The Bordello, a painting by Lee Durbin
First came the miners to work in the mine,
Next came the ladies who lived on the line.
— Old Western Mining Adage
Diamond Lil Davenport – Madam of Skagway, Alaska
Eleanore Dumont – Madame Mustache
Madame Dora Dufran – The Black Hills’ Leading Madame
Josephine “Chicago Joe” Hensley – Queen of Helena, Montana
Mollie Johnson – Queen of the Deadwood Blondes
Fannie Porter – San Antonio’s Famous Madame
Pearl de Vere – Soiled Dove of Cripple Creek
Texas Madame Squirrel Tooth Alice
Saloon Lady.
Though all manner of brothels, cat houses, and cribs thrived throughout the American West, those “parlor houses” that were elegantly furnished and had the most beautiful and desirable women were the most profitable. A female owner ran these better establishments called a “madame.” This was usually an older woman who had “paid her dues” by practicing the same profession as those she employed. Many of these women became legends of the Old West for the popularity of their “houses,” the people they encountered, or the events in their lives.
Running a parlor house or brothel was often a very profitable business, and the most successful madames were extremely adept businesswomen who amassed not only wealth but also real estate, fine horses, and other material goods.
First-class places set a good table and prided themselves on their cellars, offering choice cigars, bonded bourbon, and the finest liquors and wines. Customers could enjoy champagne suppers and sing with the girls around the piano. In high-class parlor houses, women could be seen only by appointment.
The girls’ rooms were always on the second floor if there was one. Parlor houses usually average six to 12 girls, plus the madame, who entertained only those customers she personally selected. Some of the more famous madames charged as much as $1,000 for their services, including Cripple Creek, Colorado’s Pearl de Vere.
Madames provided several services to the women who worked for them, primarily protection, often employing “bouncers” who would rid the house of any “riff-raff.” Sometimes room and board were also provided, though at other times the soiled doves paid rent. The madame would then take a split of the money earned by the “girls,” an amount that varied from house to house, and the “services” provided by the madame.
Much of the profit in parlor houses and brothels came from drinks served. Prices of these drinks were raised considerably. Sometimes the madame kept all the money from alcohol sales; other times, she gave the girls a small commission to encourage them to ply the customer with high-priced drinks.
The most successful landladies maintained, at least on the ground floor, a strict air of respectability and a charming home life. They also insisted that their girls wore corsets downstairs and forbade “rough stuff.”
Though society did not accept the parlor house business, the madames paid their share of revenue to the community in taxes and fines to corrupt police officials. They were also expected to contribute to charity.
But, for the prosperous madames of the Old West era, times would change at the turn of the century when moral reform began to run out the madames, soiled doves, fancy parlor houses, and lowly cribs — at least as they had existed in such a “public way.”
Some of the more “famous” women who left their mark via their illustrious professions were Squirrel Toothed Alice, Dora Dufran, Eleanore “Madame Mustache” Dumont, “Chicago Joe” Hensley, and dozens of others.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated March 2026.
Also See:
Painted Ladies of the Old West
Painted Ladies of Deadwood Gulch
See Sources.