Meet the Makers: The Last Chance Saloon

The Wi-Fi doesn't work in Wayne. That is the whole point.

"There's something very magical about Wayne," says Paula Sutherland. "When I drive here every day, I truly appreciate the beauty of the valley. I still do, and I've been coming this way for twenty years." The Last Chance Saloon has stood in that valley since 1913, built to house the coal miners who once filled the town. Wayne held more than 2,500 people back then. Today it is home to just over thirty.

Most visitors arrive expecting a cell signal, and don't find one.

"People don't realize there's a disconnection until they get here," she says. "They go, 'Oh, my phone doesn't work. Do you have Wi-Fi?' And I say, 'No. Pretend it's the '90s. Talk to each other.'"

So they do.

"It's actually nice. They'll sit and they talk and they laugh, and they read the write-up about our history, and then they look around and they share." The kitchen leans into the same idea. The team takes pride in smoking things that are local, and the reason it tastes the way it does is not complicated. "When you make it from the heart, it does taste good."

That pride is the thing she keeps coming back to. "The whole team is so proud of that. That's just happiness. It's kind of like when you host a dinner at your home." And for the people who run the saloon, that is not a metaphor. "To me, this is our home. We're here all the time. Our family works here. Our friends work here. It's not just a job. It is something I love doing."

There is a bigger idea underneath it all, one she has clearly thought about for a long time.

"It's not a question of owning the property," she says. "I believe my husband and I are curators of the Last Chance Saloon. We're just taking care of it for the next generation."

Come for the food. Stay for the history and amazing stories. Leave having actually talked to the people across the table.

Plan your visit

The Last Chance Saloon is a featured stop on the Badlands Eats journey through Canada's Badlands. There are plenty more places to eat, stay, and linger a little longer: