From Dancer to Dealer
Kitty Leroy began her show business career quite early. By age ten, she was performing professionally, and by fourteen, she was gracing dance halls and saloons. Along the way, she mastered skills prized in the rugged world of the Wild West more than charm. She became an expert with knives and firearms.
Her marksmanship was so exceptional that she could shoot an apple off a man's head, and she reportedly married her first husband simply because he was the only man in Bay City, Michigan, willing to let her try.
However, her true passion wasn't dancing but gambling. She left her husband shortly after the wedding and moved to Dallas, Texas, where she started working as a Faro dealer. This card game rivaled poker in the saloons of the Wild West, and Kitty quickly rose to become a respected and skilled player.
Her popularity was not only based on her striking beauty and lively personality but also her unpredictable nature. Despite the lack of photographs, numerous reports described not just her beauty but her art of flirting, seduction, and her ability to use feminine wiles to achieve her goals. Kitty was known for sometimes wearing extravagant “gypsy” attire, while other times she donned men's trousers and jackets, challenging societal norms.
Bizarre Duel and Deathbed Wedding
The most bizarre chapter of her life began when she decided to move further west. Kitty engaged in a passionate and tumultuous relationship full of wild arguments. According to legend, one conflict went too far, and Kitty, whose hot blood ran strong, challenged her lover to a duel.
Her suitor made the mistake of underestimating her, refusing the duel by saying he wouldn't fight a woman. For Kitty, this was an insult she wouldn't let slide. She left, changed into men's clothes, and returned with her challenge repeated. The man again refused to draw his weapon, and Kitty shot him directly in the chest.
However, seeing her lover in a pool of blood, in a fit of remorse, she did something unheard of. She called for a priest and married the gravely injured man on his deathbed, making him her third husband. This bizarre marital bond lasted only a few days before he succumbed to his injuries. Kitty emerged from this “duel” not only as a victor but as a widow with a reputation of a woman not to toy with, neither at the poker table nor in private.
A Gambler with Her Own Empire
After living in Texas and briefly traveling the turbulent west, Kitty headed to Deadwood, South Dakota, in 1876, where the gold rush was in full swing.
In Deadwood, a town notorious for its lawlessness and where Wild Bill Hickok was shot dead in August 1876 (right at a poker table), Kitty opened her own gambling establishment, the Mint Gambling Saloon. The saloon quickly became popular and successful. Though rumors circulated that Kitty Leroy was not just dealing cards but also working as a prostitute, these claims are unverified, and it's more likely she managed her girls as a madam.
Her success as a gambler was so significant that whispers claimed her dazzling diamonds on ears, neck, wrists, and fingers shone so brightly they blinded customers and hid her card tricks. Kitty was considered one of the best poker players in the Wild West, winning hand after hand. Although her winnings were not always seen as fair, few dared to accuse her of cheating. Her reputation as a fearless gunslinger ensured that trouble at her table was minimal.
A Fatal Game of Jealousy
Yet, success and wealth didn't guarantee stability in her personal life. She met her fourth husband at her saloon. A Prussian gold prospector who struck it rich in the Black Hills caught Kitty's interest but lost it the moment his money ran out. The marriage ended in a heated argument when Kitty hit him with a bottle and threw him out.
In June 1877, she married her fifth husband, fellow gambler Samuel R. Curley. However, the marriage was highly unstable. Curley was intensely jealous, mainly due to rumors about his wife's promiscuity and alleged affairs. When Curley discovered that Kitty had never divorced her first husband and their marriage was bigamous, he left her and departed from Deadwood. In December 1877, he returned, consumed by jealousy upon hearing about her new lover.
On December 6, 1877, Kitty met Sam Curley in the Lone Star saloon, where her husband intended to confront her. After a brief exchange, there were screams and two gunshots. Curley shot Kitty with a single bullet to the chest and then turned the gun on himself, committing suicide. Kitty was only 27.
Kitty Leroy, the queen of cards and one of the wildest women of the Old West, truly lived life by her own rules, but her wild independence stood no chance against the fury of a man who wanted to claim her for himself.
Her life was like a wild poker game. She began with high stakes, bluffed, and often won through skill and charisma, but ultimately, an unexpected River laid her down.
Read Also
The Tale of Poker Alice: The Devout Rebel Who Conquered the Wild West
Sources: Wikipedia, Legends of America, Western Fictioneers, Sora, City of Deadwood
