The Notion's OJ1i9ih11I
"Bitch-Biker"
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Hitch-H iker . .. Indian Scout ... Cow Puncher .. . Big Game
Hunter .. . Trail Blazer . . . such has been the adventure-filled
life of Henry Zietz, Denver's famous proprietor of the
unique Buckhorn Tavern .
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by Lucius Flint
To Henry Zietz, 74 year old owner of
Denver's most unique tavern, the Buckhorn
Lodge, belongs the title of "The Original
Hitch.Hiker".
When young Henry left his home in
Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin at the ripe old
age of 10 years and started thumbing rides
to Kansas City via the covered wagon route,
he was in search of adventure in the new
West. But he didn't know how much of it
he was going to find. He didn't know that
he was to become head buffalo hunter for
William (Buffalo Bill) Cody. He didn't
know he was destined to become a life.
long friend of Sitting Bull. He didn't know
he was to become one of the West's best•
known big game hunters and owner of a
bar containing the finest collection of ani•
ma! mounts of its type in the world.
But Henry was only 10 then. The whole
world was ahead of him. He didn't have
transportation of his own to the West. Most
anybody was willing to pick up a lad of
that age-even in the wild west. So he
started thumbing rides by ox cart and cov•
ered wagon, was probably the first pioneer
to make his way across the plains by this
unusual method.
It took weeks but eventually young Henry
arrived in Kansas City. By that time he
knew something of the ways of the West
despite his tender years, easily got a job
helping emigrants drive from there out.
At North Platte, Neb. young Henry met
Buffalo Bill. Bill liked the lad, took him
under his personal wing. After a few
months of experience with the famous In•
dian Scout, Henry became a full fledged
cowboy and was given a job hunting buffalo
to furnish meat for the men who were
building the Union Pacific Railroad. Young
Zietz was one of 17 "punchers" for Buffalo
Bill in those days and as far as he knows
is the only one of the group living today.
For the next 10 years, Young Henry tra·
veled all over the West with Buffalo Bill
and other famous scouts. In his wanderings
he became well acquainted with such fam•
ous and infamous characters as Wild Bill
Hickok, Calamity Jane, Chief Red Cloud,
the Wild Texas Kid, Jack Curley and Frank
Stevens.
Sitting Bull was a particular friend of
Henry's. It was the famous Indian who
gave Zietz the nick.name of "Shorty Scout"
when he was visiting the Cheyennes as a
lad of 12.
Years afterward, Sitting Bull gave
" Shorty Scout" a rare painting of himself
which today hangs in the Zietz establish-
ment at 1000 Osage Street in Denver. It's
known to be at least 55 years old and is
tremendously valuable.
On retiring as an Indian Scout at the age
of 20, Henry Zietz headed for the gold
fields of Colorado. In Leadville he talked
H. A. W. Tabor into giving him a job in
the Tabor household. It was here that he
learned to read and write.
Tabor took a liking to Zietz and adopted
him as his aid and companion. It was in
Tabor's company that Zietz attended the
opening of the famous old Windsor Hotel
in Denver. Carrying out one of his charac-
teristic whims, Tabor ordered that everyone
attending the opening wear identical cos-
tumes. Zietz has a picture of himself taken
in that outfit.
Leaving Tabor in 1882, after having saved
a tidy "poke", Zietz came to Den-
ver and went into the saloon
business with his fa ther at the
corner of Twenty.Ninth and Lari-
mer streets. That was the original
Buckhorn. In 1893, Young Zietz started the
present Buckhorn Lodge in the location
where it still stands.
Today the establishment is in the slums.
But it still attracts an ever growing patron-
age of the city's elite. Famous for its drinks
and steaks and for its unique collection of
;nimal mounts, Zietz's will probably never
grow old with the populace of the Mile
High city. It's too much of a landmark.
It's one of the favorite haunts of the Fourth
Estate. Public officials ranging from District
Attorneys to Governors frequently sojourn
here.
And every now and then Zietz throws a
real party for some of his old Indian
friends. Last year he brought nearly a
hundred of them all the way from the
Dakotas for such a fiesta. The Tavern was
closed to the public that day and the braves
from the reservation were given the run of
the place.
On the walls of the Buckhorn hang some
3,000 animal mounts, a collection valued at
about $40,000. Practically all these speci-
mens have been bagged by Zietz himself.
Although past 74, he still enjoys his big
game hunting trips, the last of which was
in Alaska and required an extensive jaunt
by plane. And at 74 Henry Zietz is still his
own "bouncer". Although small in stature,
he can handle men about as big as they
come.
Zietz also collects guns-has 93 ancient
ones which belonged to friends of the open
range days. In fact he collects most every-
thing-except scalps.
Mrs. Zietz and Henry's son are also active
in the business. It's an unusual place in
operation as in appearance.
♦
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COIN
MACHINE
REVIEW
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+ A rare painting of Sitting
Bull, presented to Zietz by
Sitting Bull, hangs on the
walls of the Buckhorn in
Denver.
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Over 3,000 animal mounts+
grace the walls of this fam•
ous tavern. The collection
is valued at $40,000 and
most of the specimens were
bagged by Zietz himself.
https://elibrary.arcade-museum.com