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 The history of Hot Springs first dates back to the visit of Hernando DeSoto in September of 1541, and it was noted as a destination for tourists in 1832, when it was named the first National Reservation. Like many towns of the developing west, gambling came to Hot Springs along with expansion of white civilization. Mention of casino gambling in the city can be found as early as 1849, when a correspondent of The Spirit of the Times reported it. It started out as two billiard tables in the back of a lodge. One of the Hot Springs' most colorful gamblers, Frank Flynn, was firmly entrenched in the city by 1884. The arrival of a gambling rival, Major S.A. Doran, set the state for one of the city's most memorable gambling wars. Flynn was a Canadian who had begun visiting the hot baths in the period immediately following the Civil War. He had stayed and opened his own casino, "The Office," earning the nickname "Boss Gambler." Flynn ran his establishment with an iron hand, earning a reputation for taking it personally when a player, especially if he were a Texan, chose to quit a game while he was ahead. For example a Texan was set to pocket a large piece of the Office's change. Flynn warned him, "Young man, you haven't won enough money to pay your fine for gambling." The Texan laughed, walked out on the street, and a few minutes later, was arrested on Flynn's order and fined for illegal gambling. It would not be the last time that law enforcement in Hot Springs acted as an agent of casino management policy. In New Orleans, Doran was told of Flynn's gambling kingdom by one of Flynn's Hot Springs competitors, Jim Lane. Doran moved to Hot Springs and began to redo an old casino previously owned by Lane, "The Palace." He felt the time was right to challenge the "Boss Gambler" on his own turf. Flynn made several attempts to draw Doran into his syndicate. Doran was skeptical of Flynn's motives. Flynn decided to answer the challenge to his authority more directly. Three days after the Palace reopened, he sent a messenger, Tom Dale, to challenge Doran to a duel in the street with six-shooters. After Flynn's pistol misfired, Doran shot him once in the chest. Fortunately for Flynn, however, he had the forethought to wear a vest of chain mail, and escaped with only bruises. The Flynn-Doran duel quickly escalated into general street violence, which was stopped only after three people were killed and a citizen's committee formed to clean up the city's reputation. The committee declared that gambling was "no longer an amenity of pleasure" in the city and ordered the casinos closed. Flynn, Doran, and "all others connected with gambling" were banished from the city. The cleanup, however, was short-lived. After the leaders of the industry left the city, new ownership came in and reopened the casinos. Again, it was a pattern later to be repeated in Hot Springs. |
