When Madera turned the corner into the 20th century and voted to incorporate in 1907, it had to elect a city council to pass the ordinances that would regulate life in the county seat. Chief among the concerns in those early days were the saloons that lined Yosemite, and at the top of the list of these “dens of iniquity” was the Fountain Saloon, owned by George Gruber.
Gruber had been operating the Fountain Saloon with a free hand for a long time, but when the people voted to incorporate, the new trustees decided to clip his wings. They were tired of the persistent reports that he was running a “disorderly” establishment, so they passed an ordinance prohibiting Gruber’s most egregious offense — serving women at his bar.
Now allowing women in his saloon was not what really bothered the trustees. If he had merely served them libations, it probably wouldn’t have mattered, but Gruber went too far when he also allowed them into the backroom where he slept. When he let Henry Hedges escort Nellie Smith and Ruby Young into his bedroom for drinks, that was too much. On Friday night, September 27, Gruber was called on the carpet to defend his actions and his liquor license.