Random Most Notorious Prostitutes And Madams Of The Wild West (12 items)

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  (#1) Eleanor Dumont Chased Down A Man Who Swindled Her And Threatened Him With A Shotgun

  Like any true entrepreneur, Eleanor Dumont saw opportunity wherever she went. She opened several successful gaming parlors in California, offering a rarity during the time - a respectable lady dealer. Her parlor, Vingt-et-un, was finely furnished, served Champagne instead of whiskey, and only accepted the patronage of well-dressed gentlemen. It was hugely popular, but men lost interest as Dumont's beauty waned and more women began to fill the camps.

  After the gold ran dry and the crowds cleared out, Dumont bought a ranch. During this time, she fell in love with a handsome, silver-tongued man named Jack McKnight. Dumont fell head over heels for the man; unfortunately, McKnight was a con artist, and he ended up taking all of her hard-earned money and selling her ranch, leaving Dumont completely destitute. Not one to take that type of treatment from anyone, she chased down her former lover with a shotgun and ended his life.

  In need of money, she began to set up gambling tables at mining camps; it’s said that she met Calamity Jane at one of these camps and tried to teach the famous frontierswoman how to play poker.
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  (#2) Fannie Porter Entertained Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid At Her Brothel

  Fannie Porter ran one of the more high-end brothels in Texas, one that was said to have “fine glass fixtures, silk sheets and plush carpeting.” Special guests, like the members of Butch Cassidy’s crew of bandits (known as the Wild Bunch) were given chilled Champagne. Despite being a classy lady, she was no pushover, and was known to chase law enforcers off her property with a broom.

  Porter's "boarding house" "served as a rest stop, hideout, rendezvous, and headquarters" for Butch Cassidy and his crew. It’s said that the Sundance Kid met his later girlfriend and partner-in-crime Etta Place while she was working at Fannie’s brothel. The last time the Wild Bunch showed up to Fannie’s place, intent on going their separate ways, she treated them like real VIPs, throwing them an elaborate going-away party.
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  (#3) Big Nose Kate Broke Doc Holliday Out Of Jail

  Mary Katharine Haroney, or Big Nose Kate, is probably best known for her on-again, off-again relationship with famous gunslinger Doc Holliday. Haroney ran away from her foster home and became a sex worker shortly after. She met Holliday when she moved to Texas and the two started their lengthy and rocky relationship. It is said that Haroney and Holliday would have heated arguments that would become aggressive whenever Haroney drank too much.

  Despite their unhealthy relationship, Haroney once broke Holliday out of jail by starting a fire and pulling a piece on the guard. Holliday was so grateful that he promised to give up gambling. Haroney also promised to live a clean life, giving up sex work. However, both of their promises were short-lived and their rocky relationship continued until Holiday’s passing.
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  (#4) Mollie Johnson Was A Tabloid Superstar

  Mollie Johnson owned a brothel on one of the corner streets in Deadwood. Her life appealed to the town’s people in the same way the lives of reality show stars appeal to us today. Her antics often made headlines in the Deadwood newspapers. One of her favorite pastimes was renting a carriage and riding it up and down the camp, snubbing any “lesser” women she passed. She also turned heads when she married a Black entertainer, Lew Spencer. Johnson served as a mentor to three golden-haired employees (Ida Clark, Ida Cheplan, and Jennie Duchesneau) and was known as "Queen of the Blondes."

  One notable event that was reported by the papers was a buggy race between Johnson and some of her girls. After getting drunk at a baseball game, she rented two buggies and raced them. None of the women were hurt, but it is said the buggies were reduced to splinters.
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  (#5) Pearl de Vere Charged Her Clients $250 Dollars A Night

  Pearl de Vere’s gaming parlor in Cripple Creek, CO, catered to the more prosperous gentleman in the area. de Vere’s girls fared better than other women in the business - they received regular medical exams, wore fine clothing, and were paid well.

  Like Mollie Johnson, de Vere liked to parade around the town in her carriage. She wore a new luxurious outfit each time she went out, seducing men as she made her daily rounds. She built The Old Homestead, an incredibly decadent parlor which featured fine furnishings, a crystal electric chandelier, and a telephone. (The latter two were considered luxuries during the period.) The Old Homestead exclusively catered to rich clientele, asking for $250 a night, which would be around $6500 today.
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  (#6) Ah Toy Used The Courts To Her Benefit

  Ah Toy was the first Chinese sex worker in San Francisco and the most famous Asian American woman in the Old West. Ah Toy immigrated from China with her husband, but when he passed during the ocean crossing, she took up with the captain of the ship. The captain "showered gold upon her," giving her quite a nest egg when she landed in San Francisco.

  An Asian woman in the West at the time was something of a curiosity, and she would charge clients an ounce of gold (or $18) for just a peep at her goods. In time, she was able to build her own business and brought women over from China to work at her numerous brothels. Because she ran a lucrative business, people often tried to extort her. However, Ah Toy was a clever woman, and she repeatedly used the San Francisco court system to ensure her and her girls’ protection. Unfortunately, in 1854, a law was passed that prohibited Chinese Americans from taking their grievances to court, allowing her to be hassled by both white Americans and rival Chinese businesspeople.
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  (#7) Mary Ellen Pleasant Was An Abolitionist Hero

  Mary Ellen Pleasant, who was also known as Mistress Pleasant and was called the Mother of Civil Rights in California, was a busy woman. Perhaps a former enslaved person (though her early past is not entirely known), she was heavily involved in the abolitionist movement. Along with her husband, James Smith, Pleasant helped free enslaved people via the Underground Railroad.

  When suspicions arose about her involvement with John Brown and Harpers Ferry, she escaped the East Coast and moved to San Francisco where she was able to pass as white (despite being African American or perhaps of mixed race) and secure herself a position as an adviser to Thomas Bell, a Bank of California director.

  It is said that, at one point, she was one of the richest Black women in America. She made her money in a number of ways. Some reports say she owned and ran a number of lucrative bordellos where she would set up her girls with rich white men. Others say she would groom and train the girls to marry these men. On the abolitionist front, she gave $30,000 to help fund John Bell’s rebellions and won a court case against a company when she was refused a seat in one of their streetcars.
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  (#8) Julia Bulette Was The Original Sex Worker With A Heart Of Gold

  Julia Bulette arrived in Virginia City, NV, in 1859. She was described as being a beautiful and witty woman who was sought by many of the miners in town. Soon after arriving in Virginia City, Bulette decided to become a self-employed sex worker. Bulette was said to have a heart of gold. She was made an honorary firefighter because of her numerous charitable contributions to the townspeople.

  In 1867, Bulette was brutally slain in her bed by a French drifter. She was found in her bedroom strangled and bludgeoned.
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  (#9) Dora Dufran Became A Madam At 15

  Dora Dufran started off as a dance hall girl and, at the age of 15, quickly promoted herself to madam. Dufran had several prostitution houses in Deadwood, the most popular of which was called Diddlin’ Dora’s. The brothel promised its patrons “The Three D’s - Dining, Drinking, and Dancing” and called itself  “a place where you can bring your mother.”

  During her time in Deadwood, she befriended Calamity Jane, and the two women remained friends well into their forties. They reconnected later in life when Jane, suffering from the effects of alcoholism, came to Dufran looking for work. She gave Jane a job at her brothel as a cook and laundrywoman. Jane passed shortly after.
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  (#10) Squirrel Tooth Alice Kept Prairie Dogs As Pets

  Mary Elizabeth "Libby" Haley Thompson (or Squirrel Tooth Alice, as she was more commonly known because of the gap in her teeth and her love of prairie dogs) had a traumatic youth. She was taken by Comanche when she was 10 years old and remained with the tribe for three years. Though her family paid the ransom fee and had her returned, she was shunned by society thereafter, with the exception of an older man who took an interest in her. He wanted to marry Thompson, but her father did not like the match, so he shot and disposed of the suitor.

  After that incident, Thompson ran away from home and worked at several establishments as a dance hall girl and a sex worker. She eventually opened her own place when she and her husband settled down in Sweetwater, TX.
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  (#11) Mother Damnable's Body Turned To Stone

  Mary Ann Conklin (or Mother Damnable, as she was more commonly known) managed a hotel and brothel in Seattle. She could curse like a sailor in English, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, and Chinese.

  Conklin passed in 1873 and was buried in Seattle Cemetery. Years later, the bodies in the cemetery were moved to make room for a park. According to legend, when Conklin’s body was dug up, it was incredibly heavy. Curious, the workers opened the coffin and found that her body had completely turned to stone.
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  (#12) Josephine Hensley Became The Largest Landowner In Montana's Red Light District

  Known as Chicago Joe by her customers, Josephine Hensley left Chicago and set up shop in a mining town in Montana. She opened her first brothel in a log cabin in Helena, MT, employing a full orchestra to entertain the guests when she and her girls were busy entertaining the other guests. Her brothel was so popular that she eventually had to move her business to a larger building. She started to invest in real estate and, with her husband, opened a dance hall and The Red Light Saloon. 

  She became the largest landowner in the district and was so prosperous that she was dubbed “Queen of the Red Light District.”

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