Fascinating photographs, taken in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, offer a glimpse into the brothels of the Old West.
The black-and-white photographs show American Frontier prostitutes mingling with potential customers and showing off their wares for the camera in states ranging from Texas to Alaska.
Prostitutes — or “soiled doves” and “sportin’ women” as they were commonly known — were a fixture in western towns and cities. Almost without exception, pioneer mining camps, boomtowns, and whistle-stops became home to at least one or two prostitutes — if not a roaring red light district.
Prostitution contributed significantly to town economies through business licenses, fees, and fines. Several red light districts evolved into the social centers of their communities.
Although prostitution was largely illegal, brothels were no secret in the Old West. Visitors could easily find disorderly houses by merely opening up the local or statewide directories, such as the 1895 Travelers’ Guide of Colorado. This 66-page manual helped the interested client decide which brothel was right for him.
These photographs provide a remarkable insight into the everyday lives of prostitutes who mixed with some of the most famed outlaws of the day in popular brothels in the wild west.
In the Old West, saloons and brothels were often closely connected, with many saloons including a brothel establishment as part of their entertainment and business operations. In one photograph, taken around 1895 at Crapper Jack’s Saloon in Cripple Creek, Colorado, “soiled doves” are shown socializing with visitors. The women were required to wear aprons over their short dresses, in case anyone took offense at the sight of their ankles.
In another group portrait taken inside a parlor house in Miles City, Montana, around 1905, women are pictured socializing with customers while wearing “Mother Hubbard” dresses — loose-fitting gowns designed to be worn without corsets. These dresses became the typical attire for women working in some establishments by the turn of the 20th century.
A district judge who visited Miles City in Montana in 1881 described it as a “lively little town of 1,000 inhabitants, but utterly demoralised and lawless. It is not safe to be out on the street at night. It has forty-two saloons, and there are, on an average, about a half-dozen fights every night.”
While prostitution in the Old West was often dangerous — with many women facing serious health risks from childbirth or illness — some approached the profession as a business and financial opportunity. In a striking photograph taken in the 1890s, two prostitutes in Alaska pose for the camera. The women who made the long and difficult journey to Alaska could often earn more, even if it took months to reach the remote region.
In another image, six “good time girls” or prostitutes are seen posing for a photograph in a brothel in Dawson City, Yukon, around 1900. During the Klondike Gold Rush (between 1896 and 1899), Yukon was a particularly harsh and isolated place, but the opportunity to earn higher wages attracted many.
Some prostitutes in the Old West eventually became wealthy, well-known, and respected figures by running their own brothel establishments. Mattie Silks of Denver, Colorado, became one of the most recognized madams of the time. In 1898, after opening a brothel in Alaska, she reportedly earned $38,000 in just three months — equivalent to about $1.5 million today.
“I went into the sporting life for business reasons and for no other,” Silks was later quoted as saying. “It was a way for a woman in those days to make money, and I made it.”
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