SPEAKER_00: Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this is Womanica. This month we're talking about mischief makers. Oddballs, chameleons, and nonconformists. Queens of quick wit. Today we're exploring the infamous story of a card dealer and renowned businesswoman who amassed a fortune through her gambling house in New Mexico. Legends depict her as a powerful femme fatale who led men to their ruin in the hot, dry colony of Santa Fe. The truth is a bit more complicated. Let's talk about Maria Gertrudis Barcelo. Maria Gertrudis Barcelo was born around the year 1800 in the Bavista Valley of Sonora in modern-day Mexico. Her mother was Dolores Herrera. Her father was Juan Ignacio Barcelo, and she had two siblings. Maria was known as Tules, meaning reeds, perhaps for being slender. It's unknown if she got this nickname later in life when she went by Doña Tules, or if she had it from a young age. The Mexican War of Independence ended in 1821 after more than a decade of conflict and bloodshed. Mexico was now independent from Spain, and a large region of current-day New Mexico became a part of the country. Around this time, Tules and her family moved north to Valencia, a small town in that territory. In 1823, Tules married a man named Antonio Cisneros. When she got married, she kept her last name and the right to her own property, the things she owned before she got married. Some attribute this to her cunning nature. While that may be true, it was also a part of Spanish marriage law, at least for Spanish women of means. These rights were not extended to indigenous women, who lost many of their rights when Spain began colonizing their land, or to enslaved women, who had no rights at all. Card games were quite popular in New Mexico during this time. So was gambling, even if it was illegal, because usually the only penalty was a fine. Tules took a liking to gambling, and there's a record of her getting fined for it in 1826. Tules moved to Santa Fe with her family sometime in the 1830s. Santa Fe was at the western end of a long route called the Santa Fe Trail, a kind of trade highway that ran all the way to Missouri in the United States. American travelers and traders arriving in Santa Fe presented Tules with a good business opportunity. She secretly opened a gambling salon that probably operated like a speakeasy, with people playing in back rooms of her house and using specific passwords to get in. Then, in 1838, gambling was legalized, and Tules upped the ante in a licensed establishment. The new space had crystal chandeliers and etched glass mirrors. The floor was covered in fine European carpets, and the walls were adorned with thick drapes. All were welcome in Doña Tules' new space, and soon it became a popular place for socialites and travelers to drink and gamble. Doña Tules was quite skilled in dealing cards in a game of chance called Monte, or Monte. It used a Spanish card deck of 40 cards. The dealer draws from the bottom and top of the deck, leaving them face up. The rest of the cards are called the Monte, which is the Spanish word for mountain. Players have to bet if the cards drawn from this deck will match the suit of one or both of the first two cards. Betting stakes were said to have gone as high as $50,000. Doña Tules made a lot of money from this gambling salon, and invested it in other ventures. She became one of Santa Fe's most influential figures. Rumors circulated that she may have been running a brothel as well to amass such wealth. But some of these rumors came from Anglo-American sources, which was more reflective of their prudish attitudes and their distrust of a fashionable woman who owned her own business. The more Americans passed through her doors, the more Doña Tules became branded as a sinner. The Mexican-American War erupted in April of 1846. During the war, Doña Tules hosted many U.S. Army officers, fed them, and even gave them money or advanced warning of planned attacks. During, before, and after the war ended in 1848, she was called the Mexican Queen of Sin in American newspaper articles. These and other sources contributed to the myth that became Doña Tules' story. When the war ended, New Mexico and a lot of other land that now makes up the Southwest was ceded to the United States. Doña Tules died in 1852, leaving behind a considerable fortune and several houses to her siblings and adopted daughters. All month we're talking about mischief makers. For more information, check us out on Facebook and Instagram at Womanica Podcast. Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator. Talk to you tomorrow.
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