The small Northern California town of Yreka has a population of just over 7,600 and sits in the mountainous Siskiyou County region near the Oregon border. Parts of Yreka look frozen in time, with Old West style saloons lining streets and restored Victorian row houses peddling flowers and gifts.

But many of the smaller towns in Northern California are struggling economically, as most of the state’s wealth is concentrated in the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California. So many residents of Yreka feared that a tribal casino opening in their small town would bring undesirable effects like crime and traffic issues.