Looking back in those wild west days, we might be astonished at the number of saloons in most towns in the far West. Frontier communities and camps in the mountains (mining, lumbering, etc.) were saturated in alcohol. Much of the color and vitality of life on the frontier was associated with the saloon and so was much of its violence and degradation. 

But the shoot-’em-up tradition of Western history usually ignores the ways in which the saloon helped the urban frontiersman cope with his many pressing problems.  Saloons were meeting places, entertainment centers, refuges for the weary and haunt of the mischief-maker. There has been plenty of words written about the societal aspects of these “places of refreshment.” I’d like to share something else I learned about “wild west” saloons.

Leafing through old photos or visiting restored towns, today’s tourist will find three types of buildings dominating the rest: the church, the fraternal lodge and saloons. These institutions gave the pioneer something he considered important. The church, the lodge and the saloon might seem different but shared certain characteristics and afforded similar sociality. 

Each of these places strove to recreate the structure, trappings and decor of the same sort left behind “back East.” The church had its altar and symbols, the lodge its emblems, and the saloon its bar, games and traditional artwork. Each place had its rituals and distinctive vernacular transplanted directly to the frontier.. Each had is figure of authority: minister, grand master and barkeeper, all of whom dressed in special vestments, set the tone, welcomed the newcomer and served as a keeper of tradition. 

This post comes from a wonderful 10-page article titled Men, Whisky & A Place To Sit, by Elliott West, in the July 1981 issue of American History Illustrated. 

 Minor moral of this story? Never overlook old magazines in thrift stores! 

Today, canning is a convenient and safe way to preserve all kinds of food, but in 1898 and the early 1900s, it was a very different story….. the Embalmed Meat Scandal during the Spanish-American War caused soldiers and all American citizens to lose trust in their government for a time. 

Remember that refrigeration was, in those early days, an innovation not yet perfected. Experimentation in the early 1900s led to risky conclusions. No wonder the Embalmed Meat Scandal occurred.

The average soldier in the Spanish-American War had a typical ration containing 12 to 20 ounces of meat. When soldiers began opening cans of meat and discovering something that smelled of “bouquets of cesspools” they began dumping this meat into the water or eating it and feeling sick. Word quickly spread about this “embalmed beef” which was said to smell like an embalmed human body. The government and military officials tried to get the situation under control; this ultimately led to better quality control for preserving food.

The instigator of the Embalmed Meat Scandal was Major-Gen. Nelson Miles who stated on December 1, 1898, that 337 tons of embalmed beef were sent to troops in Puerto Rico the previous summer. This caused public outrage and a full scale investigation as to what was in the food American soldiers and citizens were eating. 

I had read Upton Sinclair’s book, The Jungle, which describes in horrific detail how meat packing plants in Chicago operated in the early 1900s. You want a good but awful read? Try this one. 

And think how this situation affected YOUR ancestors, possibly?

Did you know that our very own Bickleton in Klickitat County is known as the Bluebird Capitol of the WORLD? It’s so called because thousands of bluebirds spend most of the year in the area.  

Bickleton has become a bluebird-watchers’ paradise.

The area was first settled by Charles Bickle in 1879; he established a trading post and livery stable. Like most early residents, he was also a rancher and wheat farmer. A series of fires in 1937 and 1947 destroyed many of the town’s original buildings; the oldest surviving building is the Bluebird Inn which opened in 1882 and still serves guests.

In the 1960s, Jess and Elva Brinkerhoff were picnicking in this small town and put a can in a tree for some birds. This quickly became a local fad and now there are thousands of birdhouses purposely built to house bluebirds. Both Mountain and Western Bluebirds come; the above is a Western Bluebird. 

And “thousands” of bluebird watchers come every year to see these very special birds. Have you been one? Want to be one?