Melody Groves writes about where she lives and what she loves—the West. She is the author of Hoist A Cold One: Historic …
Tag: Saloon
History, Heritage and Hospitality Go West and enjoy the best historic hotels, lodges and saloons.
Saloons, pubs and hotels played a major role in shaping the West. While saloons generally weren’t the largest buildings …
Judge Roy Bean and His Unrequited Love For the “Jersey Lillie” Judge Roy Bean had a serious soft spot for the lovely Lillie Langtry.
Somewhere along his wild and wooly way Roy Bean had developed a schoolboy crush on the beautiful English actress Lillie …
Johnny Lingo: Rot Gut, Sheep Wash, Chain Lightning
Belly up to the bar pards and bend an elbow. Any friendly barkeep at the local cantina or saloon, some of which became l…
A ‘Gem’ of a Saloon
Al Swearengen—yes, the real one, on whom the TV character was based—built the Gem Saloon in Deadwood in 1877. It was th…
The Dodge City War
What became known as the “Dodge City War” began when Luke Short returned to Dodge in April, 1881 and went to work at the…
Why Would an Old West Saloon have White Towels on the Front of the Bar?
Why would an Old West saloon have white towels on the front of the bar? Chuck Terry, Columbus, Ohio Bartenders hung towe…
Rowdy Joe vs. William Red Beard
Old West gunfights occasionally inflicted collateral damage. That was the case in October 1873 when rival saloon owners …
Did frontier women own saloons, like Gunsmoke’s Miss Kitty did?
Susan Mims Barnesville, Georgia Women worked the saloons, dancing or serving drinks or luring male customers upstairs. B…