From the FCS Book of Little-Known Facts (trapper saloon)

Trappers in an old saloon

Saloons of the old west capture our imaginations and make us think about all of the card games, fist fights, and stand offs that happened behind those double doors. As settlers and cowboys moved west the saloon followed suit. They popped up wherever a cowboy hung his hat.

The earliest saloons catered to fur trappers and tradesmen in the early 1800s. By the 1880s there were multiple saloons per town vying for the attention of newcomers. No matter which saloon a cowpoke called home they rarely served anything but room temperature beer or straight whiskey.

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