As most of us know, Las Vegas had some pretty "colorful" characters, in the early days. One of those characters was Benny Binion, but this story isn't about him .

I think the first time we ever heard of "Gold Dollar", was when a friend in Las Vegas was telling us stories about the early days in the town. It's been a long time, and I really didn't remember much of what he told us. A couple of times, I've searched online for information about Gold Dollar, but I could never find much...except that he was Benny Binion's bodyguard/charffeur. My husband remembers walking into the Horseshoe, many years ago, and seeing Dollar (as he was called) sitting in a raised chair near the door, keeping an eye on things.

A few days ago I mentioned to you that we got a book called "Beyond the Glimmering Lights; The Pride and Perseverence of African Americans in Las Vegas", by Trish Geran. In the book, Trish tells us stories of being black in Las Vegas, from 1943-1960, as told to her by her Aunt. Aunt Mac knew Gold Dollar, and his story is in the book...well, some of his story, anyway!

In 1947 Aunt Mac's cousin, Lee Birda, moved to Las Vegas and found a job at the El Rancho Vegas, in the laundry room, for $12 a day. Lee Birda decided to attend her first annual Helldorado Parade, with her friend Sue. She noticed that there was only one black cowboy participating in the events; he was riding a big black horse...and she was interested. She asked Sue if she knew the handsome cowboy. Sue said that his name was Gold Dollar, and he was a friend of, and bodyguard for, casino owner Benny Binion.

Aunt Mac was sitting in the keno lounge at the El Morocco, with Lee Birda, when Gold Dollar happened to walk in! Aunt Mac didn't know Gold Dollar, but she knew that Lee was interested in him. Lee suddenly became shy, so Aunt Mac took matters into her own hands. She walked over to Gold Dollar and introduced herself to him. She took him by the arm and led him over to the table. She introduced him to Lee Birda, grabbed her drink and walked away.

After dating for six months Lee Birda and Gold Dollar got married.

Benny Binion bought the couple a house on the Westside, as a gift, and allowed them to stay in the servant's quarters of his home while waiting for theirs to go through escrow. When they had a baby, he was named Leslie Benny Rose, in tribute to Benny Binion.

While staying at the Binion home, there was an incident that scared Lee. As she stepped out the door, she heard gunshots nearby. It was two men, in a car, shooting at Benny as he climbed out of his car. They missed, and Binion calmly walked into the house for his breakfast. After breakfast Binion went out to ride his horse, that Gold Dollar had named N****r.

Binion was from Dallas, Texas; Gold Dollar was from the nearby town of Victoria. It was said that Gold Dollar had once saved Binion's life, which he wouldn't ever talk about. When Binion moved to Las Vegas, Gold Dollar went with him.

It was rumored that Gold Dollar had killed for Binion. The victims were men who had tried to harm Binion or someone close to him. Men of such an ilk that when they disappeared, no one would miss them. Gold Dollar said that Binion had made his millions from illegal gambling, and bootlegging, back in Dallas. He said that Binion never worried about going broke--if he needed cash, he just went and robbed the other bootleggers, knowing that they couldn't go to the police, because their operations were illegal.

Binion himself was rumored to have killed three people; two in Dallas, one in Vegas. He admitted to one, claiming self-defense. Binion was never convicted of any of those murders, and Gold Dollar was never named as a suspect.

Gold Dollar was one of the very few black cowboys in Nevada. Born Perry Rose, he won a rodeo contest in Europe. The contest prize was hundreds of solid gold one-dollar coins. When he returned to the states, he went on tour in New York. On the last night of the rodeo he bought ten cases of liquor and poured it all into a big wooden barrel, along with a handful of gold coins. The guys grabbed their cups and started dipping for the coins and the booze, while shouting "gold dollar! gold dollar!" After that, he was known by the nickname "Gold Dollar".

The most noticable thing about Gold Dollar was his teeth. Wanting to live up to his nickname, he had all of his teeth...top and bottom...capped in gold!

...and now you know the story of Gold Dollar!

As I mentioned before, the quality of the photos in the book isn't very good , plus I didn't want to post something with a more recent copyright. I searched online and found one picture, not very good...but a picture, of Gold Dollar with Benny Binion and a bootmaker.