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fully six feet high, with dark eyes and hair, and always had a smooth-shaven face, full of seams and wrinkles, that were put to all manner of difficult expressions with a marvelous facility and ease. All this coupled with long, loose-jointed arms, long, thin, and apparently a trifle unsteady legs, a shambling, shuffling, awkward gait, and this remarkable face and head bent forward and turned a little to one side, like an inquiring and wise owl, and then an outfit of
Granger clothing, the entire cost of which never exceeded fifteen dollars—made a combination that never failed to call a smile to a stranger’s face, or awaken a feeling of curiosity and interest wherever he might be seen. One striking difference between Canada Bill and all the other sharpers of his ilk lay in the fact that he was the thing he seemed to be…. hose who knew him, as far as it was possible to know the wandering vagabond that he was, assert that he was the most unaffected, innocent, and really simple-hearted of human beings.
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personal appearance, which was most ludicrous, undeniably had much to do with his success. He was the veritable country gawky, the ridiculous, ignorant, absurd creature that has been so imperfectly imitated on and off the stage for years, and whose true description can scarcely be written. He was
170:
Several people who knew Jones personally reported that he was generally a kind and charitable man. A detective described him "as gentle as a woman and as cunning as a fox" and "could beat any man at his own game", adding that Jones liked to "snake in" the greenhorns. Devol stated that he once
250:... as the coffin was being lowered into the grave, one of his friends offered to bet $ 1,000 to $ 500 that 'Bill was not in the box.' The offer found no takers, for the reason, as one of his acquaintances said, 'that he had known Bill to squeeze through tighter holes than that'.
125:
in Canada and the United States. He has been described by historians, news reporters and others who have written about his life since the late 19th century with such superlatives as "the greatest of confidence men" and "without doubt the greatest
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and Tom Brown. Brown's share alone was reportedly $ 240,000. After the foursome broke up, Jones and Devol continued working the boats until the pair severed their relationship sometime around the outbreak of the
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while other accounts reported that he offered Union
Pacific's officers $ 1000 a month or $ 30,000 a year if they would let him play monte on their trains, but those offers were rebuffed.
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houses, all reportedly with criminal histories. Winning and losing as much as $ 150,000 in a year, he reportedly was often duped by other gamblers during
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146:, Jones learned the techniques of his future trade at a young age, and honed his skills into his late teenage years. In 1860, he emigrated to
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as a "thrower". Heading south to the United States, he found success as a
Mississippi riverboat gambler, teaming up with George Devol,
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Post-war, Jones moved to Kansas City, where he partnered with "Dutch
Charlie". After winning $ 200,000 there, they began working the
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tells the "it's the only game in town" story about Canada Bill Jones, calling it the finest line of poetry ever spoken in
America.
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for treatment. Roughly 40 years old at the time of his death there on
October 22, 1877, he was buried at Reading's
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he passed on the street. According to Allan
Pinkerton, founder of America's Pinkerton National Detective Agency:
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242:. Reading's mayor was later reimbursed for the funeral by the gamblers of Chicago. John Quinn wrote in
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management started clamping down on three-card monte players. In response, Jones wrote to the general
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and together they oppose "Kanada-Bill." Later on, May revised the latter story for integration in
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497:"Canada Bill's Funeral: The Career of a Western Train Gambler Who Won Money by Thousands", in
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with Porter, he continued to lose to professionals there as fast as he won from his marks.
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Canada Bill's
Funeral: The Career of a Western Train Gambler Who Won Money by Thousands
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The
Greatest of Confidence Men: Canada Bill Was the Old West's Three-card Monte King
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454:, pp. 180-181. New York, New York: G.W. Dillingham Co., Publishers, 1878.
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558:"Poker & Pop Culture: "It's Immoral to Let a Sucker Keep His Money""
417:, 2d ed., (New York: author, 1892), 190-201 (available on GoogleBooks).
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Jones moved on to
Chicago, in 1874, teaming up with Jimmy Porter and
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of the railroad, offering $ 10,000 a year to secure an exclusive
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sharp ever to work the boats, perhaps the greatest of them all."
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Der »Kanada-Bill« · Variationen eines Motivs bei Karl May.
426:"Another Reminiscence of the Great Card-Sharp, Canada Bill,"
271:(1879). The narrator meets several times with the young
234:). A pauper, he was admitted to the charity hospital in
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360:"American Gambling History - A Pair of Knaves"
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465:Criminal Reminiscences and Detective Sketches
451:Criminal Reminiscences and Detective Sketches
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113: – 1877) was an English-born
279:(1895), adding a fictional cause of death.
263:wrote two stories about Canada Bill Jones:
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230:in 1877, Jones fell ill with consumption (
167:when both accused each other of cheating.
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480:, September 14, 1872, p. 3, reprinted in
211:. While there, he opened and worked four
415:Forty Years a Gambler on the Mississippi
540:Jahrbuch der Karl-May-Gesellschaft 1976
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972:First Nebraska Territorial Legislature
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150:, where he learned and perfected his
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16:American con artist (c. 1837 – 1877)
1043:Canadian people of American descent
1048:Pioneer history of Omaha, Nebraska
14:
1018:Burials at Charles Evans Cemetery
288:, the main character, played by
171:witnessed Jones hand $ 50 to a
1008:American confidence tricksters
967:Nebraska Territory Legislature
1:
1033:People from American folklore
556:Harris, Martin (2016-08-09).
154:skills while travelling with
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478:Little Rock Daily Republican
104:William "Canada Bill" Jones
78:Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S.
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869:Nearby pioneer settlements
430:, December 15, 1877, p. 4.
228:Berks County, Pennsylvania
932:Old Settlers' Association
400:". Watertown, Wisconsin:
387:, November 1, 1877, p. 3.
383:"Canada Bill’s Funeral,"
28:
1053:Crime in Omaha, Nebraska
653:Douglas County Poor Farm
336:". Cave Creek, Arizona:
977:Potter's Field Cemetery
676:George Robert Armstrong
282:In the 1998 poker film
209:"Colonel" Charlie Starr
1063:American poker players
947:Cabanne's Trading Post
648:Prospect Hill Cemetery
488:, June 27, 1874, p. 2.
482:San Francisco Bulletin
476:"Three Keerd Monkey,"
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240:Charles Evans Cemetery
194:Union Pacific Railroad
182:
75:Charles Evans Cemetery
1058:English poker players
1023:People from Yorkshire
957:Moses Merrill Mission
236:Reading, Pennsylvania
63:Reading, Pennsylvania
501:, November 14, 1877.
499:Watertown Republican
428:Dallas Weekly Herald
404:, November 14, 1877.
402:Watertown Republican
370:on October 18, 2003.
226:After relocating to
623:Cozzens House Hotel
219:cons. Moving on to
23:"Canada Bill" Jones
1028:People from Denver
706:Harry Porter Deuel
696:John A. Creighton
643:St. Nicholas Hotel
448:Pinkerton, Allan.
338:True West Magazine
332:2018-08-28 at the
259:The German writer
255:In popular culture
165:American Civil War
144:Yorkshire, England
49:Yorkshire, England
1038:History of Denver
1013:American gamblers
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937:Fontenelle's Post
801:William A. Paxton
796:James C. Mitchell
736:Canada Bill Jones
726:Andrew J. Hanscom
519:Three carde monte
269:Three carde monte
192:trains until the
173:Sister of Charity
115:confidence artist
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86:Riverboat gambler
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927:Omaha Claim Club
906:Kanesville, Iowa
826:Edward Rosewater
791:George L. Miller
776:James G. Megeath
746:Augustus Kountze
711:Logan Fontenelle
691:Edward Creighton
681:William D. Brown
663:Founding figures
638:Jefferson Square
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366:. Archived from
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152:three-card monte
128:three-card-monte
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95:Three-card monte
59:October 22, 1877
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756:George B. Lake
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716:Reuben Gaylord
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998:1830s births
786:Ezra Millard
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565:. Retrieved
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542:, pp. 29-46.
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513:Ein Self-man
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265:Ein Self-man
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232:tuberculosis
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121:gambler and
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71:Burial place
1003:1877 deaths
860:Anna Wilson
545:(in German)
522:(in German)
486:Inter Ocean
463:Pinkerton,
385:Inter Ocean
267:(1878) and
190:Kansas City
111: 1837
992:Categories
901:East Omaha
896:Train Town
816:Byron Reed
766:Jesse Lowe
567:2024-04-07
439:Devol 285.
313:References
290:Matt Damon
217:short card
140:Romanichal
138:Born in a
123:card sharp
83:Occupation
942:Fort Lisa
891:Scriptown
761:Enos Lowe
671:Dan Allen
221:Cleveland
202:franchise
156:Dick Cady
119:riverboat
886:Bellevue
881:Florence
876:Saratoga
330:Archived
285:Rounders
261:Karl May
213:gambling
142:tent in
846:William
45:c. 1837
299:novel
246:that:
148:Canada
97:skills
65:, U.S.
848:and
538:In:
516:and
134:Life
56:Died
38:Born
295:In
188:to
994::
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376:^
362:.
345:^
305:,
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108:c.
601:e
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587:v
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396:"
325:"
106:(
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