I'm going to try and find unusual and interesting stories of the Old West and share them here. What I would really like is to have folks SEND IN STORIES! whether they be true or not. I'm hoping this section will prove for some interesting reading. 

A little bit about saloons in the Old West
Source-"Saloons of the Old West" by Richard Erdoes

Right from the beginning the classic western saloon was a fraud. In a typical one-street western settlement of the 1870s every other building was a saloon, and every other building was also a "false front.: The false fronts were pasted like sheets of cardboard to one story log cabins or board shacks to give the impression of splendid two story saloons. In character with the westerner's proclivity for bragging, for trying to appear a little more than life-size, the false fronts gave the western town the appearance of a stage set or a Potemkin village. And the false fronts are puzzling, because they deceived no one and the builders must have known it. In profile they were ridiculous. The fraudulent upper structure was often more than twice as tall as the real building beneath and behind it. It was as if the owners wanted to say: "We are exaggerating—don't take us seriously." Some of the bigger, better-known saloons did have the second floors, but they were in the minority. Soon the words "false front" and "saloon" became almost synonymous.
Saloons were obviously important for the early mining or ranching community. A settlement's prosperity was calculated by the number of its saloons, which were its main business and served as an economic barometer. An 1879 census of businesses in the populous mining town of Leadville, Colorado listed 4 banks, 4 churches, 10 dry goods stores, 31 restaurants, 19 beer halls,—and 120 saloons and 18 gambling houses and privates clubs selling liquor.

The Earp you don't hear a lot about
Source-"As The Sand Shifts in Colton, California" by Hazel E. Olson

My Notes—This story was handed to me by one of my  pards, William Dunniway who used to live in Colton as a boy...the Earps lived there too. But this is a small snippet about the father of those 'Fighting Earps'  Nicholas Earp...now you'll know where they get it!

Judge Nick P. Earp was elected to office to the Justice of the Peace of Colton township in November 1882 and was reelected in 1886. Judge Earp was a veteran of the Black Hawk War in which Abraham Lincoln fought. He was old when came to Colton and had long snow white hair and beard. He often had to act as enforcing officer as well as Judge.
In 1883 the Overland passenger train arrived from the east. Everyone went down to see the train. The train barely stopped and someone said "Stop" that someone has stolen a passenger's coat through the window. The crowd took after him. He ran by the Southern Hotel where Judge Earp had his office and courtroom. The thief was looking for a place to hide. Out came Judge Earp with his heavy cane in his right hand, hobbling out to join the chase.
The Judge saw the man hidden under boxes at the rear of the hotel. The Judge held up the cane at the man and said "Well, get up and come out of there you are under arrest". The brave man said "Show me your star" The Judge said "I'll show you stars" and swung his heavy cane and hit him in the head. The victim lay like a dead man. The Judge used the hook of his cane and pulled him out by the coat collar, turned him over and put handcuffs on him and said, He'll come out of it all right in a little while.

The Notorious Lola Montez
Source-Soiled Doves-Prostitution In The Early West

"Notorious I have always been, and never famous" were the words Lola Montez often used when describing herself. Lola, the daughter of a Spanish beauty and a soldier in the British army, began her tumultuous life in Limerick, Ireland, in 1818. She rose from her humble origins to become a noted danseuse and one of the most sought after courtesans of her era.

Lola lived a life of confusion and make believe. She had the ability to invent whatever she pleased and the power to convince others it was fact. Although her dancing skills were not outstanding, she gained access to most of the royal courts of Europe. Lola was always seen in the company of gentlemen of wealth and position, and she was considered a fatal beauty.

King Ludwig of Bavaria was so smitten with her beauty, that he gave Lola a title and the keys to his country. She had an affair with his His Imperial Majesty, Nicolas The First of Russia. Her charms won the heart of Alexander Dumas, but she fell in love with his best friend, Alexander Dujarier, a French journalist.

When Lola came to San Francisco, the electrifying lady married Patrick Hull, the wealthy publisher of the San Francisco Whig. The couple moved to the small mining town of Grass Valley, California, where Lola found happiness for a brief period. Her home was lavish. She smoked Cuban cigars, ate imported foods and drank the finest liquor. It was said the eccentric lady bathed in champagne and dried herself with rose petals. She kept a pet bear and a live parrot who perched upon her shoulders.

Although Lola only spent two years in Grass Valley, she played an important role in the area's history, and she is well remembered. When Hull left the lovely dancer for his newspaper, she shook off her husband as easily as she had her other lovers and then moved on.

Lola's "Spider Dance" brought her a measure of success, but her bad temper, shocking antics and outrageous love affairs eventually destroyed her life. On January 17, 1861, the notorious lady died alone, at the age of 42, in a squalid boarding house in the Hell's Kitchen District of New York City.

School Days In Old San Juan Bautista
Source-Early Days at the Mission San Juan Bautista by Issac L. Mylar

Discussing my earlier school days brings back to my memory an incident which reflects early day conditions. In the latter 60s (1860s) Castroville was a big burg as 'burgs' went in those days and, of course, they had a school there. There were large boys attending the school and it may be asserted that the old saying about the "wild west where men are men" might be parodied to the effect that in the early days of California "boys were hellions"—which translated into the vernacular means that they were rough, boisterous, aped the manners of their progenitors and men associates, and ran things generally with a high hand.

This condition of affairs existed in many schools but notably so in the Castroville school. The boys in that school were so rough and turbulent and made it so unpleasant for the teacher that the trustees found it almost impossible to find anyone willing to teach the school. The boys made it so warm and lively for the instructors that the latter usually, after a few weeks' or months' trial at the job, quit in disgust.

At one period in Castroville's history the school trustees engaged a teacher from Monterey. His name was Tom Clay, a nephew of the famous Henry Clay of Congressional fame in the 50s in Washington and one of the principal figures in the lurid discussions in congress that led to our Civil War. Tom Clay said that he would teach the school and in due time it was announced that the school would reopen with a new teacher. The boys prepared to give this new teacher a taste of wild life and intended to hold a jamboree when he was compelled to make his exit from the scene of his labors.

On the morning that the school opened all the pupils attended—boys and girls. The boys were of mature size, many of them could be called young men they were such strapping, muscular young fellows. Tom Clay rang the bell, the pupils trooped in and took their places. Clay proceeded to his desk and after making the pupils recite the Lord's prayer told them to sit down. Then reaching back to his hip pocket, he pulled out a six-shooter which he regarded fondly and, laying it on the the edge of his desk, remarked: "I want all you pupils, especially you young bucks, to understand right now, that I am going to run this school and teach you something. You will do as I say or there is going to be trouble."

History relates that there was no further trouble in that school. The pupils became obedient and "perlite" and Tom Clay retired from his position, as teacher, with added lustre to the name of Clay.