Regarding the use of the Last Chance Joe image on the various
Nugget casinos: Dick Graves opened all four Nuggets in Yerington,
Carson City, Reno and Sparks and used Joe on all of them. He
originally turned the Eagle club in Yerington into the Nugget then
opened Carson and Reno. His partner, Jim Kelly wanted out so he
got the Reno location. Last Chance Joe was based on Arnold Fryk
a former stuntman who began posing as an old prospector in
Death Valley where he acquired the name Bad Water Bill. He later
located to Virginia City as a tourist attraction. I remember seeing
him there in the 60s and also at the Gold Strike Inn in the off season.
Dick Graves hired him as a greeter when he opened the Sparks
Nugget. The Last Chance Joe statue that graced the Nugget for
many years was recently moved to the Sparks Museum. Fryk
died in 1976.