Wyoming’s Wildest Bar Brawl: The Tubb Town Throwdown

Just outside of Newcastle in northeast Wyoming lies an old ghost town called Tubb Town. In 1889, it may have been the rowdiest outpost in the entire state.

Tubb Town didn't last long, but it definitely went out with a bang. As a going away party, the locals squared off in, arguably, the wildest street fight in Wyoming history.

According to an August 1889 story published in the Sundance Gazette, the hostility began earlier that year when the entire town of Whoop Up, Wyoming, packed up and moved to Tubb Town.

The newly established Tubb Town was built along the future line of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. Or, so they thought.

There was an informal initiation for settlers in the bustling boom town. All newcomers were expected to buy a round of drinks for the house at F.R. Curran's saloon.

The ceremony led to disagreements between local miners and graders working on the nearby railroad.

The tension came to ahead one Saturday night when a fight broke out in the bar and spilled out into the street. The melee quickly escalated into an all-out brawl involving nearly every man in town.

A local policemen named Swisher reportedly told the combatants that they could keep fighting along as no guns were used. After threatening to shoot any man who pulled a gun, the deputy quit his job in disgust, telling the angry mob that he didn't make enough money to put up with their behavior.

One month later, the short-lived Tubb Town was dealt another blow when the railroad announed it would be passing through another area two miles away.

Less than a year after it was built, the residents of Tubb Town finally found something that everyone could agree on.

On November 1, 1889, the entire town was abondoned for nearby Newcastle. The bar owner where the infamous brawl broke out even served drinks from his wagon for thirsty travellers along the way.