The Roots of Reno

The Roots of Reno

Reno was truly Hell on Wheels in the 1920â€™s. The rest of the nation considered the town Sodom and Gomorra, but thatâ€™s only half the truth. Reno offered everything in the way of adult entertainment, from speakeasyâ€™s and houses of ill-repute, to open gaming â€“ legal or not. And it took plenty of sins by the founding fathers to make Reno â€œThe biggest little city in the world.â€

When the gold-veins of Tonopah and Goldfield ran out, the casino owners moved to Reno, where even greater riches awaited. Together, a group of four men (Nick Abelman, Bill Graham, Jim McKay, George Wingfield) took over Renoâ€™s casinos and held sway over the town for the next three decades.
Together they administered policy, collected juice, ran politicians, and owned the red-light district and most of the townâ€™s casinos.

When that wasnâ€™t enough they took over the banks and laundered money for crooks like â€œPretty Boyâ€ Floyd, Alvin Karpis, and Ma Barkerâ€™s boys, and offered safety to â€œBaby Faceâ€ Nelson. It was a good gig.

The Reno Four dictated policy all over Northern Nevada, taking special care of Reno and Lake Tahoe casinos up until the late 1950â€™s. Their influence made Reno before Bill Harrah or â€œPappyâ€ Smith ever arrived, needing an introduction and permission to build their own casinos, Haroldâ€™s Club and Harrahâ€™s.

This is an expansion, an unabridged version of "Mob City - Reno" with much to tell about Nevada's gold mining towns.
Country USA
Manufacturer CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2013-11-09
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2013-11-09
Format	Kindle eBook

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