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Kentucky native Carlotta Thompkins Thurmond, immortalized in literature and film, inspired Miss Kitty on television’s “Gunsmoke.” As a child she toured Europe’s best gambling houses with her father, and in Texas she called herself “Lottie Deno,” a play on “lotta dinero.” Fellow gamblers said she had ice water in her veins, yet after moving to Kingston, New Mexico, she left many belongings for the needy. She gave up gambling after moving in 1882 from Silver City to Deming, where she co-founded St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.
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