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Bugsy Siegel: Nevada's Favorite Gangster/Ghost
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Poor old Bugsy Siegel. Born on February 28, 1906, the dapper gangster would be nearing the century mark...if he were still around; a person, or persons, unknown, saw to it that Bugsy celebrated no more birthdays. It was June 1947, forty-one year old Bugsy was comfortable with himself and his life. Others weren't. While he read the newspaper in his girlfriend Virginia Hill's exclusive Beverly Hills home his killers found their target....Luckily Virginia was in Europe; was it chance or had she been warned? We'll never know.
Bugsy is credited with being the "Father of Las Vegas" because he had the foresight to realize that Las Vegas had potential, and |
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would someday be one of the most exciting cities in the world. But the idea of building a fabulous hotel in the desert that would legally cater to the gambling crowd was not Bugsy's. Billy Wilkerson's hotel was well underway in the Nevada desert, when Bugsy decided to muscle in. Before long, Wilkerson was out, and Siegel was in.  Bugsy had grandiose dreams and the blessings of his mob bosses, but he just couldn't pull it off. The Flamingo (some say was named for the nickname he called Virginia Hill) wasn't making the money Bugsy's bosses expected. There was even talk the Siegel had held back large sums, a real no-no. Bugsy had to go...On a warm night in June a bullet came crashing through the window and into Bugsy's brain....Bugsy is not forgotten in Las Vegas. In the rose garden at the Flamingo Hotel a monument tells the story of Benjamin Siegel. Vicious gangster to be sure, nonetheless, Bugsy was the man who saw what Las Vegas could be. The Flamingo Hilton commemorated its 50th anniversary with a $5.00 chip that featured Bugsy's face on one side and 50th Anniversary on the other. Today all of the buildings and rooms that Bugsy knew of the Flamingo have been demolished. But sightings of the ghostly gangster are still being reported. These usually occur in or near the wedding chapel and the "Bugsy monument".
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