What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. 

Everyone knows this famous slogan about the entertainment capital of the world. But what people don’t know is just how true that statement might be. No, we’re not referring to gambling losses or secrets shared between friends. 

We’re referring to ghosts, specifically the ones that may be lurking in the historic Pioneer Saloon. 

Who haunts the Pioneer Saloon?

Spooky bar scene
Copyright US Ghost Adventures

But just who haunts the Pioneer Saloon? It’s a difficult question to answer because, by all accounts, the old tavern doesn’t have just one ghost but several. 

To properly understand the hauntings, we need to understand the history behind the Pioneer Saloon and what tragic events drove some spirits to stay here instead of moving on to the afterlife. 

If you’d like to know more about the hauntings around Las Vegas and get even more in-depth knowledge, be sure to take a ghost tour with Las Vegas Ghosts

Saloon History

Located in the town of Goodsprings, right outside of Las Vegas, the Pioneer Saloon is currently the oldest bar in the Vegas area. However, its history goes back to before Vegas was even properly settled. 

Around the time Nevada was being welcomed into the United States, a mahogany bar was constructed in Brunswick, Maine. Seeing an opportunity in the new Nevada or wanting a change of scenery, the owners of the bar had the entire saloon – building and all – loaded up on a wagon and shipped out to Nevada. They plopped the newly dubbed Pioneer Saloon down in Goodsprings, and it quickly became a social hotspot for the miners and settlers who called Goodsprings home. 

Goodsprings and the mining towns around it exploded in population and opportunity, and Vegas quickly sprang up to accommodate all the extra cash Nevada had to spend. Both Vegas and the Pioneer Saloon became institutions unto themselves, surviving both World Wars, the Depression, Prohibition, and, more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. 

However, the saloon has been peppered with tragedy in its long history. For one, rumors abound that more than one unfortunate soul has lost their life in the mine shafts running underneath the bar. 

More concrete is the sad tale of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. The husband and wife duo were Hollywood legends from the Golden Age of cinema. However, their marriage ended in tragedy as Carole died in a plane crash en route from a war bond tour. The search party for her body was organized at Pioneer Saloon, and Gable spent much of those days drinking his sorrow away. 

Some say you can still see the cigarette burns he made in the bartop as he anxiously awaited news. 

Pioneer Saloon Hauntings

Ghost woman in a bar
Copyright US Ghost Adventures

While Clark Gable would eventually move on from Nevada and remarry, Carole may have lingered here. Many visitors report having seen Carole Lombard – a recognizable ghost face, given her prominent role in the movies – walking around the Pioneer Saloon. She mainly shows up at night, shuffling around the saloon, slow step after slow step. 

With each slow step, she cranes her neck as if looking for something…or someone. And many people think she’s looking for her former husband. Since she died so unexpectedly, she wanders the hall, looking around to comfort Gable and let him know she’s alright. Sadly, it doesn’t look as though she’s found him yet because she still shows up year after year. 

Another ghost that populates the saloon doesn’t have a name, but some call him “the miner” due to his archaic prospector’s outfit, his wrinkled cowboy hat, and his dusty old boots. As ghosts go, he’s mostly harmless – he seems to like hanging out in the bar and soaking in the atmosphere of the place. Odds are, he was a former patron who just couldn’t leave the place, even after death! Some say he hangs around and ensures the modern-day patrons don’t get too rowdy and ruin the atmosphere.

There’s yet another ghost that some whisper about. He’s a bit of a disputed presence, but some claim that the bar’s former owner still inhabits his old stomping ground. The man, the story goes, died from drinking at the very bar he used to tend. Maybe he sticks around to finish that drink he was working on. Or perhaps he just wants another round. 

A Deadly Card Game 

There’s one other ghost that locals know about here in the Pioneer Saloon. His story begins at the turn of the 20th century during a card game of all things. The saloon was the sight of a poker game where an unlucky miner, Paul Coski, seemed to have his luck turn around. 

That was what Coski claimed, anyway. The man he was playing against, Joe Armstrong, had a different opinion – that Coski was cheating at cards. An argument ensued and soon turned into a gunfight where Armstrong shot and killed Coski. 

Today, if you ask the bartender, he’ll show you a couple of grim keepsakes of the deadly game. Three bullet holes remain, unrepaired, in the bar’s walls, and the actual coroner’s report is proudly hung up as a macabre keepsake.

There’s another remnant of that gunfight that the bartender probably won’t be able to show you – the ghost of Coski, still wearing his blood-soaked clothes. Every now and again, his ghost has been seen. He’s always spotted at any table hosting a card game for that night. He might glare down at any onlookers staring, but his focus will always go back to the game at hand. These days, he’s more content to observe rather than play. Evidently, he’s learned his lesson about playing cards in the Pioneer Saloon. 

Haunted Las Vegas

If you thought Las Vegas couldn’t get any more colorful, the Pioneer Saloon’s fascinating history quickly proves that notion wrong. Between jovial prospector ghosts, Old Hollywood specters, and gunfighting poker players, the Pioneer continues hosting ghostly guests.

Learn more about haunted Las Vegas by booking a ghost tour with Las Vegas Ghosts today. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, and keep reading our blog for more real Nevada hauntings.

Sources:

https://pioneersaloonnv.com

https://travelnevada.com/bars/pioneer-saloon-nevada

https://wanderwisdom.com/travel-destinations/Pioneer-Saloon-In-Goodsprings-Nevada-Tales-Of-Hollywood-And-Gambling-Gunfights-And-Ghosts

https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/18381

https://www.travelchannel.com/shows/ghost-adventures/photos/ghost-adventures-pioneer-saloon-pictures

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