I began to venture farther out into the back roads of the delta islands.....the glory days of easy pickings were a memory. Believe it or not, when I first began to look for old bottles in 1960, one could walk out to the abandoned farm sites just about anywhere and find bottles hidden behind a fence post. They were placed there by a sheep herder or farmer or hired hand. None of these bottles were very old..... mostly “turn of the centuryâ€....but still embossed & free for the finding. As I look back, I thought that those days would never end. All one had to do was look & not very hard at that. Out houses & dumps were everywhere.
Times are more demanding now at least out here on the West Coast. Because I have never tired of finding bottles I had to become more resourceful. I remember well my first drive across Grand Island in search of new digs. Grand Island is absolutely huge. The cross road drops off of the river levee down to a winding sometimes paved.... sometimes not farm road that twists & turns around ditches & crops and continues to the other side of the island. The roads are well below the water level of the river and protected by the height of the levee. I never tire of the drive itself...It's wonderful to watch the pears come on....and to occasionally spy a coyote trying to get a field mouse kabob for lunch.
As I crossed the island & popped up on the far levee, I noticed a gravel parking lot & a concrete block
establishment just off the roadway. It was August, I was parched & there was a neon beer sign flashing
in the window. There was one pickup in the driveway & the business appeared to be slow but open. I approached the front door to see a weathered alcohol beer license. It's hard to really describe this bar's appearance....mainly dusty. The front window was only a gun slit and had two sections of chain link fence firmly nailed over it. For the life of me I saw no name to the establishment. I peeked inside the front door to see a patron sitting at a little bar drinking a beer. He spun around as if he had not seen another person in years. He too was dusty. As a matter of fact everything was dusty...still a cold beer sounded nice. A old dog sleeping just outside the doorway was dusty.
I purchased a cold one & sat at the only other stool. I spoke with the owner of this fine establishment & asked just how long the place had been here. He told me that this location was chosen after the original bar kind of fell apart around 1900. He said “It was right up there on the leveeâ€. He said that the original was really something with a view of the river. It's proximity to the levee somehow jeopardized the levee itself. “That's why we moved down here.â€
Well I'm not one to ignore a possible lead. I thanked the owner for the beer & drove to the levee. At first glance this older location appeared to be a bust. But I nosed around, finding a little dump site. Most of the glass was 1890's to 1920's (turn stuff & newer)....but there was always the possibility of a throwback or maybe a early 1900's local whiskey.
I returned to the car & drove back home wondering just what might be hidden here.
I returned a weekend later...It was still August.....there was a stillness to the air that begged forgiveness.
The same old pickup was parked at the gravel parking lot. This time the newer establishment was locked up tight. I noticed the pickup had a flat tire. The dusty dog was elsewhere.
I drove over to the levee and again began to poke around. To my surprise after very little labor I found a square Wait’s tonic, a Kilmer's Swamp Root, a Bitterquille and some other nonsense stuff. I worked a bit farther into the dump & came across the circular base of an amber whiskey...All right now...would it be embossed? The first bottle of note: Old Judge S.B.Rothenberg Whiskey with a picture of (yes you guessed it) and old judge toasting with a glass of whiskey. A nice reddish color ...a tool top whiskey. The second bottle was laying next to the first....also amber.... this one with a large embossed horseshoe with the Spruance & Stanley Bourbon. Alright....keep the tunes a playing. As I wiped the dirt from the second whiskey I spied a third bottle. I picked it up and began brushing the loose peat dirt off. Soon the embossing: Geo E. Deirsson & Co, Old Buffalo Bourbon, Sacramento Cal. Appeared .....Now this is a much better bottle. It is still turn of the century, but bottled locally and reasonably scarce. The bottle comes in clear & amber with the amber being more desirous. The leaping Buffalo is just a bonus. Three whiskey fifths in a row....very nice.....A few other bottles appeared on this dig but weren't worthy of notice. This little dump site soon played out. I've driven by the “newer bar†at the back of Grand Island many times now. It has fallen into disrepair & is now permanently closed. One hundred years from now someone will be digging the trash pit to this place....and time rolls on.[
]
Times are more demanding now at least out here on the West Coast. Because I have never tired of finding bottles I had to become more resourceful. I remember well my first drive across Grand Island in search of new digs. Grand Island is absolutely huge. The cross road drops off of the river levee down to a winding sometimes paved.... sometimes not farm road that twists & turns around ditches & crops and continues to the other side of the island. The roads are well below the water level of the river and protected by the height of the levee. I never tire of the drive itself...It's wonderful to watch the pears come on....and to occasionally spy a coyote trying to get a field mouse kabob for lunch.
As I crossed the island & popped up on the far levee, I noticed a gravel parking lot & a concrete block
establishment just off the roadway. It was August, I was parched & there was a neon beer sign flashing
in the window. There was one pickup in the driveway & the business appeared to be slow but open. I approached the front door to see a weathered alcohol beer license. It's hard to really describe this bar's appearance....mainly dusty. The front window was only a gun slit and had two sections of chain link fence firmly nailed over it. For the life of me I saw no name to the establishment. I peeked inside the front door to see a patron sitting at a little bar drinking a beer. He spun around as if he had not seen another person in years. He too was dusty. As a matter of fact everything was dusty...still a cold beer sounded nice. A old dog sleeping just outside the doorway was dusty.
I purchased a cold one & sat at the only other stool. I spoke with the owner of this fine establishment & asked just how long the place had been here. He told me that this location was chosen after the original bar kind of fell apart around 1900. He said “It was right up there on the leveeâ€. He said that the original was really something with a view of the river. It's proximity to the levee somehow jeopardized the levee itself. “That's why we moved down here.â€
Well I'm not one to ignore a possible lead. I thanked the owner for the beer & drove to the levee. At first glance this older location appeared to be a bust. But I nosed around, finding a little dump site. Most of the glass was 1890's to 1920's (turn stuff & newer)....but there was always the possibility of a throwback or maybe a early 1900's local whiskey.
I returned to the car & drove back home wondering just what might be hidden here.
I returned a weekend later...It was still August.....there was a stillness to the air that begged forgiveness.
The same old pickup was parked at the gravel parking lot. This time the newer establishment was locked up tight. I noticed the pickup had a flat tire. The dusty dog was elsewhere.
I drove over to the levee and again began to poke around. To my surprise after very little labor I found a square Wait’s tonic, a Kilmer's Swamp Root, a Bitterquille and some other nonsense stuff. I worked a bit farther into the dump & came across the circular base of an amber whiskey...All right now...would it be embossed? The first bottle of note: Old Judge S.B.Rothenberg Whiskey with a picture of (yes you guessed it) and old judge toasting with a glass of whiskey. A nice reddish color ...a tool top whiskey. The second bottle was laying next to the first....also amber.... this one with a large embossed horseshoe with the Spruance & Stanley Bourbon. Alright....keep the tunes a playing. As I wiped the dirt from the second whiskey I spied a third bottle. I picked it up and began brushing the loose peat dirt off. Soon the embossing: Geo E. Deirsson & Co, Old Buffalo Bourbon, Sacramento Cal. Appeared .....Now this is a much better bottle. It is still turn of the century, but bottled locally and reasonably scarce. The bottle comes in clear & amber with the amber being more desirous. The leaping Buffalo is just a bonus. Three whiskey fifths in a row....very nice.....A few other bottles appeared on this dig but weren't worthy of notice. This little dump site soon played out. I've driven by the “newer bar†at the back of Grand Island many times now. It has fallen into disrepair & is now permanently closed. One hundred years from now someone will be digging the trash pit to this place....and time rolls on.[
]
