My father, Garrett “Duke” Belles, led a colorful life before marrying my mother. I remember pieces of his stories about his life as a young man. One snippet he related to me was that for a time, he made his living as a gambler. Now, I’m not sure how much of Dad’s stories I believe. After all, he also told me he was an Indian and could tell time by the sun!

I did a search on Duke and came up with these two articles from a 1953 newspaper in Eureka, California. It looks like Dad was telling the truth about his gambling. I hope he had more success than he found on this day in February 1953!