The Mystery of the Red Dog Saloon

One of the best-known guns from the Alaskan gold rush is the Wyatt Earp revolver displayed in the Red Dog Saloon in Juneau. The story is that Earp was on his way back to Nome from Seattle on board the S.S. Senator. Earp went ashore when the Senator stopped in Juneau, armed. But the local marshal confiscated his revolver, saying he could pick it up when he left Juneau. But the Senator left Juneau before the office opened, and Earp had to leave his gun behind. Eventually, it ended up at a local museum run by a barfly who ran up a sizable bar tab at the Red Dog Saloon. In desperation, the barfly traded the Wyatt Earp revolver to pay off his account, and it has been hanging behind the bar at the Red Dog Saloon ever since.

But is the story true?

Wyatt and Josephine did travel by ship to Nome, where he ran the Dexter, his highly lucrative saloon. Earp going armed in a boom town is easy to understand. But there are a few odd things.

Why would the local law decide to take his revolver? While it had been 18 years since the gunfight at the OK Corral, many still labeled him a badman. But Earp had also spent much of his life in law enforcement, so out of respect and professionalism, the marshal could just as easily have had him return the gun to the ship for safekeeping.

I was not allowed behind the bar, and although the gun is missing the trigger guard, it appears to be a Smith & Wesson No. 3 Double Action Frontier. (My request for a serial number and caliber went unanswered.) This is further strengthened by an event in 1905. Josephine Earp purchased a S&W Double Action Frontier (Serial 12863) for Wyatt’s 57th birthday. Wyatt later gave it to his brother, Virgil. Clearly, the Earps liked Smith & Wesson firearms.

Let’s look at the actual sign hanging with the revolver. It reads,

CHECKED
BUT NEVER CLAIMED.
THIS WEAPON WAS CHECKED AT THE US
MARSHALL’S OFFICE, IN JUNEAU, JUNE 27, 1900,
BY THE NOTORIOUS GUNFIGHTER
WYATT EARP.
EARP DEPARTED FOR NOME ABOARD THE S.S.
SENATOR AT 5:00 A.M. ON JUNE 29, PRIOR TO THE
OPENING OF THE MARSHALL’S OFFICE.

The Senator sailed from Seattle, Washington, to Nome, Territory of Alaska, in June 1900. But here’s where the story starts to fall apart. According to the logs, the Senator left Seattle on May 20. On June 12, 1900, the Senator steamed into Nome, having never stopped in Juneau.

Perhaps the museum curator was wrong about the ship? Maybe. How about the dates? They don’t hold up either. The Nome Daily News, dated June 29, 1900, carried a news story involving Earp in a street brawl in Nome. Earp was briefly detained but released once he explained he was trying to help the officers.

Could Wyatt Earp have been in Juneau that year? Not likely. Earp was making a fortune at the Dexter in Nome. When he and Josephine left, they carried $80,000, equivalent to almost $3 million today!

Should we toss out the legend of the Earp revolver altogether? Absolutely not! Wyatt Earp may have passed through some other time. Juneau was a gold-mining boom town with money to be made! So, hedge your bets, and if you’re ever in Juneau, stop by the Red Dog Saloon. The revolver hangs behind the bar to the right as you walk through the swinging doors.

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