Whiskey, Six-Guns and Red-Light Ladies: George Hand's Saloon Diary, Tucson, 1875-1878

George O Hand's diaries are an interesting spotlight to life in the late 1800's in the Tucson Arizona area. Boredom interspersed with excetement, arrival of the stage with letters from the outside world and day to day activities in the young town-- are all described. No one else can provide the same level of details George can. The extras in the book with photos an explainations made his diaries even more understandable. I also bought the book with his Civil War era diaries.

Those civil war soldiers knew how to live. Whiskey, Six Guns and Red Light Ladies -- what more can a fellow ask for?

The miner, Civil War soldier, butcher, Saloon-keeper and night watchman, GEORGE HAND, kept a diary throughout most of his adult life. This book includes all of the entries from his Tucson, Arizona saloon-keeping years of 1875 through 1878, as well as his separate "obituary" sections encompassing the years '72 through '87. Don't let the cheesy, unfortunate title fool you, WHISKEY, SIX-GUNS & RED-LIGHT LADIES is an absolute gem! While I couldn't bring myself to give it the same number of Stars that I awarded to Lamsa's translation of THE HOLY BIBLE and Stormer's truly essential political tome, NONE DARE CALL IT TREASON: 25 YEARS LATER, this really is a Five-Star, must-own book for anyone interested in American West history! Through HAND's day by day observations, we get an extraordinarily clear picture of life in the untamed Southwest territory of the 1800s. The Old West comes vibrantly alive as this common working man records his unvarnished impressions of what was then an unruly outpost on the frontier. WHISKEY, SIX-GUNS & RED-LIGHT LADIES is far from being a dry cataloging of names and events because the effervescent and humorously ironic personality of GEORGE HAND weaves wit and fascinating details into the simple diary, thus exhibiting for us the many textures of real Western life. The dust, heat, danger, boredom, "romance" and hardship of the authentic Wild West are on display on nearly every page. For example : 1875, JUNE 21. "...Cockeyed Jones left for Sonora -- what for, no one knows, not even himself." SEPT. 30. "...Bedford was drunk all day -- he talked several men nearly to death." 1876, JAN. 27. "...In the evening I had a singing match with Morgan, with McDermott critic and sufferer. It was decided in my favor." JUNE 25. "...The church was busy today. All the wh*res in town went to get Holy Water and pray off the sins of yesterday." JULY 9. "...I took a bath, changed clothes, and feel tip-top for one who has been drunk for 6 years." 1877, JAN. 7. "...Mollie Monroe was arrested for wearing men's clothes and put in jail." JUNE 19. "...A new law firm has been established -- Clark & McDermott. Principal business -- drinking whiskey." JULY 5. "Very dull today. All the boys have the blues." SEPT. 3. "...Stage came -- very little mail. Sorghum Smith arrived with his horse Pumpkins. Very windy and dusty today...got drunk today, the first time in my life." OCT. 4. "...I went to bed at 9:30 -- slept very little -- the streets were full of barking dogs and drunken wh*res." 1878, MAR. 7. "...I raised the flag to the masthead in honor of the birthday of a celebrated old pisser named George Hand -- 48 years old. A few less than three thousand people have asked why the flag was up, but they all went away as wise as when they came." NOV. 26. "...Took a walk with McKey to see a young lady -- we 'saw' her." I

Every town should be blessed with such a great record of their rowdy past, and thanks to Neil Carmony for editing this diary and making it available to all. George Hand came to Tucson in 1872 as an enlisted man and died there twenty years later. It is unusual for a blue-collar male to be so faithful to writing, and through his words one gets a clear view of his side of life in the Wild West. Sometimes it wasn't so wild, as boredom, heat, dust and disease took its toll. Hand describes the Mexican flavor of Tucson, the various types of settlers, forms of entertainment and just plain everyday life.