Sin in the Sagebrush Breaking New Ground at the High Desert Museum
Experience life in frontier saloons, gambling halls, and bordellos
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Sin in the Sagebrush, one of the most in-depth exhibits examining the lives of those who sought opportunity, fortune and community on the Western frontier, opens at the High Desert Museum on Feb. 13.
Understand how trappers, tracklayers, buckaroos, sheepherders and other workers’ dreams were replaced with lonely, harsh lives, and how they found community and escape in saloons, gambling halls and bordellos. In this multi-sensory exhibit, visitors can step up to an 1880s roulette table, game of faro, chuck-a-luck or poker, and take in the cheating devices and refined attire of a professional gambler, as well as the bowie knife and derringer
he might use when challenged.
The exhibit also features live, authentic portrayals of those who worked at these establishments, including the “sporting men” running the games (they’ll invite you to play – and even reveal how to cheat). Ask the saloonkeeper, and “working women” of the night how they fell into their professions, and discover the human stories behind the stereotypes.
Become immersed in the atmosphere of the re-created Stockman Saloon, with its oak and mahogany bar, polished nickel cash register and cut-glass bar bottles. Illustrations of prize fighters, racehorses, the local militia, ladies, and a gilt-framed oil of a nude adorn the walls. Piano tunes, gleaming kerosene lamps, and the aroma of whiskey and cigars evoke the exuberant good times and comforts which Western saloons offered to cold, weary patrons.
Curator of Western History Bob Boyd said, “You can imagine how the nameless men of the frontier found refuge from toil, loneliness, boredom and unfulfilled ambitions, and how they fulfilled their needs and desires. It is a humanities theme as much as an historical account.”
Sin approaches this “old West” subject unlike any modern museum in the American West, according to Bill Lang, chairman of the Department of Public History at Portland State University. It will tour museums throughout the West after the exhibit closes Sept. 26.
Presented by Schwabe Williamson and Wyatt, and sponsored by BendTel, Chubb, Horizon Broadcasting and Pepsi of Bend, with additional support from Oregon Heritage Commission, Oregon Community Foundation, Oregon Cultural Trust, The Bend Foundation, James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, Pacific Power Foundation and Deschutes Cultural Coalition.
Meet William, the gambler
Every day, you can meet a range of people from the frontier – live – in the Sin in the Sagebrush exhibit. Chat with them about why they came to the Western frontier and what brought them to this saloon, gambling hall or bordello.
For example, in the exhibit’s re-created gambling hall, you’ll meet William, the professional gambler, who’s dealing three-card monte, faro, and other games of the late 19th century.
“I’m disdainful of fools, but if you are the desperate sort, because of uncontrollable circumstances, I’ll have compassion toward you – unlike those in dire straits because of their choices,” he says.
“Gambling is much more personal here out west. Unlike some gaming emporiums in a few big cities, there is no ‘betting against the house.’ Most of us small-town gamblers rent table space in a saloon or gaming house. Play twenty-one, faro, or three-card monte with me, and you’re competing directly with me – the dealer – my money’s on the line,” he says.