popular with collectors.
Fargo. He got strong boxes and docu-
ments and you name it."
The reason American Express did
this of course, was that while realizing
Wells Fargo was part of Arnericn his-
tory, they didn't want anything
around with the old company name on
it.
One can picture Mr. Lyon out in the
field dressed in his cowboy duds,
rounding up odd bits of the Old West
under the nose of interlopers, theives
and hostile Indians.
Actually, according to Britt, who has
read much of Mr. Lyon's correspon-
dence and records, Lyon was a pretty
These vintage photographs, on display in the Pony Express Museum, were taken in the early 1900s somewhere in northern Nevada. Electricity
was new end the popular card game was faro. Note the Chinamen-identified by the single braid of heir hanging from the back of the heed of
each one-on the fer left end far right of the left hand photograph, showing that the gaming rooms were integrated if nothing else. The China-
men were "left" after building the transcontinental railroad, and many were attracted to the Nevada gold end silver mines where they were
employed at low wages. Gambling was basic in those days, without the amenities the contemporary casino player expects.
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