Page 14 - Winter 2012 magazine-1

Sharon’s Slant
(continued from page 13)

One of the saddest stories is that of Madam Moustache, San Franciscan Eleanora Dumont. Gambler, prosti-

tute, and madam, she opened her own gambling hall at the age of twenty-five. Unfortunately, the love of her
life, Jack McNight, married her and then took off with all her money and jewels. When she found him, she
killed him. She tried her luck with gambling halls in several more western territories, finally heading back to

California in 1879. There she died broke, drunk, but still respected by her neighbors for always treating her
patrons fairly and kindly.

We meet seven more outlaw women in this book from the Bedside Reader Series. Michael Rutter has written

four other books about outlaw men and women of the American West. One thing is certain, they may be
BAD, but they are never boring!

Moving closer to home and a much younger reader, local author Mike Miller

shares more than a century of Las Vegas history with children in Tales for
Tomas. Tomas the Tortoise and his one hundred year old grandpa narrate the
story of our valley’s interesting past. Each illustration has a desert tortoise
hidden in it and children will have fun finding them. The torts in the story
represent five generations of Tomas’ family. Tales for Tomas is one of six

Tomas the Tortoise Adventures written and illustrated by Las Vegan Mike

Miller.

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