Dudleys Diary

The Buckhorn Saloon & Museum and the famous Hall Of Horns. The history of the original Buckhorn Saloon is amazing. Teddy Roosevelt was a regular there and recruited his "Rough Riders" from within and Pancho Villa is rumored to have planned the Mexican Revolution on a visit there. The Saloon was opened in 1881 and was operated for years by Albert Friedrich who collected the most complete array of horns and antlers on display anywhere in the world. The top photo is of the former World Record non typical Whitetail buck killed in 1892 on the historic Ford Ranch near Brady, TX. This buck had 78 scorable points and is an amazing animal. The Ford Ranch spreads over fifty square miles of the Texas Hill Country on 32,000 acres of rolling prime deer habitat. Between 1990 and 1994, Dudley made four hunting trips to this hallowed hunting ground. Dudley killed four trophy bucks on the Ford but nothing close to the 78 point Benson Buck. The Buckhorn Saloon was in operation from 1881 through WWI and WWII and continued well past the second world war. In 1956 the Lone Star Brewery purchased the massive antler and horn collection and opened the Lone Star Buckhorn Hall of Horns. Dudley and wife made a visit there during the 1980's and were amazed at the massive collection of horns and antlers and fish and birds and other wildlife. Dudley remembers seeing a lot of the memorabilia from The Fabulous Topperweins many years of traveling the country doing shooting shows for Winchester. Dudley asked his father in law if he had ever heard of them and he said when he was a small boy in East TX, he watched them put on a shooting exhibition near his hometown. The Lone Star Brewery closed its doors in 1998 and the collection was moved to a new home in downtown San Antonio just a few blocks from the location of the original Buckhorn Saloon. Dudley and wife took the kids to the new Buckhorn Saloon and Museum years ago when they were little. We had a great time and it was even more fun the second time around watching the kids reactions to such an awe inspiring display.