Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe

**The Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe** (or simply the **Pecos Bill Cafe** in Tokyo Disneyland) is a restaurant in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland which is connected to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

## Summary

### Background

The Tall Tale Inn & Cafe is a saloon which was built in 1878 in the vicinity of Tumbleweed in the Big Thunder Mountain Range and advertised itself to the employees of the Big Thunder Mining Company. The saloon was run by the legendary gunslinger Pecos Bill who would decorate its interior with memorabilia commemorating his fellow western legends, sometimes including gifts from them to him.

#### Characters Referenced

* **Pecos Bill**: A legendary gunslinger from Texan folk-tales and pulp literature.
	+ He notably appeared in a 1948 animated Disney short.
* **Davy Crockett (1786-1836)**: David "Davy" Crockett historic frontiersman, soldier and politician.
	+ He notably appeared in a large number of Disney TV shows, segments and films which had a popularity status that inspired Frontierland in Disneyland.
* **Slue-Foot Sue**: Pecos Bill's beautiful lover and fiancee who was a cowgirl that could wrangle catfish.
	+ She originated from the aforementioned 1948 animated Disney short.
* **Paul Bunyan**: A gigantic lumberjack who spends time with a giant blue pet-ox called, "Babe".
	+ He notably appeared in a 1958 Disney short.
* **John Henry**: A folklore hero who was a man freed from slavery who possessed incredible strength and determination.
	+ He notably appeared in a 2002 Disney animated short.
* **Johnny Appleseed**: A folk-hero who is affiliated with having planted apple-trees across America.
	+ He notably appeared in a 1948 Disney short.
	+ Johnny Appleseed is loosely based on historic colonist and slave-owner John Chapman (1774-1845).
* **The Lone Ranger**: A masked gunslinger hero who fought evil in the Wild West with his partner Tonto.
	+ He originated from early 20th century pulp and was subject to a 2013 live-action Disney film.
* **Casey Jones (1863-1900)**: A folk-hero train engineer.
	+ He notably appeared in a 1950 animated short.
* **George Russel**: Davy Crockett's (fictitious) sidekick.
* **Jim Bowie (c. 1796-1836)**:
* **Annie Oakley (1860-1926)**: Annie Oakley was a sharpshooter, best known for her performances in the  *Buffalo Bill's Wild West* show.
* **Kit Carson (1809-1868)**:
* **Wild Bill Hickok (1837-1876)**:
* **Buffalo Bill** **(1846-1917)**:

## Connections

### Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Advertisements for the Tall Tale Inn can be found in the queue for Walt Disney World's Big Thunder Mountain. References to the stories of Pecos Bill are in these advertisements and mention of a, "Mile Long Bar".

### Country Bears Jamboree

The Tall Tale Cafe replaced space formerly taken up by the, "Mile Long Bar" which was closer themed to the next-door Country Bears Jamboree. This bar is alluded to as being a feature of the Tall Tale Cafe in the queue for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

### The Golden Horseshoe Saloon

The characters of Pecos Bill and Slue Foot Sue are fairly prominent in the Tall Tale Cafe. Both of these characters were also prominently featured in the legendary Golden Horseshoe Saloon of Disneyland, an attraction which is affiliated as being set in Rainbow Ridge.

### Thunder Mesa

The Tall Tale Inn references the historic frontiersman Davy Crockett and his fictional friend George "Georgie" Russel from the film *Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier*. Their fictitious ally Tobias Norton from this film is known to have become a resident of Thunder Mesa who would found and run the *Tobias Norton & Sons and Bonanza Outfitters*. Bill's customer Annie Oakley is also shown to have been a patron of Tobias Norton's.

## Trivia

* It is odd that the saloon was built in 1878 considering that Tumbleweed isn't noted as having been founded until two years later in 1880. A possible explanation is that the town was founded but was refurbished by the Big Thunder Mining Company in 1880.
* The official description for the Tall Tale Inn & Cafe mentions the memorialized western figures of the bar as having been patrons of the Inn. However as the Cafe opened in 1878, the only figures represented who could potentially have been customers are: Slue-Foot Sue, Buffalo Bill, Paul Bunyan, Annie Oakley, the Lone Ranger and Casey Jones as every other figure referenced had died by that time.

## References

1. ↑ http://schmoofy.com/fictional-frontier-pecos-bill/
2. ↑ http://www.fromscreentotheme.com/FunFindFridayPecosBill.aspx
3. ↑ https://insidethemagic.net/2016/01/d-tales-14-hidden-disney-history-at-big-thunder-mountain-railroad/
4. ↑ https://insidethemagic.net/2020/09/magic-kingdom-mile-long-bar-kc1/