| Buckhorn Saloon & Museum | |
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Buckhorn Saloon & Museum
Location within Texas
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| Established | 1881 |
| Location | 318 E. Houston Street San Antonio, Texas |
| Type | Wildlife exhibits Shooting gallery Texas Rangers exhibit |
| Website | Burkhorn Museum Official Site |
The Buckhorn Saloon & Museum is a privately run museum located at 300 E. Houston Street in San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas. Originally privately owned by Albert Friedrich, the Buckhorn became a tourist attraction for its unique collections. Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders were reputed to frequent the establishment. Housed in 1956 in the Old Lone Star Brewery, the collection passed to Friedrich's heirs who had it moved to its current location.
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The Buckhorn Saloon & Museum began as a private collection of Albert Friedrich (1864–1928) in 1881. He was the youngest son of Wenzel[1] and Agnes Urbaneck.Friedrich.[2] The elder Friedrich was an award-winning cabinetmaker who expanded into horn furniture and included Queen Victoria, Otto von Bismarck and Kaiser Wilhelm I among those who owned his creations.[3] Albert was born in San Antonio in 1864, and would have been 17 years old when he began his horn collection.[4]
Friedrich eventually acquired a saloon on Dolorosa Street and opened his collection for display in the saloon. The name and date of the first saloon is undocumented. In 1890, Friedrich purchased a seventy-eight point buck for $100.[5] That buck remains on display in the museum.[6] By 1896, Friedrich opened the first Buckhorn Saloon on the corner of Soledad and West Houston streets. Friedrich amassed his collection from his own hunting trips, and from other hunters and trappers, eventually acquiring the collection of a hunter named Capt. Ernest Dosch.[7] In its early years, Friedrich would swap a drink for anyone who would bring in a set of horns to be displayed.[8] The collection became known as the Buckhorn Hall of Horns. A collection of firearms and a mirrored bar were added to the collection of horns.[9] The saloon was reputed to be frequented by Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders during the time period that the Rough Riders were deployed to San Antonio.[10]
When Prohibition went into effect, Friedrich could no longer sell alcohol. In 1922, he relocated his business to 400 W. Houston Street, renaming it Albert's Curio Store and eventually the Buckhorn Curio Store and Cafe. In 1956, the Buckhorn Saloon and the Buckhorn Hall of Horns collection were restored at the Old Lone Star Brewery on 200 West Jones Avenue. The collection added a 1964 Hall of Fins, as well as a 1973 Hall of Feathers.[6]
When Lone Star Brewing Company changed owners in 1977, the Buckhorn collection was sold off. Mary Friedrich Rogers, granddaughter of Albert Friedrich, and her husband Albert Rogers, acquired the collection in 1997. The collection was moved to 300 E. Houston Street and became managed by Twisthorn Holdings and the Buckhorn Museum and Saloon Limited. The Hall of Texas History Wax Museum portion of the Buckhorn depicts historic events in Texas.[11] The museum has its own Texas Ranger Museum, which is not affiliated with the official Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum[12] in Waco.[13] In addition to the horn collection, a visitor will also find rattlesnake art, and memorabilia of both Native Americans and the cowboy culture. Some of the exhibits include The Carnival of Curiosities and The American Sideshow.[14][15]