The Buckhorn Exchange
Established 1893
In November 1893, Henry H. “Shorty Scout” Zietz opened a saloon in this building, which was built about 1886 by Neef Brothers Brewery. Known as the Rio Grande Exchange, the saloon catered to the railroaders working across Osage Street at the Burnham Yards of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. Zietz later changed the name to the Buckhorn Lodge and then to the Buckhorn Exchange. Legend has it that “Shorty Scout” had been at various times a frontiersman, a crack shot who rode as a scout with Col. William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody, a hunting guide for President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt, and a worked in Leadville mines owned by U.S. Senator Horace W. Tabor.
Shorty ran the Buckhorn until his death in 1949, when his son Henry Jr., also an avid big-game hunter acquired ownership. For three generations the Zietz family collected the hundreds of taxidermied [sic] trophies, antique firearms, Native American artifacts, photographs, and western memorabilia displayed in the restaurant today.
In 1978 the Buckhorn was sold to a group of Denverites, headed by Roi Davis. They carefully renovated and restored this important piece of Colorado history. The Buckhorn retains its original interior, including the 1857 white-oak bar, from the Zietz family tavern in Essen, Germany. On the back bar is displayed Colorado Liquor License #1. This small 19th century saloon has become world-famous for its steak and game dinners, museum-quality artifacts, and celebrity patrons including many American presidents and British royalty. The Buckhorn Exchange is on the National Register or Historic Places, and was designated a Denver landmark on August 28, 1972.
This plaque was installed to mark the centennial.
Marker is at the intersection of Osage Street and West 10th Avenue on Osage Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
