Speaker / Author / Professor Shares from 
his Latest Book 

Around the Town with Jo Ann Dennis    

 February 13, 2003

A good crowd turned out to hear author and professor, Dr. Richard Selcer, who was the speaker for the January meeting of the River Oaks Area Historical Society. Dr. Selcer is the author of several books and has worked as a professor of history in several area colleges teaching western civilization, European history and U.S. history. He is also a popular speaker. He excerpted some incidents from his latest book for the Society, “Legendary Watering Holes of Texas”, which will be published by A & M Press and available for purchase later this year. Dr. Selcer said he was impressed with the tables which were covered with red checkered table cloths, sporting a deck of cards at each table, to go along with his theme for the evening. He also said he was impressed to have Mayor Jack Adkison in the crowd. The mayor and many members were dressed western style to fit the topic of the speech.

As part of the legendary watering holes, one chapter of his book is written about the original White Elephant Saloon which opened in 1884, in downtown Fort Worth. He said most of his research was done in libraries, archives and people’s memoirs and diaries rather than in saloons and he liked to make that statement for his mother’s sake. He stated that following the Civil War, Texas cowboys traveled the cattle trails herding cattle to the market in Kansas. An important “stopping off’ place was Fort Worth which had saloons, gambling halls and bordellos. When they came through Fort Worth, it was the last major stop before driving the herd up the Red River, across Indian territory and the Chisholm Trail to Dodge City, Wichita or Elsworth, Kansas. These businesses were often called “dens of iniquity” and during that time, Fort Worth, Dodge City and Tombstone, Arizona, were pretty famous for them. These towns also offered “Variety Theaters” which were early day vaudeville houses but were much rowdier and had a lot less talent, according to Dr. Selcer. He said after a few drinks, the talent level didn’t matter anyway, and the clientele usually got pretty wild.

Dr. Selcer told us the saloons of that day were the ultimate male bastion, a place where men drank and gambled and fought. They were not like the places we see on TV with singing and dancing and with girls sitting on cowboy’s laps. Many western towns had ordinances that barred women from saloons. There were several categories of saloons. One was the ordinary bar or tap room that served luke-warm beer and had billiard tables. “Sample Rooms” moved up to a little higher clientele and served beer and “spirits” and sometimes a free lunch which was offered to get more customers in the door. The Sample Rooms were known for salting the food heavily to make customers drink more. These businesses had to be licensed by the state, but there were places called “Blind Tigers” which were unlicensed and prohibited by law, but they still existed. Blind Tigers were places where you could go to the back of a building and get your drink through a trap door without seller or buyer seeing each other. The legal benefit was that neither party could testify against one another if the drinking took a disastrous turn. The saloon tax for legally operating saloons in 1870, was 18 cents on the dollar, according to Dr. Selcer.

The top of the crop when it came to saloons was the “Gentleman’s Saloon” which had elegant furniture and customers were screened at the door. They not only served the usual drinks, but had a wide selection of imported wines and brandies. The White Elephant was one of these saloons, opening originally in the 300 block of Main Street and later moving to the 600 block of Main. These addresses were called “uptown”, in contrast to the infamous “Hell’s Half Acre” which started around 11th or 12th streets in downtown Fort Worth. The White Elephant even served fresh oysters when they were out of. season, by having them brought up from the Gulf on very fast trains. The saloon was one of the first to also sell “cool beer”.

In February of 1887, Jim Courtwright, a gun­fighter with quite a reputation, came up to the White Elephant Saloon, called Luke Short out and challenged him. Luke was not known as a gunfighter but as a gambler who knew how to use a gun. Courtwright’s reputation didn’t do him much good that day because Luke Short put about five bullets in him and he lay dead in front of the saloon. That gun­fight is re-enacted each year (and was just played out a few days ago) in front of the present White Elephant Saloon which was opened in 1976, on Exchange Avenue.

As the city became more cultured, the public attitude changed concerning saloons and many people got tired of the unsavory characters the old-time saloons attracted. The White Elephant had lost much of its charm and its customers. It became a chili parlor before closing in 1913.

Those present that evening enjoyed hearing about some western history that certainly played a part in the forming and the growth of Fort Worth. Dr. Selcer had copies of several of his books that evening for members to purchase. One of those was the first book he wrote which was about Hell’s Half Acre.

Another was a coffee table book which he wrote in part and it was published in 1999. He told us that coffee table books are usually long on pictures and short on text,  but he is proud of this one because it has credible history to go along with the pictures, plus some pictures which had never been published before.

In closing,  Trustee Linda Claridge announced that Nina Maria Cole, a member of the Sansom Family for whom Sansom Park was named,  made a donation to the Historical Society in honor of her doctor who grew up in River Oaks, Dr. Bob Machos,  and in memory of his father,  Bob Machos, Sr.,  a member of the Historical Society,  who passed away last year.   President Mary Earwood wished everyone a happy new year,  adjourned the meeting,  and friends visited with one another and with Dr. Selcer.