The Palace Bar Fight Scene

Prescott's Palace Bar is without doubt THE most famous watering hole on US 89 from Mexico to Canada.  No other saloon even comes close. The Palace remains as popular today on Whiskey Row as it ever was throughout the establishment's 140 year history.

One of the many illustrious Palace legends took place when much of downtown Prescott burned in the historic 1901 conflagration.  Palace patrons are said to have picked up the entire bar and carried it across the street where they continued drinking while the fire raged on.

We were recently reminded of perhaps an equally enduring and true legend of The Famous Palace Bar Fight which was a memorable scene of the 1972 movie, "Junior Bonner," starring Steve McQueen. Back in June 1971, Prescott embraced "all things Hollywood" as famed Director Sam Peckinpah, movie stars and film crews used the community as a backdrop for the movie. "After a week of rehearsal, the 43 days of filming around Prescott captivated the town. "The bonding between the film company and the town was very special," screenwriter Jeb Rosebrook said. "I had been on locations before, but I had never seen this kind of thing between the town and the people doing the movie."

The famous Palace Bar Fight was probably more like a big party for all the actors and extras involved. "The way that fight worked was that Peckinpah had everybody there by about 8:30 in the morning to start shooting at 10," Rosebrook said. "He opened the bar and everybody had free drinks until about 9:30."Then the band started playing and we started dancing and fighting." 

At one time the bar fight scene was excerpted from YouTube and publicly available to watch.  However, it has been deleted so you will just have to watch the entire movie to see it for yourself.

Although many more stories and maybe even some legends are yet to be recorded in the future of The Palace Bar, it's highly unlikely that there will be anything to equal either the 1901 Fire story or the famous Junior Bonner Palace Bar Fight.

Sources:

https://www.dcourier.com/news/2012/jun/25/junior-bonner-reunion-revives-prescott-memories/

https://www.dcourier.com/news/2008/oct/05/junior-bonner-movie-alumni-share-memories/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junior_Bonner

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Palace_Restaurant_and_Saloon

https://www.historicpalace.com/