Who was the most famous prostitute of the old west?

These are excerpts from The West That Was, Edited by Thomas Knowles and Joe Lansdale and published by Wings Books. The article was written by Lenore Carroll.

"Prostitues were so numerous on the frontiers that they may well have made up 25% of the female population of California by 1850. They usually outnumbered respectable women in mining towns 25 to 1. As the western population grew, most towns got big enough to support regular brothels staffed by 4-5 women."
"Painted ladies tended to be between 14 and 30 with an average age of 23."
"There were all levels of the profession. Expensive and intelligent courtesans often married well or retired with enough money for a comfortable and respectful lifestyle. Others used their profits to open their own 'sporting houses'."
"At the turn of the century the Everleigh sisters in Chicago could demand from their clients $50 and a formal recommendation. On the frontier, prices ranged from 5 dollars at posh establishments to a dollar or less for run of the mill service."
"A soiled dove might split 50/50 with the madam of her parlor house, or she might pay a flat fee per night or week. Other expenses included fines levied by the local law enforcement, often used by frontier towns to raise money for civic development. Public officials not only tolerated trade but often profited from it, and fines fell heaviest on freelancers."
"Prostitutes were often generous with one another, chipping in to support a sick colleague or to make the monthly payment to the 'baby farm' that cared for a friend's child."

$50! wow! that was a whole heap of money back then.

n2s

ps. Here is a book on the subject

096190884X.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg


http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/096190884X/103-0116355-0166279?v=glance
 
"MY 1st ex-wife??????? "

You crack me up IG! Wish we were closer so we could party!
 
Indian George your ex wife must have been a really old broad! :D Im talking old west 1800-1900. I shouldnt limit the search to the west maybe as long as she is a well to do working girl or even a madaam. Im planning my next pistol/knife combo. I want it to be a ladies gun.

The Soiled Dove book is on Ebay and I have a bid on it already.

Keep them ideas coming guys!
 
OwenM said:
Big Nose Kate.
I don't think Calamity Jane was a hooker :confused:
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I just saw a History Channel program the other day on this same subject. VD was termed as calamity in those days, and Calamity Jane was known as a carrier, hence, Calamity Jane.
 
not2sharp said:
"Prostitues were so numerous on the frontiers that they may well have made up 25% of the female population of California by 1850.
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California hasn't changed too much in the past 150 years... :eek:


Sorry, couldn't resist! :D

John Andrews said:
I just saw a History Channel program the other day on this same subject. VD was termed as calamity in those days, and Calamity Jane was known as a carrier, hence, Calamity Jane.
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Uh, Calamity Jane got her name from providing care to people that had gotten ill during a smallpox epidemic. I don't believe anyone that dressed in men's clothing and was an indian scout would have been very successful in that "line of work".

http://www.cowgirls.com/dream/cowgals/calamity.htm

Craig
 
Bruce - Amazon has Soiled Doves for less than $10.00 as well as several other books on "the Sisterhood"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/096190884X/foodfunandfacts/104-3369428-3047923

Martha Jane did in fact "hook" at times in her varied career, but in general she wouldn't be considered a prostitute and definitely was not one to have carried a "ladies" gun. The fact that she wasn't a "looker" wouldn't have dissuaded a man with the "need" when you consider that the male to female ratio was something like 100-1 up until around 1890. Also even the lowliest whore was by the norm still considered a woman and was not to be trifled with. Teddy Blue Abbott, a famous cattle driver, tells a story of a cowpoke who cheated and harmed a soiled dove and how the other cowpokes not only drove him out of town on a rail but also took up a fund to provide for the lady while she was recuperating. Different sensibilities for different times.

Famous women of the night -
Squirrel Tooth Alice who ran brothels in the cowtowns of Kansas and later Skagway, Alaska during the gold rush may very well be the most famous. Molly Fewclothes and Belle Davenport also of Skagway.
Among the many colorful women are Eleanora "Madame Mustache" Dumont, who introduced Calamity Jane to prostitution; "Blonde Marie," a beautiful French woman who arrived in the U.S. penniless and went on to own one of the most frequented brothels in San Francisco, making her wealthy; and "Poker Alice" Tubbs, an Englishwoman and expert card player who made a small fortune gambling throughout the West.
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BTW - a little factoid "hooker" comes form the term Hooker's Women - Hooker was a Civil War general who supplied his troops with soiled doves - thus Hooker's women and later hooker.
 
John - you ole Foxy Sioux you ;) !
Yep the History Channel did say that and unfortunately there are a lot of revisionist historians these days who are writing such clap trap. Don't know why but over the last few years there seems to be several that have a real problem with Martha Jane's "celebrity" and are seemingly doing everything to paint her as almost evil and undeserving of her fame. Martha Jane was by no means a saint and was in fact quite the sinner (During her last year she is reported to have chased off reporters with "leave me alone and let me go to hell in my own way!) - but she was not the "terrible" person they seem to want to make her either.

Her sobriquet of Calamity is one of those things that has been bruted about by the historians - most likely it came about form the fact that she wore men's clothes and did men's work which was a real Calamity (an old definition of the word meaning something like scandalously out of the ordinary)
 
Wild Rose said:
The fact that she wasn't a "looker" wouldn't have dissuaded a man with the "need" when you consider that the male to female ratio was something like 100-1 up until around 1890.QUOTE]

Nothing's changed, really. What's that modern saying..."A 2 at 10 is still a 10 at 2!" ? ;)
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Bruce Bump said:
Indian George your ex wife must have been a really old broad! :D Im talking old west 1800-1900. I shouldnt limit the search to the west maybe as long as she is a well to do working girl or even a madaam. Im planning my next pistol/knife combo. I want it to be a ladies gun.

The Soiled Dove book is on Ebay and I have a bid on it already.

Keep them ideas coming guys!
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OK!!! It was her Grandmother, Thier last name is Charbonneau and she was with the Lewis and Clark expedition. :eek: :eek:
 
How about Maw Folsom of Central City Colorado fame? A great lady in her own right who never apologised for her profession.
 
In the San Mateo Mountains of south central New Mexico there is a ghost town called Rosedale where they mined gold for about 50 years after the Mimbreno Apaches were finally subdues in the early 1880s. There was a whore house in the next canyon north run by a madam known as Big Rosa. The canyon is still on the maps as Big Rosa Canyon.

Not widespread fame, but at least some people still know where the name came from.
 
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