Thunder and Buttons II

Many people ask us "Why Thunder and Buttons?" Well we will tell you... In 1888 a rowdy, Colorado City resident named Prairie Dog O'Byrne (so named because of the prairie dog he had running in a wheel on the back of his rig) purchased and trained two bull elk and hitched them to his carriage. The elk were named Thunder and Buttons. O'Byrne would frequently offer Laura Bell, the queen of Colorado City's Red Light District, a ride. He would then race the elk down Colorado Ave. the three miles into downtown Colorado Springs where the elk would upset the gentry, which usually ended in O'Byrne spending the night in jail and leaving Laura Bell to drag her gown up dusty Colorado Avenue back to Colorado City. When the restaurant first opened in the 1980's, historian Dave Hughes suggested the name which came from this famous story from the rip roaring saloon days. Since it's grand opening, the bar/restaurant remained a success for ten years until a bad fire gutted the building one night. It reopened as Boujoe's Pizza and remained that way for five years. Then in 2004, an Air Force Academy graduate opened and re-newed the bar and restaurant renaming it Thunder and Buttons II and giving it a new aviation decor. In February of 2008 it was sold to the present owners, another AFA alum and his wife, Jeff and Hillary. Today they continue the tradition of keeping Thunder and Buttons a place even O'Byrne would call home Jeff and Hillary welcome and thank everyone for joining us!!