Intoxicating

Buckhorn Saloon has storied history in Fort Pierce

BY JANIE GOULD

At the dawn of the 20th century, Fort Pierce boasted two watering holes within walking distance of each other. They catered to two often feuding groups of patrons: fishermen and cowboys.

Folks who earned their living from the waterways were likely to spend off hours at Will Tucker’s Tarpon Saloon near the train depot, which opened around 1893 and was Fort Pierce’s first saloon. Later, cattlemen converged on a small bar called the Buckhorn Saloon run by cattle rancher Reuben Carlton Jr. that had opened in 1902. The scene conjures an image of the Wild West. “They didn’t exactly mix with each other,” the building’s current co-owner, Hoyt “Pat” Murphy Jr. said of the warring factions. “They didn’t get along.”