Restless Wind, book 13 in my Redemption Mountain series, takes place in
the fictional town of Splendor, Montana. The town has all the required
businesses: general store, blacksmith, livery, boardinghouse, bank, millinery,
and of course, at least one saloon. Splendor two prominent saloons, the Dixie
and the Wild Rose. As with all of my historical books, I do quite a bit of
research and thought I’d share some of what I’ve learned about frontier saloons
in a blog post.
In the mid-1800s the term “saloon” replaced
what most people called a tavern or bar. Saloons were popular in areas with soldiers,
cowboys, miners, and railroad workers. Life was rough, and after a hard day’s work, men
liked to drink and chat at the local saloon.
 |
| Long Branch Saloom |
Early western saloons were tents where a man
could sit and have a drink of whiskey. However, as more people traveled west, saloons
became grander. In wealthy towns,
fancy establishments with mahogany wood, oil paintings, chandeliers, and posh
carpets were built. Most important of all, many supplied a boundless supply of
first-rate whiskey, champagne, cordials, rum, wine, and more.
In small towns, women could go into saloons without
ruining their reputation, but that wasn't the norm. Large saloons often had a
small cigar concession near the entrance, so ladies and gentlemen could make
purchases without entering the actual saloon’s bar and gambling area.
 |
| 1868 Tent Saloon |
Every saloon had card table and many added the
popular game of Far. Brag, three-card-monte, and dice games were also popular
in old west saloons. Many towns like Deadwood, Leadville, and Tombstone were
known for gunfights over card games. Professional gamblers sharpened their six-shooter
skills as much as their gambling skills. Shoot first and ask questions later became
part of a gambler’s code.
The Food
Early saloon food consisted mostly of biscuits, beans, beef, and bacon. Steaks
were usually overcooked, and some saloons offered rattlesnake meat. Coffee was often
the only non-alcoholic drink served.
Saloons
in towns that could ship food in on steamboats, and later the railways, served
better fare. Many saloons offered free lunches. The free lunches were epicurean
buffets on narrow, twenty-foot-long tables covered in white linen and plates of
meatballs, French cheeses, hickory-cured ham, cold cuts, beans, pretzels, rye
bread, smoked herring, salted peanuts, peppery sausages, sauerkraut, kippers,
potato chips, crisp celery and dill pickles. Some saloons featured daily free
lunch specials like franks on Monday, roast beef on Saturday, baked fish on
Friday, and so on.
 |
| Leadville Saloon |
The idea of the free lunch was hungry men were thirsty
men, and a few shots increased a customer’s appetite. Food, especially salty
food, produced a mighty thirst. So, free lunch customers usually spent a great
deal on booze.
Drinks
Most saloon regulars drank straight liquor—rye or bourbon. In the
early days, the whiskey was 100 proof, though sometimes cut by the barkeep with
turpentine, ammonia, gunpowder, or cayenne. They called this whiskey tarantula
juice, red eye, coffin varnish, bottled courage, bug juice, coffin varnish,
dynamite, joy juice, and snake pizen—the most popular term being firewater.
Cactus Wine, was also a popular saloon drink, made with tequila and
peyote tea. Another was Mule Skinner, concocted from whiskey and blackberry
liquor.
Saloons served beer at room temperature, and though the beer had a
head, it wasn’t sudsy like it is today. Customers had to down their beer quickly
before it got too warm or flat. But, that changed in the 1880s when Adolphus
Busch brought artificial refrigeration and pasteurization to the U.S. brewing
process. Some saloonkeepers set up a contract with a brewery to offer beer on
tap instead of bottled only.
Famous
Saloons
Saloons have become a big part of western lore. Some of the more famous
ones are listed below.
·
The Bull’s
Head in Abilene, Kansas, opened by Ben Thompson and Phil Coe in 1871.
Coe painted an anatomically correct bull on the outside wall of his
saloon. The marshal, Wild Bill Hickok, threatened to burn the saloon to the
ground if Coe didn’t paint over the offending image. In a later encounter, Wild
Bill killed Phil Coe.
·
The Holy
Moses in Creede, Colorado.
Bob Ford, who killed Jesse James, built and ran The Holy Moses Saloon.
Ford was shot and killed by a miner in 1892.
 |
| Holy Moses, Creed, Colorado |
The What Cheer House and
Saloon in Columbia, California.
Considered one of the best saloons in the west, it was founded in 1857
and still serves drinks to this day.
·
The Occidental
Saloon opened in 1880 in Buffalo, Wyoming.
The adjoining hotel hosted well-known guests such as Theodore Roosevelt,
Calamity Jane, Tom Horn, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and Western
novelist Owen Wister.
·
The White
Elephant in Fort Worth Texas.
It was known as one of the grandest combination of saloons, gambling
houses, and restaurants.
·
The Jersey
Lilly, was owned Judge Roy Bean who was judge, jury and coroner in Langtry,
Texas.
Bean once took a revolver and $40 as a fine off of the corpse of a man
who had fallen to his death. Apparently, Bean said, “Just because this
gentleman got it into his head to get killed, I don’t mean to let him
offend the peace and dignity of Texas.”
 |
| Jersey Lilly's Owned by Judge Roy Bean |
·
The Long
Branch Saloon of “Gunsmoke” fame.
It really did exist in Dodge City, Kansas and served milk, tea,
lemonade, sarsaparilla, alcohol, and beer. The original saloon burned down in
1885 but was resurrected as a tourist attraction featuring a reproduction bar
with live entertainment.
·
The Buckhorn
Saloon opened in 1881 in San Antonio, Texas.
The owner, Albert Friedrich accepted horns and antlers in place of money
from cashless cowhands. It is still open today as a museum.
·
Desert John's Saloon in Deer Lodge, Montana.
The Desert John’s Saloon was converted to a museum with an
automated saloon keeper who tells visitors about the bar which was shipped up
the Missouri River to Montana from St. Louis, Missouri. The saloon museum also features the most
complete collection of shot glasses, jugs, kegs, flasks, and antique liquor
bottles in the US.
 |
| Bar Room Saloon, Arizona |
·
Tombstone’s Crystal
Palace Saloon, which serves whiskey to this day.
It was originally named the Golden Eagle Brewing Company but it was renamed
the Crystal Palace Saloon when the building was expanded into a fine dining
location that also served cigars, wine, and liquor. It was one of the few
saloons with a female faro dealer.
The second-floor offices were home to legends of the 1880s, like
U.S. Deputy Marshal Virgil Earp.
You may also buy direct from Shirleen before
the formal release date at:
Great blog.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this article, thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your well-researched post on historical saloons. Hard not to write about a historical western town without mentioning saloons. Interesting to know some you wrote about still exist.
ReplyDeleteShirleen, what an informative post! Very helpful to other authors as well as interesting to western readers.
ReplyDelete