Historians/History

Keeping Prostitution History Under Wraps

by Jan MacKell

Jan MacKell, director of the Cripple Creek District Museum (Colorado), is the author of Red Light Women of the Rocky Mountains (University of New Mexico Press, 2009).

It has never been easier to view hypocrisy in government than when dealing with the delicate and shameful subject of prostitution. The long and short of it is this: men migrating to America came here mostly sans their women. Soiled doves coming from Europe, and later eastern America as the Wild West was settled, were quick to catch on to the fact that a man might pay for their company. As towns were established and life became more civilized, wives, sisters and daughters appeared on the scene. As their population increased, said women objected to the presence of prostitutes. Forming such groups as the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and other leagues, women protested to city councils and newspapers. Accordingly, city officials promised to put a stop to this most disgusting of illicit activities.

But there was a catch: cities and counties which outlawed prostitution initially treated violations as they would any other crime. Perpetrators were arrested, fined and jailed. The trouble was, some city officials enjoyed the benefits of the skin trade as many other men would. They also learned, quickly, that fines and fees associated with the industry could fill city coffers on a regular basis. Furthermore, a number of police officials enjoyed the side benefits of “hush” money from the girls with the promise their establishments wouldn’t be raided as often. On the legal side, simply fining women of the evening on a weekly or monthly basis accomplished two tasks. The prostitution industry could remain intact for those who used it for political and social gain (not to mentioned entertainment), while the monetary punishment meted out continued to boost the economy of any given city, town or camp.

Most brothel policies followed those of other exclusive men’s lodges: what went on in a house of ill-repute stayed in the house of ill-repute. Thus politicians, city officials and other important men could feel free to discuss business and make important decisions during a relaxing evening of playing cards, drinking and purchasing sex. The most discreet of madams would never reveal who their customers were, and men attending brothel soirees knew better than to admit they were ever at such events. There is little doubt that madams and their employees were privy to and even took part in the conversations among their customers, some of whom became friends, confidants, lovers and husbands. Some of the more diligent businesswomen—and a good many prostitutes were just that—used their knowledge to influence politics within their cities.

In essence, a good number of cities were built and maintained with the assistance of money and opinions from none other than the very harlots their "solid" citizens despised. Even today, this interesting and important aspect of American history is unlikely to end up in history books. Furthermore, women in the industry were generally treated as the scourge of the earth even as they paid their monthly fines and fees (in Silverton, Colorado, taxes were said to be considerably lower, directly due to money from the red light district which enhanced the city budget). Just imagine the frustration of a working girl, knowing what official business was at hand and that the men who revealed such privileged information wouldn’t even acknowledge such women if they saw one another in the street.

Women of the night were also accustomed to contributing regularly to churches, schools, the homeless, children and anyone else in need. Madam Millie of Silver City, New Mexico once offered her three bordellos to a group of orphans. Laura Evens of Salida, Colorado was said to have acted as her own office of social services long before there was such a thing. Dora Topham of Salt Lake City claimed to be the greatest reformer in the world, making every attempt to talk girls out of the profession before deciding whether to hire them. These women and countless others performed good deeds sometimes of their own volition, sometimes by unwritten law. Either way, their benevolent acts largely went unrecognized. They were also often ostracized from the same public places they helped build.

More alarming is the number of upstanding citizens, mostly male but sometimes female, who invested in red light properties with little thought about the types of lives their tenants were leading. In Butte, Montana, brothel owners included bankers and real estate men. Surely such investors read the daily newspapers, which enjoyed poking fun at prostitutes and blaming them for becoming victims of domestic violence, drug and alcohol overdoses. Even suicides were not exempt from attempts at morbid humor. When the houses of prostitution became rank with filth and vice, the madams and their girls were held accountable—but not their landlords or the customers who frequented such places. In fact, men were seldom named at all in any report about a fracas or arrest within a house of prostitution.

Madam Dora Topham made the poignant statement over one hundred years ago that prostitution is here to stay. Indeed, the industry has never quite gone away. But it has evolved from regulated houses in a segregated district to call girl services and houses of vice scattered through sections of larger cities across America. The prostitutes of today are largely unregulated, are generally not required to take health exams, and are even more susceptible to rape and violence than they were a century ago. In a day when promiscuous and pre-marital sex is a social norm, they are also largely ignored by authorities.

Which brings to question whether prostitution should be legalized, or at least more regulated. After all, Dora’s statement is absolutely correct: as long as there are two consenting adults and one of them is willing to pay for sex, prostitution will continue. Yet the answer to the question of legalization has been continuously pondered ever since the world’s oldest profession first came into being. It also leads to a sub-question: If simply regulated under the old way of doing things, wherein prostitutes remain “legal” a month at a time while paying a “fine” for operating an illegal business, will local governments be less corrupt? Probably not.

A better solution might be to conduct in-depth studies of the legal bordellos of Nevada. In both Salida, Colorado and Wallace, Idaho, an upswing in sex crimes immediately followed the closure of the prostitution houses in those places. How does the ratio of sex crimes across America compare to that of Nevada? What about sexually transmitted diseases, domestic violence and drugs? What are the opinions and thoughts of sex workers both current and retired? What does Nevada make off its regulation of the industry? The pros and cons of legalizing prostitution will remain a true enigma until America in general turns from fighting this lost cause to figuring out how to improve it for the safety and benefit of all.