Tom Dennison, known as Pickhandle or Old Grey Wolf, (October 26, 1858 – February 14, 1934) was an American political boss and racketeer in Omaha, Nebraska. A politically savvy, culturally astute gambler, Dennison was in charge of the city's wide crime rings, including prostitution, gambling and bootlegging in the 1920s. Dennison is credited with electing "Cowboy" James Dahlman mayor of Omaha eight times, and when losing an election, inciting the Omaha Race Riot of 1919 in retribution against the candidate who won.
Early life
The son of Irish immigrants, Tom Dennison came to Nebraska from Iowa in 1860 at the age of two. When he was young, Dennison traveled throughout the West as a prospector, saloon-keeper, gambler and robber. Dennison had owned and operated gambling houses such as the Opera House Gambling Saloon in Leadville, Colorado and the Board of Trade saloon in Butte, Montana.
Arrival in Omaha
Tom Dennison was thirty-four when he arrived in Omaha in 1892 with $75,000 in cash. Upon surveying the city, he found Omaha to be a "wide open town", meaning there was little legal control over gambling, liquor, prostitution and other criminal interests. Dennison soon became known as the city's "King Gambler" and first entered the political arena around 1900 as a way of protecting his interests. Dennison never actually held public office, instead buying influence through lavish campaign contributions and his ability to get out the vote.
Dennison acted as a power broker between the business community and the local vice lords. His gambling operations were mainly located in Omaha's third ward. He actively worked with local temperance groups to eliminate half of the saloons in Omaha — reputedly, the half he didn't control. Dennison operated a private bank at 1409 Douglas Street, the site of the current Union Pacific Center, lending money and providing a discreet repository for those who shunned traditional banks. For more than 25 years, his power was such that no crime occurred in the city without his blessing, the police reported to him daily, and the mayor himself answered directly to him. Dennison once explained his law theory to the Omaha Bee, saying, "There are so many laws that people are either law breakers or hypocrites. For my part, I hate a damn hypocrite."
Early in 1918 Dennison was the subject of a sensational trial. During the proceedings, Dennison himself admitted that one of his "roadhouses" operated for more than 10 years without a license. He explained he was making side payments to a county commissioner for "protection from the law."
Dennison controlled Omaha politics throughout his reign. His approval to run for office was gained through payment of bribes and by supporting the rest of Dennison's political slate. In 1906, Omaha Republicans supporting the Progressive Movement nominated a reformer named Erastus Benson for Mayor, and Dennison was afraid that Benson would come out in favor of prohibition. Omaha Democrats nominated James C. "Cowboy Jim" Dahlman, a popular, first-time candidate. Dahlman seemed to be more tolerant of Dennison's "Sporting District", so Dennison supported him. Dahlman was elected mayor that year, and in eight out of nine subsequent campaigns for mayor between 1906 and 1930; Dahlman's losing the election in 1918 was part of the background to racial violence in Omaha.
Lynching of Will Brown
In 1916 Nebraska passed a state constitutional amendment allowing for prohibition, and in the late 1910s, Dennison's political power waned. Omahans, fed up with Dennison's corrupt style, voted in Edward Parsons Smith, a reform-minded candidate committed to "cleaning up Omaha", as mayor in 1918. Boss Dennison nursed a grudge against Mayor Smith that is ultimately attributed with leading to the Omaha Race Riot of 1919. That year the Omaha Bee newspaper, founded by Edward Rosewater in the previous century, luridly reported on fictitious assaults on white women by black men. Each new story questioned Mayor Smith's ability to run the city. This, along with economic conditions facing recent veterans returning from World War I, led to increased racial tension throughout Omaha.