Royalty free images by Mike1 – No. 54
Skinner’s Saloon, Bannack, Montana, July 30, 2010.
Skinner’s Saloon2
Founded in 1862 and named after the local Bannock Indians. It was the site of a major gold discovery in 1862, and served as the capital of Montana Territory briefly in 1864. At its peak, Bannack had a population of about ten thousand. Extremely remote, it was connected to the rest of the world only by the Montana Trail. There were three hotels, three bakeries, three blacksmith shops, two stables, two meat markets, a grocery store, a restaurant, a brewery, a billiard hall, and four saloons. Skinner’s Saloon is the only one left in today’s Bannack.Though all of the businesses were built of logs, some had decorative false fronts.
Skinner’s Saloon was built in 1862 by Cyrus Skinner down in Yankee Flats. In 1863 the saloon was moved to it’s present location. Nice people did not wander into Skinner’s. This was where the most dangerous, meanest and ruthless men in the territory congregated. It was not safe to walk down the street of Bannack after dark and sometimes in the daylight. Shooting and killing was a normal standard here. The demise of Road Agent George Carhart happened in this very building. One evening when gambler George Banfield’s love of winning got the best of him and he was discovered cheating. Both men emptied pistols at each other inside this saloon, missing on every shot.
At first the only effect of their impromptu fray seemed the shooting of “Toodles” a small local dog. While lamenting the loss of the community dog, it was discovered that George Carhart was shot in the stomach. He died a short time later in extreme agony. So much shooting and violence occurred daily in this saloon that the barber in the corner wouldn’t miss a stroke with a straight edge razor when the bullets started flying. In 1869, after the Road Agent’s reign had ended, the building became a mercantile and remained so for nearly 60 years.
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- Spirit of the West – Montana Outdoors, July–August 2003
