This might easily be a subject you don’t approve of, and if so, there’s the delete button. Yup, right there. I, however, love this subject, this subject of bars, probably because I grew up in one… a bar and soup kitchen, in Virginia City, Montana. That bar was our home, for 31 years.
Our bar was called the Tavern, and in the sixties my mom renamed it the Tavern Saloon. A few of us pointed out to her that the new name was, in fact, an oxymoron. What was it, a tavern or a saloon? It couldn’t be both. Nope, the name stayed. What was wrong with just “The Tavern?” Not western enough. Our town was an old historical gold mining town, and had become a tourist destination since around 1947.
Okay then, how about simply “Saloon?” No. But what if some folks like taverns, but not saloons? Nope, the name stays. And that was that.
There was an adjoining small cafe and kitchen in the building, along with a second bar and two storage rooms in the back. Upstairs on the second floor was a one-bedroom apartment with a small living room, bed room, and tiny bath room. It was enough for us, for all those years. You know the saying, it’s what you get used to.
Anyway, that was our bar, and of course it was, and remains, my all-time favorite. But there were other bars, quite a few of them in fact, that I liked over the years. Why did I become a “bar connoisseur? Because my folks, stopped at most of them at one point or another in the first 12 years of owning a bar. Their reason was, it was good business. Spend a few bucks in a place, and if that bar owner, or their customers, were ever in Virginia City, perhaps they’d stop in at our place and spend a few bucks. Also, my folks were very sociable and made friends easily. They enjoyed meeting new people, and (gasp) they enjoyed having a few drinks!
And so it was, back in them there days, it was a habit of theirs to drive to the big city of Butte, Montana every two weeks, always on a Saturday… for liquor and food, which they purchased in the big wholesale buildings there. I would get my braces tightened on those trips, have a piano lesson, a tap-dancing lesson then my folks would usually stop at a bar or two on the way out of town. It is for this reason that my favorite bars are nearly all in Butte.
Dazzie & Combo’s – In uptown Butte, one of my all-time faves! It was basically a hole in the wall, long and narrow. I never knew what the attraction was for that bar, but it was always wall to wall with miners and men… all men. Never did I see even one woman in that bar. The air was thick with cigarette and cigar smoke, and you had to yell out your drink order, for the conversation noise was overwhelming. Dad loved this bar, too, and I treasure the few times he took me in there with him. I was always the only kid in the joint.
The M & M – uptown Butte. A crazy place, a big bar, probably the most popular and historical bar in Butte. I didn’t like it, as the few times we went in, there always seemed to be a lot of drunks. And I didn’t like the smell.
Eddie Piazolla’s Ranchhouse – Also in uptown Butte, across the street from the ACM club, it was a beautiful bar, the inside appearing to be a big, cabin-like room with soft lights and a big piano in the back. There were some tables and chairs against the far wall, and Eddie himself was always tending bar when we went in, ready to serve me up with a Pepsi, to ease the pain of my newly-tightened braces.
The Bale Of Hay Saloon –
A historical monument to the old, almost ghost town of V.C. My buddy, Rick Gohn and I used to hang out in the front room of the Bale in the summertime while we were growing up there. That would have been in the early ’50’s. There were shooting games, music machines and old timey peep shows that we would play, with the money we earned from collecting pop bottles and turning them in.
The Bale went through some dramatic changes in its 162 years, but still retains some of its original ambiance. Rick and I had great times in there back then, and after my retirement, I enjoyed even more good times in the new bar, which had been rebuilt.
The original bar in the back of the building, lost in the fire.
The Bale today“In 1983, a fire broke out in the back of the saloon. Firefighters from Virginia City, Sheridan, and Alder were able to contain the fire to the rear of the building. The floor and the walls remained relatively undamaged but the roof was destroyed. In order to reopen the Bale, the building had to meet with current building codes, leading to a new structure with a 4 foot deep concrete foundation, and new stud walls with sheet rock, to be built inside of the old shell.”
Bet you didn’t know that Patrick Duffy, who played “Bobby Ewing” on the tv series Dallas, also grew up in a bar, in Montana! Here it is – “Duffy was born in Townsend, Montana, in 1949, the son of tavern owners Terence and Marie Duffy.” So see? Maybe not a bad thing to grow up in a bar in Montana!
Bob’s Place – was the bar Rick’s dad owned and ran for years. And this, from Bob’s Place website – “His building was originally called Contents Corner and was built in 1864 by Samuel Content. It was one of the first permanent structures built in Virginia City. It was a retail store and on the second floor was the territorial governor’s office.
“In 1926 Bob Gohn opened a bar and general store after being blinded in a mining accident at the age of 26. He ran his bar for 60 years. “Film, information and liquor” was his advertisement for his business. Many stories have been told of Bob’s ability to pour drinks, make change, and recognize friends by the sound of their footsteps, all while completely blind.”
The Elks hall, B.P.O.E. 390, was only two doors away from our place. It had a great bar, for members only, except for special holidays, when the public was invited. We always went up there for a drink or two on New Year’s Eve.
The Elks Bar
The Pioneer Bar, known by the locals as “The Pio.” It has a most colorful history, so many things, both good and bad have happened in it over the years. They tended to feature live music on some weekend nights, and the memorable sounds of Earl & Hazel’s piano and sax often floated out the front door and into the night air.
Here are a few pics of memorable moments in the Pio.
Chick’s Bar in Alder – a local favorite for some Madison Country residents. It was a known biker bar, and could be pretty rough at times. I actually knew the original Chick McLean, who usually tended bar himself, and was nearly always half in the bag. But he was a great old guy. I used to love playing shuffle board, one of the only ones in the country.
And there are other bars in Montana, of course, too numerous to get into, like those on the way out of Butte – The Nine-Mile Inn, The Nineteen-Mile Inn; The Cactus Inn, The Midway, just outside of Sheridan, the Sump, a funky bar in the basement of an old hotel in Sheridan, The Alder Steak House, and The Sportsman’s Lodge, in Ennis. Hilarious and memorable stories in all of them. But I’m running out of room here, and besides, my own humble bar here in the house has begun quietly calling me. And I must respond.
Steve Hulse
