P a g e 3 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r ployed eight young ladies, a Chinese cook, and two Chinese servants. In 1908, madam Ruth Clifford hosted an elaborate dinner party for her twelve young ladies. One guest commented that the furnishings were so gaudy that “on clear nights they could be heard as far as Anaconda.” In 1910, a crusading Carrie Nation visited the establishment and lost her bonnet in a scuffle with madam May Maloy (see 7). During the 1950s and 1960s, the Windsor’s original furnishings were intact although shabby. The house was still operating in 1968 when madam Beverly Snodgrass reportedly refused to pay “protection money” and the house fell victim to arson. 3 Lou Harpell’s, later the Victoria, was said to have the most beautiful women in the world. Lou reputedly advertised on theater and racetrack programs. It was not unusual for a gentleman to spend a thousand dollars in an evening at Lou’s, the Dumas (see 5), or one of Butte’s other high class houses. Women who worked in establishments like these were expected to be beautifully coifed and expensively dressed at their own expense. Many were deeply in debt. Nearby businesses depended upon the patronage of sporting women and this is one reason the district never relocated to a less central location. 4 The Royal was one of the few red-light businesses not originally built for prostitution. Saloonkeeper Joseph Williams constructed it as a saloon and residence for himself circa 1900. But long before 1910, the building was rented as a brothel. While not as fancy as its neighbors, the Royal was still at the high-tomiddle end of the scale. The building stands today, but nothing remains to indicate its former use. Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz The Dumas 5 The Dumas Hotel was the first of Butte’s glamorous parlor houses to appear on Mercury Street in 1890. Built by Joseph and Arthur Nadeau, the same brothers who built the Copper Block, the house operated until 1982 when its last madam, Ruby Garrett, suffered a brutal robbery that led to its closure. The Dumas uniquely illustrates the hierarchy of prostitution in Butte from the highest to the lowest levels and is a rich archive of social history. A visit to the 1890s parlor house rooms and turn-of-the-twentieth century basement cribs (in use until 1943) is essential to understanding the longevity and scale of this significant business in both Butte and elsewhere across the West. 6 The turn-of-the-twentieth century Blue Range is the district’s only remaining example of street-facing cribs. Built by wealthy Anton Holter of Helena and soon owned by state senator Lee Mantle, the architecture peculiar to the profession is pristinely preserved. The door and window arrangement make it easy to imagine public women in various stages of immodesty beckoning to passersby and tapping on their windows with thimbles, rings, and chopsticks. Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz Blue Range
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