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Topic /Subject Discussed

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 Introduction

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 Prescott – turn of the century

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 Diversions for miners, cowboys and freighters

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 Prescott – county seat for Yavapai County

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 Miners and cowboys and freighters had to seek own diversions

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 Whiskey Row

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 Montezuma Street – From the St. Michael’s Hotel at Gurley Street to service     station on the corner of Goodwin Street

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Many more saloons than now

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Turn of the century

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Bob Canell Sr. had wholesale liquor store

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Gus Williams – bar

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Red Doolin – Kentucky Bar

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Cob Web Hall, Palace and Cabinet Bar

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Other saloons on Cortez Street down to the train depot

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Ben Belcher and Barney Smith had the old Cabinet Bar

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Cabinet Bar was sold to Floyd McCoy and his brother

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McCoy’s established The Wellington bar

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Palace Bar was run by Bob and Al Braugh

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Palace Bar was later run by Braugh, Smith and Belcher

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Pete Kasner’s  bar was the Windsor

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Sazyrak Bar – Cortez Street

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Al Stuckman

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On corner of Cortez and Willis (?) – Old Comet Grotto

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Bill Funt – Cory Carey ran

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Fred Eckert’s bar

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Depot

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Chronology  of owners unknown – changed before and after the Great Fire

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“Suburban Thirst Emporiums”

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Pelletier’s Snow Cap

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Fork of road at Miller Valley

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Bar was called the Valley View

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Halfway House was on the border of the military reservation and Fort Whipple

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Black Canyon Highway – Lone Pine Station

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Fork of Walker Road – Four Mile House

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Out of town bars had a sign that said 1^st chance on one side and last chance on the other side

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Celebrants started at the head of Whiskey Row and started buying drinks

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Hard drinks were 2 for $.25

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Bar checks – 12 ½ cents or a dime

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Thrifty individuals took the 12 ½ cent bar check

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Del Monte Bar

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Mike Chiantaretto’s Miner’s Home Motel

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Billiard hall

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Elk’s Lodge  #330

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F. G. McCoy Company

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Wellington – good for 5 cents in trade

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5 cents bought

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Schooner of beer as big as 2 coffee cups

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Beer was good – made where the ice plant is now

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Late Vice President Marshall

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Nickel would buy good cigar

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On every back bar’s standing rows -  lines of little bottles

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Filled with honest whiskey

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Wasn’t 65% grain neutral spirits

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Little bottles were at every bar

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Cowboy, miner or freighter leaving town would buy a bottle and put it in his pocket

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Took a sample of it

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“Glass Overcoat”

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Bought Smith and Belcher bottle – 30 cents

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Cedarbrook Whiskey

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Gambling

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Frontier games  Stud and Draw poker

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Faro

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Policy and Roulette

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Chuck-a-luck

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Gambling went out in 1906 but was going strong at the turn of the century

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Bars offered entertainment

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Palace Bar offered “Musical Monstrosity Under Glass”

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Fiddle, banjo, drums played – put token on and it would play for you – predecessor to modern juke box

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Piano player – would play anything you asked for if you bought him a drink

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Saloon singers

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Pretty young ladies with talent

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Sang anything by request

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Sentimental old ballads

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Stephen Foster – Old Black Joe, Swanee River

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Surprising how many times these were requested

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Citizens of  Prescott, both sexes, would sit on the plaza side of Whiskey Row and listen to the concerts

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Would not enter bars

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Saloon singer were of social caste hard to define

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Different bars attracted different classes of customers

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Palace Bar – Central place for cowboys and stockmen

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Need to hire a cowboy? Go to the Palace Bar

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The Cabinet Bar – another hangout for stockmen

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Corner of Gurley – Pete Character’s Windsor Bar

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Businessmen and lawyers hung out at the Windsor

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Cortez Street – Lawler Building – Comet Grotto

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Comet Grotto was a saloon in the basement

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Started by Billy Vanderbilt

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Scene of  “badger  fights”

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“No young man of prominence coming into Prescott could receive accolades of citizenship unless he was introduced to the badger fights”

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“Sheriff George Ruffner and Teamster Johnny Summers had few equals and no superiors when it came to badger fights,”

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Do-gooder wrote letters to the editor about the badger fights

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Sheriff Ruffner replied – exchange went on for days

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Depot House – 4 trains a day – 2 North and 2 South

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Stopped at train depot for 15 minutes

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Citizens came down to see the trains come in and go out

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Passengers on train were faced with large sign – Depot House was the last house on the West side of North Cortez (Now the Beauty Box)

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Sign offered passengers a chance to “gallop across the street and refresh themselves”

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Schooner of beer and free lunch

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Quantity and quality and general goodness

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Halfway House between here and Fort Whipple – border of Military Reservation

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Hang out for soldiers

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Teamsters, miners and cowboys

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Civilian would make disparaging remarks about buck private and monthly pay of $13.00

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Fights would break out between teamsters, miners, cowboys and soldiers

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First Class Brawl

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Call would go out to Provost Marshall at Fort Whipple and Sheriff and guard and deputy sheriff.

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Brawlers were separated and moved to guardhouse and calaboose respectively according to civilian or military status

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Halfway House was quite a place

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Wholesale liquor houses on Whiskey Row

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Herman Vogie – wholesale liquor house next to St. Michael’s Hotel

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St. Michael Bar

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Next to Piggly Wiggly and Pete Kasner’s Windsor Bar

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Jake Marx wholesale liquor establishment

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Not in retail business

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Had a line of barrels on low shelves with spigots in them

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Clerks would take little shot glasses and let you sample from the barrels

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Would fill pint, quart or half-gallon of your choice and you would take it with you

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Cost of quart of whiskey varied from $1.00 to $1.50

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To experience effects of inflation and high taxation – walk  up Whiskey Row and buy at quart of whiskey

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Costs $6.00 now

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Never saw a fifth in those days – saw ½ pints, pints, quarts, ½  gallon demi-johns and gallon demi-johns

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Fifth appeared when Prohibition was repealed

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When Jake Marx went out of business, Gail’s father still had the store

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Sold vinegar in bulk

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Father bought many implements of the barrel trade from Jake Marx

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Bought copper funnels, copper measures

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Bought barrel auger and bung starter

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Bung starter – mallet with narrow head

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3 ½ inches x 5 inches – long, flat, flexible hickory handle – 2 ½ feet long

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Bung starter was a lethal weapon

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Barrels of whiskey were filled at distillery

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Barrel auger brought in, hole on a bevel

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Pipe bung driven in and seal placed across it

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Non-compressible liquid in barrel

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Wholesaler would turn barrel over so bung would be under liquid

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Hit with a couple of sharp raps on either side

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Forced bung out – slipped in spigot

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Roll barrel up on bench and you are in business

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Before railroad came in most of the whiskey came by water to the Colorado River

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To Yuma then up the river on steamships to Ehrenberg

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Then freighted to Prescott by freight teams

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At the head of Skull Valley – long flat – “Trail Drop”

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Teamsters would uncouple lead wagon

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Hauled lead wagon to Iron Springs Summit

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Then mount a wheeler and bring the team back

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Hook up to trail wagon and haul that wagon up the hill

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Couple them together and ride down the hill to Prescott

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When the trail wagon was loaded with whiskey, teamsters had a fine “Rinky Dink” getting free liquor

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Jockey box had complete horseshoeing outfit

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Rasp, nippers, nails, hammers and so on. axle grease can

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Hub branch usually thinned in to make doubletree bend

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Teamster would take barrel and pull the brads off out of hook with nippers, carefully drive off the hook and drive a horseshoe in across the grain

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Enlarge it and turn the barrel over

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Set mule bucket under hole

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Expansion would force ½ gallon to 1 gallon of whiskey into the mule bucket

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Whittle oak peg and put in hole, replace hook, replace brads, seal barrel undisturbed

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Skull Valley Station is where the teamsters would get food, hay and grain for horses and stock and take a rest

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Teamsters accustomed to rest in shade of wagon

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Ranch chickens

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John Barleycorn

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Annual temperance lecture

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Other diversions

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West on Goodwin

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Alley down Goodwin and around the corner on Granite Street half block

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Restricted district

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School playground

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Cubicles were 12 x 10

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Girls of various nationalities

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Practiced oldest profession

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Wares were displayed through screen doors in good weather

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Glass windows in bad weather

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Across the street tariff was higher – parlor house had a parlor and piano player and waiters to bring you drinks

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District of  dubious educational value

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Denisons of underworld stayed in the district

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Band concert at Fort Whipple

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Bandmaster La Guardia

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Barouche – 4  wheeled carriages with 2 seats facing each other

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Coachman sat on box

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Barouche carried gamblers dressed in starched shirts, black clothes, top hat

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Companions were ladies that reminded one of Easter eggs – painted and hard-boiled

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Buttons and bows and fur belows

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Willow plumes in hats

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Feather boas and lace parasols

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Driver had high silk hat and lap road covering his Levi Strauss overalls

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When Equipage carriage passed by, Gail and his sister rose and said “Oh, Mother! See the pretty ladies”

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Mother sat them down

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District stayed there for many years

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Diversions of the turn of the century

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Young but observant

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Finished High School in 1909

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Juvenile delinquency not a modern invention

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District eventually went away

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Good Old Days? Suppose you tell me!