The Daily inter Lake

Two strangers walked into Whitefish's Cowboy Cabin late on the morning of Jan. 31.

"Cowboy Ron" Turner stood behind the big brown wood counter - which looks like the bar in a Wild West saloon.

The Cowboy Cabin is actually an upscale Old West antique store.

Turner, 65, wore Western gear. Big cowboy hat. Full snow-white beard. Looks like Western actor Keenan Wynn, but doesn't sound like him.

"Howdy, pardners - welcome. … Nice to have you here," Turner told the strangers.

The strangers flashed their badges.

They were the law. Montana Department of Justice's Gambling Investigation Division, to be exact.

"We'll see if you can still say that after you see who we are," Turner quoted one agent saying.

The agents confiscated several Old West gambling items from the Cowboy Cabin, saying they were illegal - two ancient roulette wheels, two early 20th century punchboards and a chuck-a-luck. A chuck-a-luck is an small hourglass-shaped cage that spins - with three dice inside.

One roulette wheel and its table dates to the 1880s. It was fixed up to be a prop in the saloon on the CBS television series "Gunsmoke" before ending up in limbo before the Turners found it.

One old punchboard is framed behind glass. Winning punchboard combinations offer prizes such as 5 cents, a candy bar or one cigarette.

The agents marked as evidence and left a huge craps table, a blackjack table, a roulette table and an smallish craps table top - all 19th century items to be picked up later. The blackjack table is a half-circle table with green felt on top and no markings, which the Turner thought eventually would be bought as a bar for a recreation room. All the remaining gambling gear has been moved into storage in the back, except for the huge, almost unmovable craps table.

The agents ordered Ron and his wife, Eila, to cover the big craps table with furs.

The Turners recently moved from San Juan Capistrano, Calif., to Whitefish to be with their daughter and son-in-law, Alisha and Clint Walker. The Turners are longtime Old West buffs who owned the 19th century - generously extended to about 1930 - Western antique store for 12 years before opening the Cowboy Cabin in late December in the old Dire Wolf tavern in northern Whitefish.

The two state agents were just routinely checking up on a business that replaced a tavern, said Gene Huntington, administrator of the state's Gambling investigation Division.

However, the Turners said the agents immediately walked to the back of the store's display area where the gambling tables and equipment were located. A third agent showed up 45 minutes later.

The agents told the Turners that having unlicensed gambling equipment is against the law in Montana - the stuff would be confiscated.

Ron Turner said: "Some of these things are over 100 years old. These are not gambling devices. These are antiques … It's a historical collection. .. This never is, was nor will be a gambling establishment."

Gambling equipment appears to make up a tiny fraction of the Cowboy Cabin's rustic-looking stock. It has Old Western cavalry and Indians oil paintings, saddles, lots of guns, gun racks, furniture, furs, 1930s cowboy movie posters, old-time photos and a huge PG-13-rated painting of a reclining lady of likely easy virtue

Arguments flew back and forth: Historical antiques versus illegal gambling equipment.

Ron Turner contended that the equipment is too old, battered and expensive to be used viably for gambling.

As they argued, Eila Turner began to cry. "I was in a state of shock," she said.

Ron Turner phoned his son-in-law, Clint Walker, for advice. Walker called the Whitefish police to ask that officers check up on the state agents to make sure they were genuine and not con artists.

Two Whitefish officers showed up at the Cowboy Cabin, asking the agents to verify their identities.

One agent got mad and yelled at the police officers, who remained calm, Turner said. Whitefish Assistant police Chief Mike Ferda verified that one state agent was rude and "went a little over the top to our officers."

After checking the state agents' identities, the Whitefish officers backed off.

The Turners said they did not realize that possessing certain gambling equipment was illegal in Montana. They said the state agents told them that ignorance of the law is not a defense. They said one agent sarcastically said: "Welcome to Montana."

The agents did note that a rifle rack - two spurs nailed to a backboard painted to look like a roulette table - might also be confiscated, the Turners said.

Two agents returned Tuesday to the Cowboy Cabin. They scolded the Turners for not removing the huge fur-covered craps table from the public display area.

Ron Turner took a photo of them, intending to store it on a computer. One agent got mad and told Turner that he would confiscate the camera as evidence unless the photo was deleted, Turner said. He deleted the photo.

Huntington said the agents thought Turner threatened to put their photo on the Internet.

The state has not charged the Turners. The most likely potential charge would be a misdemeanor of possessing illegal gambling equipment, Huntington said.

The confiscated and to-be-confiscated items are worth $77,000, the Turners said. Some of those items were being sold on consignment for others.

Also, other people selling items through the Cowboy Cabin on consignment have withdrawn those antiques out of fear of future confiscations, the Turners said. Those withdrawn items are worth about $300,000, they said.

If the state hangs on to the confiscated equipment, it can destroy them, use them for training, or donate them to a museum.

Huntington said the state has to apply the anti-gambling-device laws consistently - regardless of whether the items are in an antique shop or being used to gamble in the back room of a tavern.

The confiscated items fall under the state' anti-gambling laws, which don't address antiques except for old slot machines, he said.

There is no way for the state to legally determine whether an old craps or roulette table will not be used for gambling, Huntington said.

The Turners asked the state about shipping the equipment back to California or to their clients. Huntington said federal law prohibits transporting gambling equipment across state lines.

The Turners contended that they had displayed and sold antique gambling equipment for years in their San Juan Capistrano shop, and never run afoul of the law.

Huntington said: "Our quick evaluation is that California has a similar law to ours [on gambling equipment]."

The Daily Inter Lake could not get a reply Thursday afternoon on this specific issue from the appropriate California authorities.

The Turners have spoken with several acquaintances about their problems, including some attorneys, they said. One or more of those attorneys have talked to the state Gambling Investigation Division, the Turners said. However, they have not formally retained a lawyer.

Huntington said the state would discuss the issue with the Turners' attorney.

"We're doing what we can to resolve this." he said.

Ron Turner said: "We want all the stuff returned with a letter of apology."