DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm just the one passin' it along. Out here in Ector County, there was once a frontier business that managed to be a saloon, a barbershop, and a legal controversy all under one roof — or, as it turned out, briefly in the street. The place belonged to two brothers: S.T.
Dawson, known as Tol, and E.F. Dawson, known as Lish. The Dawson Saloon.
And friend, that name carried some weight in this county. Lish Dawson — the very same man pouring drinks and running a barber chair inside that establishment — served as Sheriff of Ector County in 1891 and 1892. Think about that a moment.
The sheriff. Tending bar. With a barber chair in the corner.
Now that is what you call a full-service frontier experience. The liquor came in forty-gallon barrels. The ice for drinks — and this detail right here tells you everything about how far from anywhere this place was — the ice was hauled in from the great lakes by the Texas and Pacific Railroad.
Ice. Hauled by rail. For drinks in a West Texas saloon.
Somebody wanted their whiskey cold badly enough to make that happen. But trouble was gathering, the way trouble tends to do around a place this colorful. Township restrictions on liquor sales were closing in, and the Dawson brothers found what they thought was a workaround: they moved the saloon to the street itself.
To avoid the township restriction, see. The street wasn't the township, the thinking went. Well.
Tol was brought to trial for that particular bit of legal creativity. And all the while, a force known as the White Ribboners was organizing — clubwomen opposed to saloons, and they were not shy about it. In the end, Lish Dawson lost his office.
And the business was closed. Two brothers, forty-gallon barrels, railroad ice, a barber chair, a sheriff's badge, and a saloon in the street. Ector County has had quieter chapters, but probably none quite so inventive.
What the marker says
Frontier business of S.T. (TOL) and E.F. (LISH) Dawson, brothers. Lish Dawson, 1891-92 Sheriff of Ector County, had a barber chair in the Saloon, and helped tend bar. Liquor was in 40-gallon barrels. Ice for drinks was hauled from great lakes by Texas & Pacific Railroad. To avoid township restriction on liquor sales, Dawson moved saloon to the street; Tol was brought to trial for this. "White Ribboners"--Clubwomen opposed saloons. In the face Lish Dawson lost his office, and the business was closed.