Over the past weeks I have watched while the hobby has debated the existance of the Apache Casino. It sounded more like a battle for supremacy than a search for the truth. It is not so important to determine who was right or wrong, but to determine what were the facts. Harvey Fuller's Index lists but a single line for the Arache Casino. Almost an insignificant entry in his comprehensive work on Nevada's casinos from the 1931 to 1981 period. What collectors should understand is what it took to verify and confirm that entry.

For more than twenty years Fuller took painstaking care to research Nevada casinos. He looked in every official record that he could find. He searched the public press and private publications for clues and leads that took him to the facts that would confirm the existance of live gaming. For years I supervised his research and edited his findings in the Index - but his work was truely an individual accomplishment. Yes, he made some mistakes, but I can say that after checking and double checking his work that 99.9% of his research was valid and none of it was unsubstantiated. If Fuller's Index has errors, they are probably mine as Editor and not Harvey's.

What I hope many people in this hobby will appreciate is that Harvey Fuller did it for the fascination and love of history and not for the glory of being an authority. And certainly not for profit. Fuller is one of the hobby's most deserving recipients of the Hall of Fame award from the CC>CC. Many of today's collectors have never heard of Harvey Fuller, but he laid the foundation for the historical attribution that is found in almost every book on Nevada gaming checks and chips.

I can never thank Harvey Fuller enough for his work, his determination and his persistance. I hope that most of the people who read this will take the time to read John Yee's article on the Apache Casino in the next issue of the club magazine - built with Fullers fundamental research and supplemented by John's own time consuming searching. I also hope that those who will stand for authority in the hobby will give credit where it is due, submit the facts for all to judge and omit boldly asserted speculation used as fact.