Arbuckles
If a miner, or range hand, or townee,
or drifter walked into Abel McAllister's saloon and gaming house in Mudgap, New
Mexico, back in the days when mining and drifting were popular, he probably
never ordered “Sarsaparilla,” as the movies seem to think. But he may have
edged up to the bar, with a careful eye on his surroundings, and called out,
"Arbuckles," or "Ariosa," or "Arbuckles and." Why would he do that? Of
course, he was ordering coffee, or coffee with some of whatever Abel was
selling for whiskey that day. For, in what eastern residents then called the
Far West, which is where New Mexico certainly was, Arbuckles, Ariosa and coffee all had the same meaining.

Like a lot of stories about the western
frontier, this one starts in New York But it quickly goes west, and still
stirs a lot of attention and imagination.
We will be collecting research on the subject at this location. Check back for updates.


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