Although you won't find Butch Cassidy sneaking out a saloon's back door (like he used to in Baggs) or an innkeeper poisoning patrons with arsenic to steal their gold (like Polly Bartlett in the mining town of South Pass City), Wyoming's bars and saloons are still full of the Wild West – not to mention modern-day quirkiness and characters. Follow this three-day driving itinerary to experience some of the state's most interesting places to saddle up (and I mean that literally if we're talking about The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar in Jackson) and grab a cold one or just gawk at these Wyoming watering-hole wonders.
Day 1: Dancin' and Shootin'
Just barely over the state line from Colorado, Woods Landing appears to be a sleepy town, that is until most Saturday evenings during the summer when the Woods Landing Bar and Dance Hall opens up for a bouncing good time. Figuring that perhaps the area's cowboys and ranchers needed as much help getting their groove on as possible, springs were placed in the floor when this dance hall was built in late 1920s or early 1930s. The hall has been remodeled several times since, but one thing remains: the entire 40-by-60-foot floor sits atop old boxcar springs. Owners Sue Spencer and husband Bill Sheehan say that when enough people are out on the floor busting a move the bounce is certainly palpable.
While a bouncing dance floor is certainly wild, the Buckhorn Bar, less than an hour's drive north in Laramie, is wild in a totally different way. While some Wyoming towns stage fake shootouts for visitor amusement, as recently as 1971 the Buckhorn was the backdrop to a real Wild West shootout. When a jealous patron caught a glimpse of his cocktail waitress crush cozying up to another man, he fired at them from the street outside. The patron was hauled off to jail, and a visible hole left in the giant mirror behind the wooden bar remains as proof. The Buckhorn and its hole-y mirror are located at 114 E. Ivinson in downtown.
Day 2: Record Holders
North
Mint Bar in Sheridan Matthew Idler
and west of Laramie on U.S. 287/30 is the largest jade bar in the world. Surprisingly, the 40-foot long jade behemoth in Medicine Bow's Dip Bar – named for the Diplodocus dinosaur fossils which have been found nearby – isn't what first catches your eye. That honor goes to all the painting done by Owner Bill Bennett. He has painted nearly every available surface, including the dance floor, making it the only hand-painted dance floor west of the Mississippi. Initially Bennett had planned to paint a portrait of his wife on the dance floor, but she objected, insisting that she didn't want people walking all over her all day. Instead, Bennett went with western, wildlife and ranch scenes, many of the latter inspired by the nearby ranch where he grew up. Despite his colorblindness, the painted dance floor was considered a success by all, allowing Bennett to turn his artistic eye elsewhere in the bar. Now more than 20 years into his painting, nearly all the "elsewheres" are covered, with the exception of the four-and-a-half-ton jade bar. Mrs. Bennett ended up on the café ceiling. The Dip is located right in downtown on the old Lincoln Highway.
I won't send you north to Kaycee as its curious saloon burned down in 1928, but since you have some time in the car before arriving at the next saloon, I will still tell you its
story.
Nowadays, supermarkets and gas stations are often the first buildings constructed in a new town, but in Wyoming back in the late 1800s, saloons often held that honor. Kaycee's first building, a log saloon, was erected by George Peterson in 1897. For a decade it was a central business and social meeting place until the Wyoming legislature passed a resolution stating that only incorporated places could have saloons. As Kaycee didn't meet the minimum requirement of 250 residents without some creative line drawing, Kaycee extended its corporate limits 20 miles in every direction from the saloon. The now super-sized town of Kaycee did have the population necessary for incorporating – and for keeping its saloon, which remained popular until 1928, when
Million Dollar Cowboy Bar in Jackson Wyoming Travel & Tourism
a fire destroyed it.
And now back to your itinerary.
Thankfully there hasn't been a fire at the Rustic Pine Tavern in Dubois. One look at the 1930s building and you'll see why even the slightest spark could prove catastrophic: The entire exterior is covered in split pine planking. And when I say "entire," I'm not exaggerating. Even the bar's name is written in pine.
While the Rustic Pine Tavern is unique today, it used to be that most Wyoming towns had similar bars – interior burl wood, leather-backed booths and more mounted animal heads than you could count. This one, The Mint in Sheridan, and the one I'm sending you to next, The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar in Jackson are few and far between.
Day 3: No Finer Final Resting Place
A landmark on Jackson's elk-antlered Town Square for decades, The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar is close to the hearts of many. One patron in particular truly fell in love with its taxidermy décor, bar inlaid with 592 or 624 silver dollars (depending on who's counting) and honest-to-goodness saddle stools. Robert Irvin "Bob" Whitaker asked that some of his ashes be kept at the bar after his death. His wife followed through with his request in 1991. The ashes, stored in a black-labeled Jack Daniels bourbon bottle, are kept in an upstairs office and brought out once a year when Mrs. Whitaker comes for a visit.
Take U.S. 189/191 south from Jackson and you might witness a very different kind of death at the Elkhorn Bar in Bondurant. Not even the locals can remember when this tradition of celebrating hunting victories began, but hunters have been enjoying a shot in the company of their kills -- sometimes stretched out over the bar – for at least 40 years. The Elkhorn has hosted as many as three dead black bears at once, but usually about six bears a season. For those looking to avoid sharing a drink with such (dead company, the black bear hunting season runs from May 1 through June 15.
One final note: If you plan on doing more than soaking up the history and characters in these bars, be advised. Do not even try to order a cosmo or mojito at any of these establishments -- unless you're willing to be gawked at by the regular patrons. Keep it simple.
Although it has little history as an actual state (after all, it's only been one since 1890), the territory that is today Wyoming goes way back. Way, way back. read more
Glorified in books, movies and television shows, The Pony Express is an icon of American history. read more
