Gilbert Jones; Helped Expand Indian Casinos

Gilbert Jones, 66, former leader of the Ft. McDowell Yavapai Nation whose defiance of federal agents helped the financial viability of Arizona’s Indian casinos. Jones, a Korean War veteran who quit school at 13, led a blockade of fellow Yavapai Indians in 1992 to protest federal regulations that sharply restricted the use of video gambling machines on Indian lands. Federal agents raided five tribal casinos in Arizona, including the Ft. McDowell Reservation outside Phoenix. Jones was then the tribe’s vice chairman. He stood on the front lines of a blockade of cars, pickups and construction trucks amassed near the gambling hall’s exit to prevent federal agents from confiscating six truckloads of the video machines, which were expected to pump $15 million a year into tribal coffers. The five-hour standoff ended only when then-Gov. Fife Symington came to Ft. McDowell to negotiate a 10-day cooling-off period. The blockade was lifted and federal agents left behind under guard the trailers full of gambling machines. Later, federal officials agreed to negotiate operating agreements with the Arizona tribes, paving the way for reservation gaming for about 15 of the state’s 21 tribes, including the Yavapai. Jones had recently returned to work at a sand and gravel pit on the reservation after losing the toes on his right foot to diabetes. His wife, Evangeline, blamed his death on a fall in the gravel pit, but officials at the tribal operation disputed the cause of his death. On Monday at Ft. McDowell.