Back porch 'saloon' offers escape to the old West
Pat and Dan Johnson look from behind the saloon-style swinging doors of the Wagon Wheel Saloon they built on their back porch in Plains. (Chuck Bandel/VP-MI)
A desperado in his final pose in a coffin outside the backyard saloon built by Dan and Pat Johnson. (Chuck Bandel/VP-MI)
The Wagon Wheel Saloon, formerly the back porch of the Johnson family in Plains. (Chuck Bandel/VP-MI)
Pat Johnson with a 19th Century grinding wheel on display at the Wagon Wheel Saloon. (Chuck Bandel/VP-MI)
What saloon would be complete without an old saddle? (Chuck Bandel/VP-MI)
What saloon would be complete without an old saddle? (Chuck Bandel/VP-MI)
Plains residents Dan and Pat Johnson were looking for a good way for friends and family to “come over, relax” and forget about everything going on these days.
They found a way to do just that and express their love for the ways of the old West with the creation of the Wagon Wheel Saloon.
The "saloon," which is not a bar and does not sell alcohol, was borne of that love and admiration of life in the 19th Century. Armed with a collection of old West memorabilia they set about turning the covered porch in their backyard into a realistic-looking wild West saloon, complete with swinging bar doors and a faux “desperado” displayed Old-West style in a coffin near the porch.
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