Lottie Deno On Western Wednesday...!

We've talked about many women of the old west before, but I think we missed Lottie somehow.

This lady was quite the figure at the time, and was probably an inspiration to many other women. She is reported to have even been the inspiration for some famous fictional characters.

Lottie Deno

When your father is a wealthy racehorse breeder and talented gambler, chances are good that you’ll pick up a few pointers along the way. This was the case for Lottie Deno. Before his death during the Civil War, Lottie’s father would take her with him to gambling halls, teaching her the art of gambling. After her father’s death, Lottie’s mother sent her to Detroit in search of a husband. Instead, Lottie hooked up with one of her father’s former jockeys and began gambling up and down the Mississippi River.

Lottie eventually found her way to San Antonio, where she became the University Club’s house gambler. The Thurmond family owned the establishment, and that is how Lottie came to know and fall in love with Frank Thurmond. After Frank killed a man, he hightailed it west, and Lottie soon followed. Gambling her way through West Texas with the likes of Doc Holiday, she became a well-known Wild West figure. It’s said that Lottie was even the inspiration for Miss Kitty in the television show Gunsmoke. Eventually, Lottie and Frank reunited and settled down in Deming, New Mexico, where they acted as upstanding citizens in the community.

It's nice to know that some good things could be said about the ladies of the old west. She must have been quite the character!

Coffee back in the kitchen again. Hotter today than yesterday.