A saloon wrecked by Carry Nation, Enterprise, Kansas
Date: 1901
Interior of a saloon in Enterprise, Kansas, destroyed by Carry Nation and her followers. The wooden cases are labeled Exquisite Bottling Works, Junction City, Kansas.

A saloon wrecked by Carry Nation, Enterprise, Kansas
Date: Jan. 23, 1901
Interior view of a saloon wrecked by Carry Nation and her followers, Enterprise, Kansas.

Bert's Tavern, Yates Center, Woodson County, Kansas
Date: March 2002
These two color snapshots show Bert's Tavern, in Yates Center, Woodson County, Kansas, whose tongue-in-cheek motto was, "We only look expensive."

Billy Bader's and Louie Laubner's saloon in Dodge City, Kansas
Date: Between 1890 and 1899
An interior view of Bill Bader's and Louis Laubner's saloon in Dodge City, Kansas. The photograph shows two bartenders and a customer standing at the end of the bar.

Brewery album
Date: Between 1906 and 1911
A photograph album containing 37 photographs of saloons, Turner Halls, breweries, Shawnee County Courthouse, and shipping and delivery of beer in northeast Kansas.

Brunswick Billiard Hall, Marysville, Kansas
Creator: Hawkins, Omar F. (Omar Finlay), 1890-1967
Date: February 11, 1942
This is a view of a bartender serving beer to customers in the Brunswick Billiard Hall's bar in Marysville, Kansas. People in the photograph are identified (left to right) as: Shorty, "Unk" Cooper, "Nig" Hoover, George Meyburn, the bartender, Joe Reiter, and Herman Johanes. Hoover and Johanes were local barbers. There is a painting behind the bar. There are two identical banners for Pabst Blue Ribbon beer hanging from the ceiling.

Carey Hotel Bar, Wichita, Kansas
Date: December 27, 1900
A photograph showing the Carey Hotel Bar in Wichita, Kansas after Carry Nation threw rocks to break the mirror during a temperance protest.

Carry Amelia Nation poster
Date: Unknown
A photograph of a poster that reads, "The Famous and Original Bar Room Smasher Carrie Nation." Nation is pictured on the poster with a hatchet and the Bible.

Citizens of Dodge City to Governor George W. Glick
Creator: Citizens of Dodge City, Ford County, Kansas
Date: May 15, 1883
Twelve citizens of Dodge City, Kansas, write Governor George W. Glick, of Topeka, protesting the forcible removal of Luke Short from Dodge City. The letter recounts the events which led to Mr. Short's removal and testifies regarding his character. The events recounted occurred between April 26 and May 1, 1883. The letter refers to Short's employment of women singers at his Long Branch Saloon and their subsequent arrest, a shooting between Short and Louis Hartman (special policeman), the arrest of Short and Hartman, the intimidation of Short's attorneys, and the Mayor's (L. E. Deger) insistence that Short (and others) be escorted out of the city. An appended newspaper article recounts events occurring between May 1 and May 10, 1883, specifically the attempted return of two men formerly jailed with Short. Dodge City Times editor, Nick Klaine, wrote the article and was an enthusiastic supporter of Deger's recently elected reform party. The arrest of Short's women employees is often credited as beginning the "Dodge City War," a bloodless conflict between competing political-business factions.

Crandall House, at depot Lawrence, Kansas. 323 miles west of St. Louis Mo.
Creator: Gardner, Alexander, 1821-1882
Date: 1867
This stereograph shows people standing on a platform in front of the Crandall House in Lawrence, Kansas. The Kaw Valley Saloon is visible in the photograph. The photograph is from Alexander Gardner's series, Across the Continent on the Union Pacific Railway, Eastern Division.

Dave [Mysterious Dave] Mather
Date: Between 1870 and 1879
A portrait of Dave Mather also known as Mysterious Dave. He was a resident of Dodge City, Kansas, in the early 1870's. Mather was a gambler, saloon owner, gunslinger,and assistant town marshal.

Dead soldiers, Hays, Kansas
Creator: Wood, W. J.
Date: September 6, 1873
This photograph documents two dead soldiers, Privates George H. Sumner and Peter Welsh. They are in front of a saloon in Hays, Kansas.

Douglas Avenue, Wichita, Kansas
Date: 1878
A photograph of several businesses on Douglas Avenue in Wichita, Kansas. The business three doors to the right is Fritz Schnitzler's Saloon with a portrait of him above the porch.

Down comes hatchet. Mrs. Nation's weapon falls on joint at 406 Kansas Avenue
Creator: Topeka State Journal
Date: February 5, 1901
This front page of The Topeka State Journal reports Carry Nation's attack on the Senate Saloon located at 406 Kansas Avenue, Topeka, Kansas. Nation and her followers entered the saloon and billiard parlor at 6:00 am. They smashed furniture and spilled liquor, wrecking the building. Local authorities arrested Nation and charged her with disturbing the peace.

Drawing by Myron A. Waterman
Creator: Waterman, Myron A.
Date: between 1890 and 1920
Pen and ink drawing by Myron A. Waterman (1855-1937) of a disheveled man on the sidewalk holding a large jug. Waterman first gained recognition as a political cartoonist and illustrator in the early 1890s while working as the editor of the Fort Scott Lantern. He held a number of other occupations throughout his life including working in the drug store business and serving as a deputy state bank commissioner of Kansas from 1894 to 1901. Waterman was a staunch prohibitionist and a member of the First Congregational Church in Topeka, Kansas, moving there from Fort Scott in 1893. In 1901 or 1902 he relocated to Kansas City, Kansas.

Drinking beers, Marysville, Kansas
Creator: Hawkins, Omar F. (Omar Finlay), 1890-1967
Date: July 23, 1934
This is an informal portrait of local businessmen Brubaker and Norbacker drinking beer in a tavern in Marysville, Kansas.

Enterprise, Kansas, saloon wrecked by Carry Nation
Date: January 23, 1901
View of a crowd in front of a saloon wrecked by Carry Nation and her followers, Enterprise, Kan.

Frank Brandram's "joint', Studley, Kansas
Date: Between 1890 and 1900
This photograph is of Frank Brandram's "joint," one of the first houses in Studley. Frank is mixing a highball out front. There is a team of horses on the right of the photo. This appears to be a sod structure, glass windows, and wood above windows to peak of roof. This structure may be in construction; several long boards are propped up against the side of the structure.

H. Butterfield to Governor John A. Martin
Date: July 10, 1885
H. Butterfield of Salem, Jewell County, Kansas, writes to Governor John A. Martin in Topeka with a list of questions about the recently amended alcohol prohibition law regulating the sale of alcohol by druggists. Butterifeld asks whether any person can sign a prescription for alcohol, whether a druggist has a right to sell alcohol to someone the druggist knows will get drunk, what can be done when the county offices will not prosecute violations of the law, whether a minor has a right to a permit as a druggist to sell alcohol, and whether a billiard hall saloon that remains open on Sundays can be declared a nuisance and prosecuted under the law. Butterfield concludes by expressing his support for prohibition and asking for better enforcement of the law.

H. C. Ericsson to Governor Walter Stubbs
Creator: Ericsson, H. C.
Date: March 27, 1911
H. C. Ericsson, special investigator into illegal liquor sales, reports his findings directly to Governor Walter Stubbs of Topeka (Shawnee County). This report regards Ericsson's visit to Pittsburg (Crawford County). The report lists five "places" at which he was able to purchase liquor or beer. Racial identity is an important aspect of the reports as the investigator identifies the race of those participants considered non-white, including Negroes, Greeks, Italians, and Germans. The report also discusses roles played by women and children in the liquor trade. Kansas first adopted a constitutional amendment on prohibition in 1881 and by 1909 had outlawed the sale of liquor for medicinal purposes. At this time, Governor Stubbs was particularly frustrated by the federal government's refusal to prosecute Kansas bootleggers from whom it was collecting taxes on liquor sales.

Hyer Boot Company employees in Olathe, Kansas
Date: Between 1955 and 1960
This photograph shows employees of Hyer Boot Company having drinks at a local bar, probably in Olathe, Kansas.

Interior, Palace Billiard Hall, 300 Missouri Street, Alma, Kansas
Date: Between 1895 and 1910
This is the interior of the Palace Billiard Hall, 300 Missouri Street, Alma, Kansas. It offered pool, billiards, cards, and drinks to Alma men. Conrad Mueller owned this building as well as his hardware store next door at 304 Missouri Street. The photo shows tin ceiling tiles, spittoons, billiard tables as well several people playing pool. There are four other people around a table in the back. Plants are on both end of the bar at the back of the right side of the image. Geo Schroeder is second from the right and Cricket Schroeder is third from right.

J. E. Foley to the Kansas Legal Control Council
Creator: Foley, J. E.
Date: January 14, 1949
Topeka, Kansas resident J. E. Foley writes the Kansas Legal Control Council of Wichita concerning the repeal of the "Bone Dry" prohibition law originally passed in 1917. A more strict enforcement of the liquor law in 1946 prompted a discussion of its repeal. A proposition to repeal the law passed in the 1948 November general election. Mr. Foley voted for repeal. He claims drinking became more common under prohibition. He outlines his support of state-owned liquor stores verses local control of liquor by individual cities. Mr. Foley also considers the effect of such laws on the poorer classes. Similar letters sent to the governor consider prohibition in terms of religious or political affiliation, race, class, gender, age, or labor force. The state legislature passed the Liquor Control Act in 1949.

Joseph (Rowdy Joe) Lowe
Date: Between 1872 and 1875
This is a photograph of Joseph (Rowdy Joe) Lowe who was born in 1845. Not much is known about Joe until after the Civil War, when he and his wife, "Rowdy" Kate, moved from Illinois to Kansas. They sucessfully owned and operated saloons and dance houses in Ellsworth, Newton, and Wichita. It was in Wichita where Edward "Red" Beard set up a saloon 50 feet from the Lowes' saloon, and the two establishments were soon in hot competition. Beard decided to shoot Rowdy Joe Lowe and a gunfight ensued leaving both men alive but blinding William "Billie" Anderson who was shot in the head. Later that night after the gunfight, Lowe shot and killed Beard from behind. Most considered Lowe had done the town more good than harm by getting rid of Beard, but when Lowe was charged, he and his wife left town. The couple spent some time in Dodge City but were told to leave. They then traveled to Tombstone, Arizona, where they set up a bar and brothel with Big Nose Kate. In the end, Joe Lowe was killed in Denver, Colorado, by policeman E.A. Kimmel and Rowdy Kate disappeared.

Joseph (Rowdy Joe) Lowe
Date: Between 1872 and 1875
This is a photograph of Rowdy Joe Lowe who was born in 1845. Not much is known about Joe until after the Civil War, when he and his wife, "Rowdy" Kate, moved from Illinois into Kansas. They owned and operated saloons and dance houses in Ellsworth, Newton, and Wichita. The Lowes made good money with their saloons. It was in Wichita where Edward "Red" Beard set up a saloon 50 feet from the Lowes' saloon, and the two establishments were soon in hot competition. Beard decided to shoot Rowdy Joe Lowe and a gunfight ensued. Both Beard and Lowe survived; however, a young man, William "Billie" Anderson, was shot in the head and permanently blinded. Later that night after the gunfight, Lowe shot and killed Beard from behind. Most considered he had done the town more good than harm by getting rid of Beard. However, when Lowe was charged for the shooting of Billie Anderson, he and Kate decided to leave town. They spent some time is Dodge City, but were eventually told to leave. They then traveled to Tombstone, Arizona, where they set up a bar and brothel with Big Nose Kate. Eventually Joe Lowe was killed in Denver, Colorado, by policeman E.A. Kimmel. Rowdy Kate disappeared.