
Was segregation (or other forms of discrimination) commonly practiced in Old West saloons?
Larry Dye
Fenton, Illinois
Segregation was a reality in most saloons. Exceptions existed, such as at saloons located on the Southwest border, where whites and Hispanics mixed. But for the most part, several accounts reported violence sparking when blacks tried to get served in “white” bars. By and large, each ethnic or racial group had its own watering hole.
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Marshall Trimble is Arizona’s official historian and the Wild West History Association’s vice president. His latest book is 2018’s Arizona Oddities: A Land of Anomalies and Tamales. Send your question, with your city/state of residence, to marshall.trimble@scottsdalecc.edu or Ask the Marshall, P.O. Box 8008, Cave Creek, AZ 85327.