The most significant victory for Progressive Era campaigners was the banning of alcohol in the 1920s. Although gambling continued illegally in homes and in San Antonio and Galveston’s “vice districts”, its popularity massively declined throughout the state. Gambling was one of the favorite pastimes of cowboys, ranchers, smugglers, and buffalo hunters, and gambling only became more popular as the state began to grow in prosperity following a frontier boom and a spike in the price of buffalo hides.ĭuring the Progressive Era, the” vices” of excessive drinking, sex work, gambling, and the taking of drugs (marijuana, peyote, and opium were all popular) were either regulated or outlawed one by one. Part of Texas’ “bad boy” or “no messin’” reputation is likely due to the wildness of these early days which saw colonial Texas littered with saloons, gambling houses, and brothels.Īfter the US Civil War and throughout the Reconstruction Era, gambling houses became an increasingly popular form of entertainment. These activities included sex work, excessive drinking, and the taking of opium and peyote, a hallucinogenic. Gambling was considered to be one of the many “vice activities” which were popular in Texas’ early history.
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