244 Talking About the Pioneer Saloon

Just outside Las Vegas, towards the California border, just past the Seven Magic Mountains display is a little old mining town, rich in Las Vegas history. The main focus of the town and its tourism draw is its haunted saloon. The Pioneer Saloon. Noel Sheckles purchased the Pioneer Saloon in December of 2006, after beating out 6 other interested parties for the honor of saying he is the Saloon Keeper and keeper of the spirits.

Last fall, members of the Las Vegas Territory were invited down for a lunch and to meet Noel. Hear his story and to take a tour the place. Last week, I took Debbie down there to show her the little town, do a walking tour and to see the bar where, in 1942, legendary movie actor Clark Gable waited for three days on word of his wife’s (Carole Lombard) plane crash on Mount Potosi. In 1932, the two Hollywood legends had married and spent their honeymoon in another nearby ghost filled mining town of Oatman, Arizona.

The town of Goodsprings is not much of a town anymore. It was the hub of activity for this part of Nevada one hundred years ago and the Pioneer Saloon was where the action was (other than in the neighboring Brothel!) The general store was a mail order building from the Sears and Roebuck catalog. One of the last remaining such structures. The Sear catalog would be equal to today’s Amazon. You could buy just about anything in that catalog and have it shipped to you.

Seven Magic Mountains and the town of Jean are the nearby landmarks if you are looking to go there. Check out the Saloon, do a walking tour and maybe even a little ghost hunting or star gazing.

Editors Note: During the recording of Noel Sickels talking, I had a camera failure and lost some of the storyline as well as the actual interview. My apologies to all concerned.