Hoist a Cold One!: Historic Bars of the Southwest

By Melody Groves and Myke Groves

Throwing a few drinks back at the bar is a timeless tale of humanity. In the American Old West, this tale played out in ramshackle huts and stylish establishments alike in some of the most unforgiving terrain imaginable. While the legendary Crystal Palace in Tombstone, Arizona, had little in common with the tent cities that sprang up in Leadville, Colorado, and Silver City, New Mexico, one common feature was the bars—constructed of planks of mahogany, cherrywood, or rosewood. These bars were often hauled across hundreds of miles of rugged terrain to arrive in various cities, where they would support the elbows, chins, and drinks of those who sought to quench their thirst.

From the Grand Hotel in Bisbee to Rosa’s Cantina in El Paso, Myke and Melody Groves tell the story of the front and back bars of twenty-five establishments in Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado through a combination of historic background and photographs. This lively travelogue, complete with driving directions, will inspire visitors to the West’s old mining camps, railroad towns, and ranching centers to stop in and belly up to the bar.

• Language: English
• Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
• Release date: Jul 16, 2011
• ISBN: 9780826346698

Melody Groves

Melody Groves is the author of the Colton Family Saga series "Border Ambush" (finalist, 2009 New Mexico Book Awards), "Sonoran Rage, Arizona War" (winner, 2008 New Mexico Book Awards) and "Kansas Bleeds." Her essay about living in New Mexico was published in "Voices of New Mexico." Melody is a contributing editor for Round Up magazine and contributing writer for "American Westward Expansion, "? a collegiate history encyclopedia. Her books include "Hoist a Cold One! Historic Bars of the Southwest."

Book preview

Arizona

Bartender Darlene Kaliher stands with history—an 1880s bar moved to Bisbee during the town’s early 1900s heyday.

Here, we know everybody’s name.

—Darlene Kaliher, bartender

REMINISCENT OF THE WELCOMING ATMOSPHERE in television’s hit show Cheers, the Bisbee Grand Saloon warms visitors, old and new alike. No one is a stranger for more than half a minute. This is the saloon where, quicker than it takes to order a drink, out-of-town visitors find themselves joking and laughing right along with the regulars.

The bartender, Darlene Kaliher, enthuses about the saloon, the hotel, the building, and, for that matter, the entire town of Bisbee. And not much gets past her. But what she does know best is everyone’s name. She even knows the dogs’ names when they come in and sit at their owners’ feet. And the doggie biscuits are free of charge.

Dogs aside, one look at the back bar, and visitors know they have stepped into another world, a historical world. Kaliher explains that the 1880s back bar once graced the Pony Saloon in the famous town of Tombstone. The reason it moved thirty miles south is up for discussion, but it has sat in this Bisbee saloon since around 1906 when the front bar and hotel were built.

Well built and set on solid rock, these 1890s buildings are still sound.

A fillet of intricate scrollwork adorns the top bar columns.

Boots rest on a brass rail. The front bar, painted white, is set off with black and gold trim.

In 1880- Bisbee was named in honor of Judge DeWitt Bisbee, one of the financial backers of the adjacent Copper Queen Mine.

The top of this Corinthian column shows off Greek design. Egg-and-dart molding runs along the top of the bar.

Drawer pulls were highly ornate in early bars.

A rather wooden local resident resides over the bar.

And since 1906 people have come here to stay in touch, states Kaliher. A regular customer concurs. He explains that after work he hightails it to the Bisbee Grand Saloon where he sits and chats with fellow customers. A couple of times a month, the faculty of Cochise College in Bisbee comes in for a reconnecting session.

The Bisbee Grand Saloon caters to everyone, especially the locals. The Red Hat Ladies Society meets here. And not to be outdone by crimson chapeaux, a group of men wearing women’s lingerie, locally called the lingerie group, parades through in their red thongs and not much else. They visit most of the bars in town before going home. This spectacle happens in mid-August, when the weather is warm.

New Year’s and Halloween crowds are repeat customers. However, the regulars report the best time to come is on Friday afternoons when the saloon dishes up a free buffet during happy hour. Local bands on weekends round out full experience, and rest assured, Darlene will know your name before you walk out that