Saloons, barrooms, honky-tonks, or watering holes—by whatever 
name, they are part of the mythology of the American West, and their 
stories are cocktails of legend and fact, as Richard Selcer, David 
Bowser, Nancy Hamilton, and Chuck Parsons demonstrate in these 
accounts of four legendary Texas establishments.

    In most Western communities, the first saloon was built before
the first church, and the drinking establishments far outnumbered 
the religious ones. Beyond their obvious functions, saloons served 
as community centers, polling places, impromptu courtrooms, and 
public meeting halls.

    Here, the spotlight is thrown on four celebrated saloons:

    Jack Harris's Saloon and Vaudeville Theater San Antonio

    Ben Dowell's Saloon El Paso

    The Iron Front Austin

    The White Elephant Fort Worth

    Selcer and his coauthors start with the origins of each 
establishment and follow their stories until the last drink was 
served and the places closed down for good. They discuss all 
aspects of the business: the owners, the liquor provided, the
entertainment, the troubling issues of segregation by race and 
gender, and the way order was maintained—if it was at all.

    Along the way they consider the ornate bar construction, 
old floor plans, the liquor suppliers, the attire of the gentlemen 
gamblers, the variety of casino games that emptied men's pockets, 
fatal shootings that occurred, and more. Vintage photos of the 
establishments, along with some of their more famous customers, 
further take the reader back to the Old West.

_________________________________________________________

RICHARD SELCER, a long-time adjunct professor of history at 
Cedar Valley College in Dallas, Texas, and at the International 
University in Vienna, Austria, lives in Fort Worth, Texas. DAVID 
BOWSER is now known as the "historical detective" of San Antonio, 
where he has lived for more than twenty-five years. NANCY HAMILTON, 
a past president of Western Writers of America, lives in El Paso, 
Texas. CHUCK PARSONS is the author of Captain L. H. McNelly, 
Texas Ranger. He lives in Luling, Texas.


Number Ten: Clayton Wheat Williams Texas Life Series


What people are saying about this book

". . . the saloon story, until now, has never been told with such 
clarifying candor. If you understand saloons, you will understand 
the West: why it was wild, why it was great, and why it will always 
be remembered."—Leon Claire Metz, past President, Western
Writers of America

"What a great book! Even teetotalers will be fascinated by this 
verbal visit to the rough and rowdy saloons and the sleekly 
sophisticated gentlemen's social clubs of a century past. This 
well-researched glimpse into Texas' colorful past will keep you 
turning pages long past your bedtime!"—Docia Schultz Williams,
Author-Historian