The pioneer bar....

I'm in Elko, Nevada, sitting in the Western Folklife Center's Pioneer Bar, with old clinky saloon piano music piped over the stereo....at first glance, the place looks like a tidy picture of the old west. Until you notice the formica tables, the glowing green Exit sign (they didn't have federal egress laws back then...) And then there's that cowboy on the lower right, typing on his laptop.

Ah yesteryear....how can we hold onto thy sweetness, and leave the saloon stink behind?


It's a beautiful room. Lots of ambiance, for sure, and people seem to enjoy hanging out here. The Western Folklife Center is housed in the old Pioneer Hotel, in downtown Elko. There's a theater, bar, museum and giftshop on the first floor, and offices upstairs.

This is the center of the cowboy poetry beehive.