WHAT: RMGA HOLIDAY EVENT
WHEN: Monday December 10, 2012. The social period, program and business meeting are from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm.
WHERE: Buckhorn Exchange, 1000 Osage Street, Denver, CO 80204.
PROGRAM: Bill Dutton will present a short program on the history of the Buckhorn Exchange around 6:00 pm depending on his availability during the evening.
PARKING: The Buckhorn Exchange private lot on the North side of the building. Street parking is also available.
December Holiday Event at the Buckhorn Exchange
Guide Line Review
The Buckhorn Exchange
The Buckhorn Exchange has the #1 liquor license in the city. Before Prohibition there were no liquor licenses. It was open for forty years before they were required to get a license (1893). The Buckhorn Exchange has been in the same place for 115 years. The restaurant has over 500 taxidermy pieces, 120 guns, Sitting Bull’s wedding dress and other historic memorabilia.
Originally the building was a brewery warehouse for ten years before it became a steak house restaurant and bar. The Buckhorn location was ideal to serve the local patrons, many of whom worked across the street at the railroad yards. The men would come from work and stop off and have a beer on the way home.
The Buckhorn Exchange was owned by Henry H. "Shorty Scout" Zietz. In 1875, at age 10, a wide-eyed Zietz met Col. William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody. Within two years young Henry was a full-fledged member of the hard-riding, straight-shooting band of scouts. It was during the years that Henry rode with Buffalo Bill that the great Indian leader, Chief Sitting Bull, dubbed him "Shorty Scout" due to his diminutive stature. "Shorty Scout" Zietz became a lifelong friend to the Indians, and when he died in July 1949, the last of Cody's famous scout band was gone. The Sioux Indian tribe camped in the parking lot.
But it was Zietz's restaurant, the Buckhorn Exchange, which chronicled the robust and lusty days of early Colorado. From the time it opened its doors here on Osage Street in 1893, it catered to cattlemen, miners, railroad builders, silver barons, Indian chiefs, roustabouts, gamblers, businessmen, the great and the near-great all dropped in to imbibe and dine on the West's finest offerings - many still on the menu today. It seems that a square meal, a hearty drink, and a taste for history always lived side by side at the Buckhorn Exchange.
Shorty was also a bodyguard for the Tabors during his career. He bought the building from the Neff Brothers in 1893. The upstairs at one time had 13 rooms and only one staircase. During Prohibition, there was one room without a door to the stairs and hallway where the patrons could disappear when the restaurant was raided. Generally the restaurant was notified in advance of a raid as Shorty was good friends with the police. The Buckhorn was also a grocery during Prohibition and loaves of bread hollowed out to hold a bottle of liquor were sold. Shorty also cashed paychecks for the railroad workers and received a free beer. If Shorty knew that a man was not taking any money home to his family, he might cash the man’s check and set aside most of the money for the wife to come and pick up later.
Shorty was a friend of Teddy Roosevelt and went hunting with him in the area. Shorty also accompanied Teddy on an African safari and some of the animals displayed in the Buckhorn are from this African trip. There was a taxidermist accompanying the group to Africa. When Buffalo Bill came to the restaurant, his drink of choice was bourbon and apple juice. When Buffalo Bill’s doctor allowed him only one drink a day, Buffalo Bill’s drink filled a Mason jar so that he could comply with the one drink a day rule.
Five US Presidents have dined at the Buckhorn: Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan (though Reagan was President of the Screen Actors Guild at the time he dined at the Buckhorn). Steven Tyler (Aerosmith) dined at the Buckhorn recently. Many other celebrities have eaten at the restaurant including Bob Hope, Roy Rogers and Will Rogers.
The Buckhorn was a steak house until 1978 and offered only steak or pork chops. Now one of the menu mainstays is buffalo and the menu is much more varied and specializes in exotic meats such as alligator, elk, ostrich, yak, rattlesnake and Rocky Mountain Oysters (swinging sirloin). Bill told us that venison describes many game meats including deer and elk and he recommends that elk be cooked for a longer period at a lower temperature and never cook more than medium rare. The elk is wapiti elk from New Zealand where it is farmed.
Rattlesnake is not readily available at the present time because of the drought which forces the snakes to burrow further underground (rattlesnake is bland and does not have much flavor). There are no federal guidelines for game meats.
The Buckhorn also does a 2# or a 5# steak which is meant for 2-4 people. The Buckhorn has been featured on many TV shows including “Man Versus Food” and is a National Landmark. Seventy percent of the evening business at the restaurant is out-of-town visitors and tour bus groups. The restaurant seats 75 downstairs, 50-60 upstairs and 20 in the back room. There are 15-20 dinner parties planned for this holiday season. The slow period for the restaurant is between Thanksgiving and New Years when there are no convention groups in Denver.
-- Nancy Brueggeman