Casino Paul

                                   

This is a guest Blog from Paul I. Fender.

I was the owners representative on two Indian Casino projects. The first was in Canyonville, OR. Right on I5 between Roseburg and Grants Pass. Its was for a re-established tribe, the Umquah Tribe of Indians. During the late 80's under Regan thay achieved tribal status and with their grant bought a track of land along I5 in Canyonville, OR. They originally built a bingo hall. While I was there in the mid 90's we built a 5 diamond hotel and a first class casino. It is named Seven Feathers Casino and Resort. It was a tribe of sorts but really a group of decendents of an old trapper by the last name of Jackson who had an Indian wife. He was originally from St. Joe, MO. I guess he was kind of rough on his women. As time went the mining and lumber baron's ran off the indians. The tribal leader, a woman, was one the decendants. When she found out I was from Missouri we ceased getting along.
Tribal politics being what it is, that was not a good thing. She was a good business woman and knew they needed me. They are doing quite well.

I built a second Indian Casino a little closer to home. The Harrah's Potowatomi Prairie Band Casino in Mayetta, Kansas. This was a band of Potowatomi that were relocated from around the great lakes and the eastern united states. We actually have a trail of tears through Jackson County, MO to Kansas. The Prairie Band are a real tribe with a real reservation. Its located in Jackson County, Kansas. Harrahs was the manageing partner and the developer of the Casino. They brought our firm to the table. After the Casino was finished, I stayed on with the tribe for about 3 years helping with construction projects on the Res. They liked to spend the money from the Casino. I made it through two tribal elections but on the third I was fired along with all the other "white men". The newly elected tribal leader was a pow wow bum who hadn't been past the 5th grade. He was a huge man. Probably 6'6" 300lbs. You did not want to piss him off. My contract was terminated on Christmas Eve. By Spring he had gone off to California for some sort of Indian meeting and never came back. According to the others I stay in touch, nobody knows what happened to him. The tribal leader now is a Harvard Business school graduate and they manage the Casino themselves. They are doing a good job.