“Little Casino,” whose aliases also included Ida Lewis and Elizabeth McClelland, was a frontier entrepreneur and madam.
Little Casino was born in 1840 to David and Mary Jenkins. Her family, immigrants from Wales, resided in New York at the time. Her brother David was first to arrive in Dakota Territory, assigned to Fort Rice.
McLelland had resided in Brainerd, Minnesota for a time, where she got started in her “questionable” career before the city cracked down on such businesses.
She relocated to Bismarck in mid-1873 to establish a successful “resort” – or brothel. She opened a new “house” in 1877 – at 701 Front Avenue, then outside of city limits. She was arrested in Chicago in 1886 for attempting to abduct two local “working girls.” She remained operating until 1893 when foreclosure forced her out of business. She spent her last years on a farm south of Wilton, where she also operated the Casino coal mine.
She diversified her interests by becoming an original stakeholder in First National Bank of Bismarck in 1879 when its founding members signed articles of incorporation at the Merchants Bank building. Some sources state that it was the second bank in Bismarck. Other original shareholders whose names you may recognize included Doctor Henry Porter, Asa Fisher, John McLean, John Yegen, and Mrs. W.B. Shaw.
The First National Bank building constructed in 1883 will be Bismarck’s largest private building until it was destroyed in the 1898 Fire. A smaller replacement bank was built on the same site.
Little Casino was a generous woman financially contributed to both public and private causes. Specifically, she contributed $1,200 to funding required to secure Bismarck as capital in 1883. That’s equivalent to about $50,000 today. She often donated her wealth to charity cases, sometimes privately without recognition. It is said that she helped Denny Hannifin, a close friend, after his wealth evaporated.
