When the lights went out at the Ben Grande Saloon

Ben Grande behind the bar serves a customer 1910

In this time of saloons, the city’s greatest saloon was the Grande Saloon, later called the Ben Grande. Frank Grande Sr. built the Grande Saloon at Waco and Leopard. The family lived upstairs. In time, there was a whole Grande complex — the Grande Hotel, the Grande Restaurant, the Grande Pool Hall. The Ben Grande Saloon had cockfights and, it was said, a man could ride up on his horse and a drink would be brought out to him. When he was a boy, William Fuller was wandering around while his father conducted business. He heard music coming from the door of a big two-story building. It was the Ben Grande. “Some men came out laughing and talking in a jovial mood. A female voice from the inside called goodbye a couple of times. I peeked in and saw the long, shiny bar. The smell of whiskey and beer was strong. A man at the bar turned, saw me, and yelled a good-natured hello. I scampered back toward Papa and his friends. It was my first sight of the famous, or infamous, Ben Grande.” A rancher shot and killed a man in the Ben Grande Saloon. The rancher, riding away, warned: “Tell Mike I’ll kill anybody who comes after me.” Sheriff Mike Wright rode out to the ranch. He was unarmed, as he usually was. The rancher met him with rifle. “I’ll kill you before I let you take me in.” Wright told him, “You see, I came, but I’m not wearing a gun.” After a little talk, the rancher put down his rifle and rode back to town with the sheriff...more