Rutland, ND

Well, we bade a fond farewell to the old Lariat Bar last night.  I even went uptown and drank 2 bottles of beer (Grain Belt in the long-neck bottles) and a straight shot, just for old time’s sake.  The old building, which local legend says was moved to its present location on Main Street back in 1895, will be removed in the next couple of weeks to make way for a new, improved, bigger and better Lariat Bar.  In the meantime, the business is moving to the American Legion Building, just east of the Rutland Town Hall, so we won’t have to struggle through the Summer without a source of refreshments.  The old building was used as a cafe and an ice cream store from 1895 until 1933, when Prohibition ended.  At that time, the then owner, Ingwald “Ink” Skoglund, obtained a liquor license and turned “Skoglund’s Cafe” into “Ink’s Place”, which it remained until 1947 when it was purchased by Great Bend ND natives Willard “Bud” Bohn and his wife, Toddles.  Bud and Toddles were real go-getters.  They spiffed up the bar, changed the name to “Bohn’s Bar” and did some promotions.  Additionally, Bud played shortstop, and sometimes 2nd base, for the Rutland Roosters baseball team where he was known for his hard-hitting aggressive play, which included his trademark head-first slide on close plays at any base, including First.  In 1953, Bud & Toddles remodeled the Bar, changed the front facade, gave the interior a western decor and changed the name to the “Lariat Bar”, a name that stuck.  Toddles’ brother, Mike White from Hankinson, had an extensive gun collection that included authentic original firearms from the old time flintlock and percussion cap muzzle loaders up through some of the weapons, such as the M-1 and the BAR, that had been used in WWII and Korea, and a large number of his guns were displayed on the walls of the Lariat.  Bud & Toddles also commissioned a native American artist to paint the western mural on the north wall of the barroom.  It was said that the artist took a large part of his payment for his work in the form of beverages from the Lariat, as evidenced by some obvious mistakes on the mural, but the big picture is still an impressive piece of work for anyone, drunk or sober.  Some of the other touches added by the Bohns were the big wagon wheel chandeliers and swinging doors into the back room that had been decorated with the brands of the local cattlemen who frequented the establishment.  The back-bar is believed to have been in the building since its earliest days as a cafe, but the origin of the bar is unknown.  The Lariat was one of the first establishments in the region to have air-conditioning and indoor plumbing, both novelties for bars in Sargent County in the early 50′s.  In 1958, Bud and Toddles sold the Lariat to local plumber Ronald Donaldson and moved to California.  Ron hired Martin Harles, a colorful character in his own right, to manage the day to day operations of the business.  Ronald and Martin were not as interested in decor, ambiance or atmosphere as the Bohns had been, figuring that people came to a bar to drink and, as long as you stocked booze and kept the premises clean, they didn’t much care what the place looked like.  Ronald didn’t change much, but didn’t make many improvements, either.  One improvement which Ronald did make was to install a small kitchen at the east end of the bar with a sink, deep fryer and grill.  Ronald also built a “Beer Garden” on the south sid of the Lariat, between the bar building and the Rutland Recreation (pool hall) building.  Over the next half century, the Lariat was owned and operated by several proprietors, some who worked hard and improved the business and some who used it as a gold mine, only taking out and never putting anything back.  At the end of 1968, Ronald sold the bar to Kathy & Darwin Brakke.  Kathy was a promoter, starting the monthly bullhead fries and hosting hog roasts and other community events, as well as sponsoring whist tournaments and pinochle games.  The walk-in cooler on the south side was added in about 1971.  In 1974, the Lariat was purchased by Calvin Jacobson.  Cal, owned the place until the end of 1977, when it was purchased by Cayuga native “Deadeye Dick” Povlitzki.  During the last year of his ownership, Calvin had leased the business to his brother, Boyd Jacobson, and his cousin, Art Carlson, two of the more colorful characters to operate the establishment over the years.  The North Dakota League of Cities held its regional meeting in Rutland that Spring, and Boyd, Art, and their barmaid, Big Judy Peterson, made such an impression on the community leaders of southeastern North Dakota that they are still remembered and talked about to this day.  At the end of 1977, the premises was getting a little run down, but Deadeye had it cleaned up, installed some new flooring and put his voluptuous step-daughter, Theresa, behind the bar to bring the business back.  It worked.  In a few months Deadeye re-sold the Lariat to Bruce and Paula Meyers, a young couple from Ada, Minnesota.  Bruce was a big guy, about 6’7″ who was all muscle and Paula was a petite, pretty blonde who wasn’t hard to look at and didn’t hurt the business, either.  They, too, were promoters and had a good business, but Bruce had a million ideas and once he had made something work, he wanted to move on.  So, in 1981, Bruce and Paula sold the Lariat to Norman and Rita Preble.  Norman and Rita made improvements to the kitchen and restroom facilities in the Lariat, and took out the partition between the main barroom and what had been known as “the backroom” for the lack of a more imaginative name.  They moved the kitchen to the east end of the building, enlarged it and started serving a regular menu of steaks, etc. every evening, too, to supplement the liquid refreshment business.  They sold the Lariat to Janice Christensen in 1993.  Janice added a separate dining room on the south side of the building, occupying part of the Beer Garden with the structure.  After 16 years in the business, Janice has operated the bar longer than any other owner in the community’s history.  Janice is going strong, but, after 114 years of duty as a commercial structure, the old building is about worn out.  Janice decided a year ago that a new structure was needed and has spent the past 12 months figuring out how to do it without interupting the business.  So, by the end of May the old Lariat Bar building is scheduled to be gone, with a new one rising from the debris.  For the past 114 years, the old building has been a primary community social center.  The place where community issues were discussed; political views expounded; arguments argued; fights fought; scores settled; card games played; dice rolled; pool games shot;drinks mixed; beers poured; relationships formed and shattered; wars won; world problems solved; and, community events and happenings, including: athletic events; dances; marriages; The World’s Largest Hamburger; and, many others; were plotted, planned and promoted.  We can only hope that the new building will be infused with some of the spirit and traditions that have kept the Lariat Bar, and Rutland, vibrant and lively throughout the years.  The Lariat is dead!  Long live the Lariat!