At The Blazing Saddle, security starts with de-escalation, not force

9/2/2026

Security staff at most bars is relegated to the biggest, buffest human beings a bar manager could possibly find. The hope is that this “bouncer” is a person who will be a deterrent to bad behavior and, in worst case scenarios, can throw unruly patrons out of the bar, crashing through saloon doors like seen in old western films.

Security at The Blazing Saddle, one of Des Moines most iconic bars, is approached in a different way, Security Lead Eligh Cade tells us. 

Before Cade, a multi-time mullet competition winner, took on security duties at The Saddle, he was in New Orleans, Louisiana. After graduating from high school, he went directly into the Marine Corps. At only 17, he had to do so with parental permission. Cade worked on F-35 Bravos, stealth fighter jets. When his time in the Marines concluded, Cade moved to Iowa.

“I had no intention of staying in Iowa,” Cade said. “I got asked to work for The Saddle because they found out that I was a Marine, and I fell in love with it and made a family there and didn’t leave Iowa. I’ve been here for almost five years now. I just fell in love with Des Moines.” 

The folks at The Saddle seems to be pleased that Cade has decided to stick around, too, as he has been keeping the East Village staple safe for more than four years. The opportunity arose after Cade started frequenting the bar and became friends with the owner and one of the assistant managers. 

“Betty, the assistant manager, was like, ‘Hey, have you ever done security?’ And I was like, ‘Well, yes. I’m trained in it.’ So, they hired me, and I’ve been working pretty much every Friday and Saturday, sometimes Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday for four years now.”

Finding a group of friends and community within The Saddle helped Cade in his life post-Marines.

“When I got out of the Marine Corps, I lost purpose, and this has given me purpose, and it’s done a lot for me. What I get back for making sure that my community is really safe, that fulfills me again as a person, because that’s why I joined the Marine Corps,” Cade said.

The Saddle handles security in a different way than typical bars do. Cade’s training in de-escalation has helped him, and the rest of the staff, tremendously. 

“Our entire goal is to keep everybody that’s in the building as safe as possible, whether that be safe from an outside threat or safe from themselves because, unfortunately, when people get really drunk, sometimes their minds aren’t really in the right spot,” Cade said. “We do as much de-escalation as possible. I’ve had people threaten to kill me. It’s not our job to swing first. It’s our job to stop you from swinging and to not even try to.”

Security guards at The Saddle wear body cameras, and the bar has cameras inside and outside, too. Guards also have radios in order to communicate with each other, as well as wands, ID scanners and more at their disposal. 

“We have over 200 fakes that we’ve caught in the last three years, and we don’t want to take your fake ID. But, we also don’t want to lose an institution that’s been here for 43 years,” Cade said. 

Cade tells a story of having to take the fake ID of a daughter who was out for drinks with her family as one of the crazier things he experienced.

“We said, ‘You can’t come in. You have a fake ID,’ and she goes. ‘I’m studying to be a lawyer. It’s not a fake ID.’ And we’re just like, ‘We have a machine. The machine is connected to the DMV. This is a fake ID.’ Her dad tried to fight us. He literally bucked up to me and another security guard, got in our faces, and was screaming at us to give her ID back. And we were just like, ‘You can call DMPD, bud,’ ” Cade said.

That prevention before things come to blows is what is most important to Cade and the rest of the security team. 

“I genuinely think that if more bars approached security in a way of — not keeping the bad out, but keeping just the inside safe — then you would have less issues. Because if you stop it at the door, then the issue doesn’t get in the bar,” Cade said.

When those events that do happen around nightlife occur, like an active shooting event in the area, the team and Cade act quickly, calmly and orderly to secure the place. 

As much as Cade knows it can be difficult for patrons to tell him that something has happened to them, knowing the Saddle security makes them feel safe enough to trust them is what he has enjoyed most about being on the job.

“When people feel comfortable enough to come tell us what has happened or what they think might be happening, to see something, say something. It’s really nice to know that people, members of the community, are realizing what we’re there for,” Cade said.

Outside of the job, working at The Saddle has connected Cade with lifelong friends and even introduced him to some famous faces over the years.

“I met the entire original cast of ‘Hamilton’ on a Sunday night. We’ve had quite a few very famous drag queens. We’ve had Gottmik. We’ve had Violet Chachki, who won RuPaul’s Drag Race. I met Bob the Drag Queen; the cast of ‘Chicago’ came through,” Cade said. 

Members of The Saddle security team have branched out, working other events like Ames Pride, the Governor’s Conference, and even lady’s roller derby.

“One of my favorite things is the Governor’s Conference that we do. It’s youth, so we’re there to show them like, hey, look, we made it to adulthood. You can, too. We’re going to keep you safe. Nothing’s gonna happen to you here as long as we’re here,” Cade said. ♦

Cyote Williams was born and raised on the south side of Des Moines and writes about entertainment, sports and personalties across the Des Moines metro for CITYVIEW. Phone: 515-953-4822 x333.