There were also saloons known as hurdy-gurdy houses. They usually had a dance hall. The girls were not prostitutes, but were generally not virgins either. They danced with the men but their main purpose was to get men to buy more drinks. The girls got half of the take on dances and a commission on all the drinks they sold.
The notion of fighting going on in saloons was not a new one. But western saloons were the first ones where it was common to carry weapons. Arguments over poker or women would erupt in gunplay. Another cause of disturbance was ex-Civil War soldiers still battling it out over drinks. Shootings were encouraged by the large amount of drink consumed. Cowboys also frequently shot out bar mirrors and light fixtures just for kicks. They liked to ride horses into the saloons. Many famous people died in saloons such as Wild Bill Hickok and outlaw John Wesley Hardin.
There were several reasons why saloons started to die out. One was churches, schools, and other buildings had taken over the role of meeting place. There was also a rising anti-saloon political movement. By 1895, there were so much competition among saloons because more men took to saloon keeping rather than prospecting or cowpunching as a way to earn money. There was also more competition from distilleries and breweries. By 1915, saloons as they had been known were pretty much dead. What time didn't kill, prohibition finished off.
(Saloons of the Old West, Richard Erdoes, New York: Gramercy Press, 1997, originally published by New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1979)
