Old West Saloon

Saloons of yesteryear conjures up the the rowdy hard drinking gambling men prone to settle their differences with a six-shooter. The stomping grounds of outlaws,card sharks, ladies of the night and cowboys that drank till their heart was content without the social barometers our time dictates. Pushing through the batswing doors time has left the dream of passionate history.

Saloons were most popular to the miners, gamblers, outlaws, townsfolk and cowboys. Dodge City Kansas is famous for one of the many towns that cattle were driven from the range to be sold and shipped by train. Dodge City had many saloons to cater to the cowboys thirst after being on the trail and eating dust for many months. And where there was money there were saloons, gamblers, outlaws and “Spoiled Doves” all jockeying for the opportunity to separate the cowboy from his hard earned cash. Dodge City is also where history and legend accounts for the rise of Wyatt Earp.

Photo from Flickr

Whiskey and the old west go hand and hand as it was the most popular beverage consumed in the saloons. The strong whiskey available in the old west were made out of such gut retching ingredients as chewing tobacco and hot peppers.. It is often referred to as “firewater” or “spirtwater.” The American Indians believed the whiskey possessed spirits and many traders had to pour some of the whiskey on a fire to convince the Indians of the high alcohol content. A high alcohol content will make the fire blaze hence the word “firewater.” But the majority of western saloon regulars drank straight liquor, rye or bourbon and most were not particular to how is was made.

Photo from Flickr

Beer was also served at room temperature like the European tradition. It wasn’t until the 1880’s that Adolphus Busch introduced artificial refrigeration and pasteurization to the U.S. brewing process, launching Budweiser as a national brand. Before then, folks in the Old West didn’t expect their beer to be cold, .

Early Saloons were not as inviting as the long oak or mahogany wooden bar, barstools and sets of tables and chairs They were instead, tents or lean-tos that were quickly thrown together so that a traveler might stop to quench his thirst. Some were made out of rough cut logs and many of the early saloons were nothing more than a covered wagon that held the spirits and traveled along the trail following the migration of men and their thirst.
Saloons of the Old West generally cropped up wherever pioneers established a settlement or where trails crossed. The first establishment to actually be called a “saloon” was the Brown’s Saloon at Brown’s Hole near the Wyoming-Colorado-Utah border. It was established in 1822 and catered heavily to the many fur trappers who traded during the old days.

The gold rush caused another increase in the construction and popularity of saloons where a cowboy or miner might come to drink when they had spare time. Card playing, too, was a popular activity. As the town or settlement grew, the establishment took on the traditional features of the Old Western saloon that we’ve all come to expect.

Faro was the most popular game played in western saloons, closely followed by poker and some dice games. Mixing alcohol and gambling could result in some deadly gun play. Professional gamblers quickly learned to protect their assets by honing their six-shooter skills at the same time as their gambling abilities.

Some noted gunmen and lawmen of the wild west owned saloons too: Wild Bill Hickok, Bill Tighman, Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Ben Thompson, Doc Holliday, to name a few, tended bar or dealt cards. Wild Bill Hickok, ended up being killed by Jack McCall while playing poker in the No. 10 Saloon in Deadwood, South Dakota.
The gambling,drinking,prostitution and the gunfights that made the saloon an immortal part of the traditions of the west have been swept into the footnotes of history. A history glorified in memory and movies of fights and dancing, legend and fable, and outlaw and lawman.

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia