Paisley, Oregon kept sending teenage brides off to Reno. They played video poker and amassed small fortunes while their worthless husbands drank putrid porter.
They were resourceful young women, endowed with common sense and perseverance. They knew a bet with anything less than five coins was throwing money away.
They joined the players clubs, fluttered in and out of Reno, and invested their winnings in short-term bonds.
Like so many young women from dusty small towns in the west, they were underestimated. They were not back east boarding school girls. Flannel shirts and chicken-fried steak disguised their virtues.
And Paisley, Oregon rarely saw the teenage brides come back home.
