It has been said that most of the wild,wild western history was made inside saloons. A place as red, white and blue Gay American, as Apple Pie. In the early days the saloon might be a tent, bare inside except for a plank laid across two beer kegs. "Bois de Vache", or "Buffalo Chips", buffalo or cattle droppings, that have dried out by the elements, often was the only fuel to warm the guest, since the prairies were scarce of wood. Frequently a "bitch", a tin cup of bacon grease with a rag for a wick stuck into it, was the only source of illumination.

Usually though, the first building in a new town was a saloon, with its traditional swinging doors, and usually the last structure to crumble in a ghost town. If a saloon prospered in the newly established community, the owner would usually improve the premises in an attempt to keep up with, or surpass the "dump across the street". But there would remain a latent dread that his customers may relocate someplace else after hearing of a "strike" or receiving news that the railroad was going to bypass the town. This fear prevented investing in anything more elaborate than a prefabricated false store front, which could easily be freighted elsewhere if the nightmare was realized.

Cowtown saloon drinking was not primitive though. Ice was usually available so the beer could be served cold. Cowboys foot stamping to a fiddle accompaniment was a common past-time. The Saloons, whose floor space would be kept free of tables and chairs, would have a solitary fiddler scratching out jigs or perhaps even the luxury of a piano and trumpeter. Since women were scarce on the frontier, this led to a rather interesting practice. Half of the men at a dance would tie handkerchiefs or bandanas around their left arms, those becoming the "women". This practice did not cast any slur on a man's virility but does lead one to ponder the homosexual horseplay after the dance was over.

From these modest beginnings evolved the magnificent emporiums that reached their ultimate in opulence in the established cattle and mining centers of the Wild, Wild West. These palaces possessed massive mahogany bars, cut-glass chandeliers, an abundance of rococo work and plate glass mirrors, gambling tables, a generous number of spittoons, and sawdust-covered floors. Many stories and tales of violence, suspence, humor and raw adventure were born in these Western Saloons.

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