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Chuza
Chuza or Chusas (‘owls’) was a gambling game popular in the 19th century in both Mexico and New Mexico, and similar to Roulette.
Writing in 1886, John Gregory Bourke described it as a “purely Mexican game”, in opposition to “American” games such as Faro, Keno, and Diana.Lansing B. Bloom and John G. Bourke, ‘A Lynching at Tucson in 1873’ (1944), 236. The game was said to be particularly popular with women:Mayne Reid, The White Chief (1891), 44; Josiah Gregg, Commerce of the Prairies, or the Journal of a Santa Fé trader, during eight expeditions across the Great Western Prairies, and a residence of nearly nine years in Northern Mexico (1849), 240.
[it is not] confined to any class; but the most respectable New Mexican ladies would be found seated at these tables day and night, until their faces and sunken eyes proclaimed that the excitement was too powerful for their system.‘New Mexican customs’ (1856). One author in the New Mexico Historical Review misunderstood this passage as referring to a card game (Arnold L. Rodríguez, ‘New Mexico in Transition (continued)’ (1949), 191).
The game was played with a spinning wheel (see image below) and small coloured balls,Joseph Hergesheimer, ‘The Magnetic West: The Spanish Risk’ (1923). and either cards or numbers marked upon the table were used to track the bets placed upon the segments of the wheel.John G. Bourke, On the border with Crook (1891), 81. In New Mexico in 1824, a tax of 4 pesos was levied upon the game.Lansing B. Bloom, ‘New Mexico Under Mexican Administration: Part III’ (1914), 239.
Other than that, I know little about how it was played.In 1898, a correspondent of Notes and Queries also wrote in for information about the game—as far as I can tell, they weren’t answered (J. S. M. T., ‘“Chuza”, a Game’ (1898)). Any further information that a reader can provide would be helpful!
© 2018 Historical Society of New Mexico NMHM/DCA 09409.45used in accordance with terms
A Chuza wheel.
References
Anonymous (). ‘New Mexican customs’. Santa Fe Weekly Gazette vol. 5 (41), : page 2.
Bloom, Lansing B. (). ‘New Mexico Under Mexican Administration: Part III’. Old Santa Fe vol. 1 (3), : pages 235–287.
Bloom, Lansing B. and John G. Bourke (). ‘A Lynching at Tucson in 1873’. New Mexico Historical Review vol. 29: pages 233–242.
Bourke, John G. (). On the border with Crook. Charles Scribner’s Sons: New York.
Gregg, Josiah (). Commerce of the Prairies, or the Journal of a Santa Fé trader, during eight expeditions across the Great Western Prairies, and a residence of nearly nine years in Northern Mexico volume 1 (4th edition). J. W. Moore: Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Hergesheimer, Joseph (). ‘The Magnetic West: The Spanish Risk’. The Saturday Evening Post (34), : pages 20–21. Philadelphia, PA.
Reid, Mayne (). The White Chief. G. W. Dillingham: New York.
Rodríguez, Arnold L. (). ‘New Mexico in Transition (continued)’. New Mexico Historical Review vol. 24 (3), : pages 184–222.
T., J. S. M. (). ‘“Chuza”, a Game’. Notes and Queries (9th Series) vol. 2 (43), : page 328. London.