Fahle was of German ancestry and born about 1871. His birthplace is variously given; one record attributes Germany, another account says Missouri. He appears to have arrived in Wallace in the late 1890s, possibly drawn by the pportunities provided by mining. Fahle soon found that one opportunity to strike gold in Wallace was serving liquor to a thirsty population of miners who thronged to town on pay day. He opened a saloon. In Fahle’s day everything was wide open. Gambling and prostitution were thriving. Not only did his saloon serve liquor over the counter, in a back room he was mixing up his own “rectified” brand of whiskey, selling it in gallon ceramic jugs and glass flasks. The latter he branded “Monogram Whiskey, A Blend.” Some of those bottles have survived showing Fahle’s highly elaborated labels in both red and gold. Fahle also was running a hotel, initially with a partner named Williams. That establishment, of course, featured a saloon and like many Western saloonkeepers the partners issued tokens good for drinks at the bar. In time the Williams & Fahle partnership was disolved and Fahle went on to operate his own saloon, restaurant and hotel. In 1890 a fire had wiped out the majority of the wooden buildings downtown. Persevering, townspeople rebuilt, this time with brick, stone and masonry. Among the solid structures was Fahle’s hotel located on Cedar Street, the main drag of Wallace. In 1910 a giant forest fire roared through town but the hotel survived. Signs on the building advertised “Fahle’s Hotel,” “Gin Top Beer” and “Bull Durham”. As before, Fahle issued bar tokens for his establishment. Although the advent of Prohibition meant that provision of alcohol in his hotel was done more discretely, Fahle’s good times continue to roll even after the country went dry. During the 1920s his hotel was the focus of a scandal when the Mayor of Wallace, Chief of Police, Shoshone County Sheriff and other officials were accused of corruption for letting the hostelry operate more or less openly as an illegal drinking establishment, gambling den, and house of prostitution.