Kitty LeRoy
(1850-1878)
One of the best women gamblers in the Old west, Kitty LeRoy was likely born in Texas. Beginning as a performer at the age of ten, Kitty then became the belle of Dallas. She gave up her theatrical skills to deal faro. As she went to the tables, she always carried several Bowie knives and revolvers on her person, and she was noted for stopping arguments with a single 'misplaced' shot.
Married four times, husband number one was the only man with the nerve to let Kitty shoot apples off the top of his head as she gallopped by on her horse. Her third husband she married on his death bed. She shot him then felt guilty and married him.
Kitty moved to Deadwood in 1876 with husband number four and opened the Mint Gambling Saloon. In 1878, her husband shot and killed her over her alleged affairs with Sam Bass and Bill Hickok.