MOUNTAIN MADAMS

by Pam North

Respectable society has never been forgiving about women who strayed
from the accepted norm of behavior; little leeway from the rigid rules
was granted, and it was easy to fall from grace and become a "fast,"
"easy" or "fallen woman."  The many women of the West who lost their
reputations found few occupations open to them; they became dance hall
girls, prostitutes and madams (a few opted to become gamblers, robbers
or rustlers).

Even within their outcast status there was a hierarchy.  The lowest on
the ladder were those who worked the cribs, a string of tiny rooms
along a street, each unit typically just large enough to hold a bed, a
stove and a dresser with a wash basin.  These units rented for around
twenty-five dollars a week, and the girls using them sold themselves
for sums ranging from twenty-five cents to a dollar-fifty.  They could
also sell beer to their customers for extra money.  They either stood
outside their doors to solicit passing men, or if local ordinances
prohibited that practice, they stayed inside the cribs by the window,
allowing potential customers to view them through holes punched in the
curtains.  A Class A girl (one who could demand and receive a dollar-fifty)
usually weighed between 160 and 200 pounds.  

Encompassed within the next level were the dance hall, saloon and
theater girls.  These women did not necessarily sell their favors, so
they were judged slightly less harshly by society.  Dance hall girls
dressed nicely, sometimes in expensive costumes, and spent their time
with men at a dollar a dance; popular girls could earn enough from
tips and wages to avoid selling sex.  Saloon girls encouraged or
required customers to buy drinks (often watered-down), receiving a
commission on the number of drinks sold, and these women had the
option of selling their favors - or not - as well.  Theater girls
performed on stage, dancing and singing, and also pushing drinks to
add a commission to their wages.  They could sell themselves to
patrons who invited them up to the second-floor boxes.

The highest-ranking girls were those in the best houses of
prostitution.  The madam of any house had to be a good businesswoman,
keeping her girls and clients in line and avoiding being cheated.  A
variety of arrangements were worked out between madams and their
boarders.  The houses were open from noon to dawn, and usually had ten
to twenty girls working there.  The girls in the parlor houses
considered themselves a superior commodity, and refused to associate
with the women who worked in the cribs.

The term "red light district" originated with the red lamps carried by
railroad men and left outside the doors of the cribs while the men
were inside. 

Prostitution served a need in the early mining camps, cattle towns and
railroad hubs; women were scarce.  Until an area was settled with
families, women selling their sexual favors found a ready market for
what they offered, and could earn a steady income.  When respectable
women arrived, prostitution was viewed as an undesirable element to be
eliminated, and those in the profession were often forced to move on
to a more hospitable place..

Those in the trade met a variety of ends.  Lucky ones managed to marry
and even have families; others committed suicide; some were murdered
by a jealous man or a rival prostitute; others died from venereal
disease, drug abuse or the effects of a hard life.  While most women
engaged in prostitution lived and died anonymously, some achieved
enough recognition or notoriety to be remembered and achieve a place
in history.

Next week:  Some of the interesting and colorful madams and prostitutes
of frontier Colorado.