Pine Street Saloon

fter two years on the road with Merle Haggard working with him on his documentary and  is work with me on my documentary on the Father of Country Music, I needed to leave the  road and hang with my kids in Paso Robles.  When I mentioned to Merle that I was going to live in Paso back in 2006, he said, "Hey...What is the name of the old Saloon there?"   I said, "Hmmm,  Pine Street Saloon."   He said, "Yep that's it...I remember it from my days traveling out of  Bakersfield."  Hag was always complaining that there are so few Saloons left, now's there only theaters and big concert arenas.  He would say, "I'm a bar band and I am running out of places to play." On the Department of Parks and Recreation Historic Resources Inventory regarding the Pine Street Saloon building it says, "This two story structure is one of the oldest buildings in down town Paso." Rumor has it that in the late 1800's saw a raw wild west section of town down Pine Street,  where cattle men drove herds into town, where cowboys partook of refreshments  in one of the 15 saloons.  There were 3 banks in town during these times.  On Pine Street, also known  as "skid row" every Saturday there were horse races as entertainment for cattlemen, ranchers and town folks.  It is said that these were going on during the days that Jesse and Frank James were hanging out in town, unknown to most people...