Wayne Elkins owned a bar in montana and times appeared to be bad for the area so he sold it and moved to Sheridan in the early 40's.  He tended bar at the Palace and at the Bison  for a few years.  Lauren L. McVean (Mac)  owned a bar in Thermopolis, sold it, and moved to Sheridan around 1945.  Jack Carrolls owned the longest bar in Sheridan, 42 feet long, and Wayne and Mac formed a partnership to buy him out.

Mac had a Wyoming brand book and they decided to put brands on the walls.   They did the work in Wayne's garage, going through several wood burning sets and finally ended up with 9000 pieces of cedar, each with a brand on it.  This would cover the walls of their new establishment.  Then they set about building the booths and back bar.

Wayne had located a stand of what we call diseased pine where the knurled knots grew unusually large.  They built the booths in Wayne's garage and  covered the seats with cowhide and ended up with the most distinctive bar anywhere.

The newly decorated bar opened around 1948 and quickly became the most popular bar in town where everybody stopped for a drink to see the new decorations and try to find their own brand on the wall.  It was especially attractive to cowboys and has remained so to this day.

Wayne was in charge of the bar where he became noted for his Moscow Mules in the copper mugs.   Walt Snow and Bud Wolfe were also bartenders.  Mac was in charge of the gambling in a room behind the end of the bar.  They had Black Jack, Roulette, Poker, and Slots.  The gamblers were Pat Cusick and Willis Pointer.  The phone number was 23.  Mac was the hunter and he made several trips to Alaska and brought home the trophies that hang on the walls.

Shirley Elkins, 52, daughter of Wayne, tells about how she and her friend, both 17 years old wanted to get passes to sit over by the chutes at the Sheridan Wyo Rodeo and they thought some of the cowboys would be at the mint and give them passes.  They went in, Mac came over and asked what they wanted and the girls both said beer.  Mac came back with a huge glass of ice water and two straws and told them to hurry up and get outside.  They had to sneak in to the rodeo.  Shirley came up with most of the information for this story.

Joe Crackenberger and Billy Gardner were in the Mint one day when an Indian stopped by and wanted to sell a suitcase full of Indian dancing costumes for twenty dollars.  They said they wanted to see what he had and as he unpacked the suitcase, Joe and Billy put on the costumes.  They kept the customers in hysterics for hours with their Indian dances.  They sent the Indian on his way with a twenty.

All the dudes from the local ranches had to spend some time there along with Big Bill Eaton, The Bones Brothers, and the Hortons.  Great cowboys like J D McKenna, the Rideouts, Herb Doenz, Paddy Ryan, Curley Wetzel, Kelly Howie, and Buck Blackburn were regular visitors.  The Mint was featured in the movie Wild Horses, with Kenny Rogers.  Monte Buckmaster owns the bar today and it's still full of cowboys.