Just a short drive from Las Vegas, the historic Pioneer Saloon still gives visitors a unique feel for the Old Wild West. Grab a barstool, then ask the bartender to share the tragic tale of lost love and other ghosts in Goodsprings, NV.
Why We Stopped at the Pioneer Saloon
On a spring break hiking trip to Utah and Nevada, my son and I stopped in Goodsprings because it was featured in one of his favorite video games. When we saw the sign for the old saloon, it just seemed so postcard perfect, we had to stop.
Seeing Goodsprings, NV
What’s so surprising is that the town is tucked away, just off the highway. Once a bustling community that attracted tired Gold Miners, it sits on a small parcel of land just 25 minutes from downtown Las Vegas.
Stretching behind the sturdy buildings, you can’t miss a tall mountain, (part of the Sierra Nevada range) that looms in the distance. Gunslingers, movie stars and countless visitors have toured and dined in this historic saloon built in 1813. And quite a few ghosts still haunt the place.
Travelers Tip: There are a number of ghost tours of the Pioneer Saloon. If you’d like to see several nearby sights including Goodsprings, enjoy these guided tours.
Goodsprings Pioneer Saloon
Once you step inside the doors of the main room, it takes a minute for your eyes to readjust from the bright light of the desert. When you can see again, it’s hard not to believe you’ve stumbled onto a movie set.
From well-worn floors to a dusty brown potbelly stove beneath a tin squared ceiling, you can almost imagine the sounds of a lively piano player pounding the keys, and the roar of a drunken crowd filling every corner. Yet instead, you notice the quiet, and marvel at the long cherry-wood bar surrounded by empty stools and the many colored alcohol-filled bottles reflected in the mirror behind them.
In the next room, photographs and fading newspaper clippings cover almost every inch of the dark walls. An old classic Underwood typewriter and a black upright phone with a separate mouthpiece and corded earpiece sit on a small table in the corner.
As your eyes scan each wall, you notice large black letters near the ceiling spelling out “Carol Lombard & Clark Gable Memorial Room.” Yes, that Clark Gable – the dark haired, handsome actor with a mustache best remembered for his famous line, “Frankly, Scarlett, I don’t give a damn!” He was a big Hollywood star (more than 60 years ago), known for many roles including the 1940 Academy Award winning movie, Gone With the Wind.
Lost Love and the Tragic Waiting Game
After we sat down at a small wooden table, we ordered our food and had a long conversation with our friendly waitress about the history of this room and the Pioneer Saloon. She told us that back in the early 1940s, Clark Gable’s great love, third wife and successful actress, Carol Lombard was flying back to California with her mother and her agent after filming her 57th movie and doing a publicity war bond selling tour.
The DC-3 airplane Lombard and 21 others were traveling in tragically crashed into Potosi Mountain outside of Las Vegas. Rushing to the closest town of Goodsprings, Gable and the press holed up inside the Saloon for three days as rescuers searched the mountain for the plane. Gable was reported to have drunk heavily as he waited, and was understandably distraught when word came that the wreck had been reached, and all aboard were killed. Years later, some say that the ghost of Lombard is still there hoping to reunite with Gable.
Fortunately, someone in town saved the local newspapers for that week. The Pioneer Saloon had them framed and mounted on their walls. You can wander around the room and actually read the various news clippings and see photos of Gable and Lombard as they looked back then. The ancient phone and typewriter are a nod to the press corps that conveyed the sad details to the outside world.
The Ghost of the Gunslinger
In the main room, across from the bar, our waitress pointed out two holes in the wall where sunlight peaked through from outside. She shared that during the early 1800s Gold Rush, miners would come to the Saloon to drink and gamble their winnings in card games.
One day, a loud fight broke out at a poker table with accusations of cheating by both the card player and the dealer against each other. Guns were drawn and discharged; the cheater was killed. The bullets passed through him and out through the wall behind. Some say six shots were fired but only two holes still mark the spot.
On the wall behind the table, a framed faded letter contains the lengthy text of the actual telegram sent by the town’s Justice of the Peace to the dead man’s relatives. It fell to him to notify and explain the details surrounding the cause of death.
When asked if the spirit of the cheating card player still remains, our waitress (who was also the bartender) said she had a freaky experience one evening that she still can’t explain.
“I was working here six months and I was closing out the bar. Everyone’s out and I’m in the back counting the money and I hear the heavy door open and close. So I come out to say we’re closed and nobody’s here. I’m like, oh, it’s the wind. I’m still not scared. So I go back and I continue counting money.”
“And I hear, I mean you can’t mistake the sound of boots on the wood. And so I’m going out there to, I already know nobody’s here in my heart, and I’m going out to tell them to leave because I can hear them pacing in this room. And I came out, and nobody was there. I got so scared that I actually called the owner and he said, that’s why I don’t work nights anymore.”
Cold Beer and Great Food
After the ghost story, we felt hungry. Looking at the menu, there were lots of delicious choices. We told our waitress what we wanted and soon our meal was being served. I love a restaurant that gets your meal out to you quickly. A cold beer, a savory barbecue platter and sweet desserts really hit the spot. The food and drink were really delicious and well worth a visit.
Other Ghosts That Wander
While we were eating, a party of four at a nearby table had been listening in on our conversation with the waitress. A woman leaned over and said they had heard of two other ghosts. One was a young woman named Ruby, possibly a “lady of the evening”, who was pictured in one of the flyers on the wall. The other rumored ghostly visitor was an old miner who had died in the saloon as well.
I asked if they were believers and they all nodded “yes.” One of the men in their party said he had just left the bathroom and noticed a figure out of the corner of his eye as he exited the narrow hallway. He said he felt a rush of cold air even though it was a hot summer day.
Was it his imagination or the effects of the beer he was drinking? Who knows? Ghostly experiences at the Pioneer Saloon are well documented and both the History Channel and the Travel Channel have filmed shows there. At one point, the Saloon itself was even selling “haunted lockdown experiences.”
Goodsprings is Too Good to Miss
From the beauty of the mountains to the fascinating stories of the Pioneer Saloon, this town has a lot of charm. If you find yourself flying in or out of the airport in Las Vegas, make a little time in your schedule to drive out to here and get an authentic taste of the Wild West. You’ll long remember the tales of Lost Love and Other Ghosts in Goodsprings, NV.
Do you believe in ghosts? Have you ever had a spooky experience? Please share your memories in the comments below.
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