Brothels, Bordellos, and Bad Girls: Prostitution in Colorado, 1860-1930 - Paperback

by Jan Mackell (Author)

Prostitution thrived in pioneer Colorado. Mining was the principal occupation and men outnumbered women more than twenty to one. Jan MacKell provides a detailed overview of the business between 1860 and 1930, focusing her research on the mining towns of Cripple Creek, Salida, Colorado City, and similar boomtown communities. She used census data, Sanborn maps, city directories, property records, marriage records, and court records to document and trace the movements of the women over the course of their careers, uncovering work histories, medical problems, and numerous relocations from town to town. She traces many to their graves, through years filled with abuse, disease, narcotics, and violence.

MacKell has unearthed numerous colorful and often touching stories, like that of the boy raised in a brothel who was invited to play with a neighbor's children and replied, "No, my mother is a whore and says I am to stay at home."

"Delicacy, humor, respect, and compassion are among the merits of this book. Although other authors have flirted with Colorado's commercial sex, Jan MacKell provides a detailed overview. She has been researching these elusive women for the last fifteen years. Such persistence allows her to offer rich detail on shady ladies who rarely used their real names or even stuck with the same professional name for long."--Thomas J. Noel, from the Introduction

Front Jacket

This look at prostitution in Colorado, 1860-1930, uncovers the lives and woes of "working girls" in mining towns such as Cripple Creek.

Back Jacket

This look at prostitution in Colorado, 1860-1930, uncovers the lives and woes of working girls in mining towns such as Cripple Creek.

Author Biography

Jan MacKell Collins is an avid historian of the American West who consults in the areas of historic preservation, genealogy, film, and writing. She is the author of Red Light Women of the Rocky Mountains and several other books and articles.