Read Online Collection 1988 - Lonigan (v5.0) by Louis L’Amour - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Louis L’Amour
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fight.
âAll right, boys! Start moving!â Dan said quietly. They moved.
Dan Regan walked up on the porch and looked at Jenny.
âWell, Iâm back,â he said, âand thereâs another dance at Rock Springs on Saturday. Want to go with your husband?â
âThatâs the only way Iâll ever go to another dance there!â she replied tartly. âAnyway, we can buy furniture with the money.â
âWhat money?â he asked suspiciously.
âThe money I won from Burr Fulton, betting on you at five to one!â she said, smiling a little, her eyes very bright.
AUTHORâS NOTE
----
T HE W ESTERN S ALOONS
Whiskey Flat, near where Kernville, California now stands, began when a wagon broke down and the owner of the wagon and its goods began selling whiskey off the tailgate.
Parrot City, a now-vanished town not far from Durango, Colorado, began with a man who laid a plank across two barrel tops and began selling whiskey under a tree.
Saloons began wherever there was a market for whiskey, and that was wherever men congregated. The first saloons were often in tents, hastily thrown up while a building was in the process of construction. They were of all types, from a shed with a bar to a very plush and elaborate structure with gaslights, paintings (often of seminude, reclining ladies), and a stage for entertainment.
The saloon was not merely a place for drinking, but a clubhouse, information center, and meeting place, a place where deals were made for land, cattle, mining claims, or whatever.
Most of the saloons had gambling as well, the games run by the house or by someone working with permission from the house and an understanding. Many of the early peace officers were also gamblers, and on the frontier many gamblers were respected men.
The average western saloon was a place with a few gaming tables, sawdust on the floor, and a long bar. Whiskey was expensive to ship, and although a few bottles of the good stuff were handy for special customers or the owner himself, most of the patrons were served whiskey or beer often concocted on the premises or nearby and made of whatever material was available.
By the time the railroads were operating in the west and whiskey could be shipped at a reasonable price, many westerners had forgotten what good whiskey tasted like and were convinced that so-called âIndianâ whiskey was better.
Many western saloons also served meals, some even of gourmet quality, but on the whole such food was catch-as-catch-can, and one ate what was available and was glad to get it.
Women were rarely on the premises unless the saloon also functioned as a dance hall, in which case women appeared as entertainers, most with quarters upstairs to which they might resort on appeal. Occasionally the dance-hall girl would be only that, limiting her activities to dancing or talking with the customers. Others had special âfriendsâ whom they might entertain on occasion or with whom they kept company, as the saying was.
As the railroad built west, the Hell-on-Wheels towns kept pace with construction, since workers on the railroad had to have a place to spend their money and these towns provided it. Most of the saloon and gambling houses at the end of the tracks were houses in tents, a few in hastily thrown up shacks. They were wild, woolly, and lawless, each âtownâ lasting for a few weeks only, then moving westward to be reestablished in a new location. Cheyenne, Wyoming, which practically began in that way, remained a permanent town, a marketing place, and eventually became an important city. Fortunately, in growing up, Cheyenne has managed to retain its western flavor, as befits a town in cattle country.
H ERITAGE OF H ATE
----
CHAPTER 1
Bushwacked Man
CON FARGO HUNCHED his buffalo coat about his ears and stared at the blood spot. It must have fallen only a minute or two before, or snow would have covered it. And the rapidly filling
âAll right, boys! Start moving!â Dan said quietly. They moved.
Dan Regan walked up on the porch and looked at Jenny.
âWell, Iâm back,â he said, âand thereâs another dance at Rock Springs on Saturday. Want to go with your husband?â
âThatâs the only way Iâll ever go to another dance there!â she replied tartly. âAnyway, we can buy furniture with the money.â
âWhat money?â he asked suspiciously.
âThe money I won from Burr Fulton, betting on you at five to one!â she said, smiling a little, her eyes very bright.
AUTHORâS NOTE
----
T HE W ESTERN S ALOONS
Whiskey Flat, near where Kernville, California now stands, began when a wagon broke down and the owner of the wagon and its goods began selling whiskey off the tailgate.
Parrot City, a now-vanished town not far from Durango, Colorado, began with a man who laid a plank across two barrel tops and began selling whiskey under a tree.
Saloons began wherever there was a market for whiskey, and that was wherever men congregated. The first saloons were often in tents, hastily thrown up while a building was in the process of construction. They were of all types, from a shed with a bar to a very plush and elaborate structure with gaslights, paintings (often of seminude, reclining ladies), and a stage for entertainment.
The saloon was not merely a place for drinking, but a clubhouse, information center, and meeting place, a place where deals were made for land, cattle, mining claims, or whatever.
Most of the saloons had gambling as well, the games run by the house or by someone working with permission from the house and an understanding. Many of the early peace officers were also gamblers, and on the frontier many gamblers were respected men.
The average western saloon was a place with a few gaming tables, sawdust on the floor, and a long bar. Whiskey was expensive to ship, and although a few bottles of the good stuff were handy for special customers or the owner himself, most of the patrons were served whiskey or beer often concocted on the premises or nearby and made of whatever material was available.
By the time the railroads were operating in the west and whiskey could be shipped at a reasonable price, many westerners had forgotten what good whiskey tasted like and were convinced that so-called âIndianâ whiskey was better.
Many western saloons also served meals, some even of gourmet quality, but on the whole such food was catch-as-catch-can, and one ate what was available and was glad to get it.
Women were rarely on the premises unless the saloon also functioned as a dance hall, in which case women appeared as entertainers, most with quarters upstairs to which they might resort on appeal. Occasionally the dance-hall girl would be only that, limiting her activities to dancing or talking with the customers. Others had special âfriendsâ whom they might entertain on occasion or with whom they kept company, as the saying was.
As the railroad built west, the Hell-on-Wheels towns kept pace with construction, since workers on the railroad had to have a place to spend their money and these towns provided it. Most of the saloon and gambling houses at the end of the tracks were houses in tents, a few in hastily thrown up shacks. They were wild, woolly, and lawless, each âtownâ lasting for a few weeks only, then moving westward to be reestablished in a new location. Cheyenne, Wyoming, which practically began in that way, remained a permanent town, a marketing place, and eventually became an important city. Fortunately, in growing up, Cheyenne has managed to retain its western flavor, as befits a town in cattle country.
H ERITAGE OF H ATE
----
CHAPTER 1
Bushwacked Man
CON FARGO HUNCHED his buffalo coat about his ears and stared at the blood spot. It must have fallen only a minute or two before, or snow would have covered it. And the rapidly filling
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