author
George H. Devol
1829–1903
Best known for a lively memoir of riverboat life, this 19th-century gambler wrote with the swagger of someone who had seen the Mississippi at its roughest. His stories mix frontier adventure, hustling, and a sharply drawn picture of gambling in America before the modern age.
1 Audiobook
Forty Years a Gambler on the Mississippi
by George H. Devol
About the author
Born in Marietta, Ohio, in 1829, George H. Devol is remembered chiefly for Forty Years a Gambler on the Mississippi, the memoir that made his name last. Library and book records consistently identify him as George H. Devol (1829–1903), and his book has remained the work most closely associated with him.
Accounts about his life describe him as a professional riverboat gambler who also worked around the western railroads, building a reputation as a card sharp, con man, and colorful storyteller. Much of what readers know comes from his own memoir, so some of the most dramatic episodes are best read as part personal history, part tall tale.
That blend is exactly what gives his writing its charm. More than a confession or a straight autobiography, Devol's book offers a vivid look at steamboat culture, hustling, and rough-edged American travel in the 1800s, told in a voice that feels direct, funny, and unapologetically bold.