Boudoirs to Brothels: The Intimate World of Wild West Women

One of this reviewer’s favorite movies is “Tombstone” staring Kurt Russell and Dana Delany as part of an all-Star cast. The movie was about Wyatt Earp and his long-time love for actress, Josephine Marcus. This book will blast that image into oblivion. Ditto for Emily West Morgan, the “Yellow Rose of Texas, who probably never knew she was that legendary character. Etta Place, the common law wife of the Sundance Kid and friend of Butch Cassidy was, like most of the females about whom this book is written, is a former prostitute. It’s amazing how many of this country’s most enduring legends are just plain myths. It’s also fun to learn the truth about those legends. Michael Rutter’s book is the perfect place to discover the truth. It’s definitely a page-turner.

This is a short story book about the specific lives of the women who became everyone's bride. Women's job opportunities on the American frontier were few and far between. Acceptable occupations were: wife, laundress, cook, seamstress or dress maker - and prostitution. The last occupation paid considerably more than any of the other occupations. An Army laundress would probably be second as the Army paid these women straight out of the soldier's pay, gave her medical care and provided her food provisions as well as transportation. The position of wife was a gamble. Worthy read and, barring the occupation, an eye opener of the women brave enough to make at living on their own in a world dominated by men. Galveston in about 1850 had a ratio of 3 or 4 males to every female, Houston had 2000 men to a total population of 50 females.

I read and study this topic at length. This is a very good book. I have learned a few things and that is getting really hard to do. I usually tend to stick to the rocky mountain states, but this has stories from all over. I love these girls. They played such a large role in settling the west. Not all happy moments, but the courage and contribution they provided is awesome. Dig into Denver's rich and famous if you need positive stories. I would bet San Francisco's history has the same. Most of the sections on different girls are short. If you knew nothing about this part of history, I think you would have a pretty good idea of how these girls lived in the west at the end of this book. Most towns would have died without these girls for money support.

This was just plain fun for anyone who enjoys the Wild West. It covers the legends and explains what we know, and how at least some of the legend is possible. It's engagingly written and definitely serves up some laughs. It is a bit thin on the particulars, and the information, but some of that is because really, what we know is very, very small. I suspect it goes as deeply as anyone could to give us a look into the lives of prostitutes in the Old West.

Love reading about this side of the west

Interesting read

Great fun. Very interesting to see how these women helped mold these boom towns. The pictures help you understand what they were up against.

If you are interested in history of the woolly west, this is pretty intimate. Good read!

I bought this book out of curiosity. I was not disappointed.