A
Western saloon is a kind of
bar particular to the
Old West. Saloons served customers such as
fur trappers,
cowboys, soldiers,
prospectors,
miners, and
gamblers. The first saloon was established at Brown's Hole,
Wyoming, in 1822, to serve fur trappers. By the late 1850s the term saloon had begun to appear in directories and common usage as a term for an establishment that specialized in beer and liquor sales by the drink, with food and lodging as secondary concerns in some places. By 1880, the growth of saloons was in full swing. In
Leavenworth, Kansas, there were "about 150 saloons and four wholesale liquor houses".