Working Girls of Cripple Creek

Cripple Creek's first prostitute, or
"prospector" as she liked to be called, was Blanche Barton. She arrived on the stage from Colorado City in 1891. At the urging of Cripple Creek discoverer Bob Womack, Blanche set up her striped tent in Poverty Gulch, just down the hill from his cabin. Although Cripple Creek had not yet blossomed into a large metropolis, Blanche had ample business opportunities.

Among Blanche's best customers was an Irish prospector named Tim Hussey. Energetic, but always a little short of cash, Hussey had been giving Blanche one-eighth interests in mining claims as payment for her charms. One day, Blanche took her IOUs to Bob Womack and asked him to decipher them. Bob explained that she now owned 27 one-eighth interests -- all in the same claim.

An early Cripple Creek street scene after the boom was underway.

Over time, the large, blonde Blanche became one of Cripple Creek's most successful entrepreneurs. However, by early 1893, she had some serious competition. In any mining camp, female companionship was highly prized. As word spread of the riches to be found in Cripple Creek, more and more ladies came to live and work there. Things escalated to the point where men could not walk down the streets, shop in the stores or do business in town without being propositioned.

This fierce competition among the girls led City Marshall Hi Wilson to move all the girls and dance halls down to Myers Avenue. Wilson promised the girls they would be free from harassment there, so long as they paid their head tax, went to church on Sunday and behaved themselves in public.

Cripple Creek wives had little wish to do their daily shopping in the presence of prostitutes; therefore, the town prostitutes were permitted to do their personal shopping on only one morning per week. During that time the wives would stay inside their homes and away from the shops and stores. Since prostitutes were required to register with authorities, they could be arrested and fined if they were discovered shopping at any other time.

Blanche Barton and her peers began what would become a string of parlor houses, brothels and cribs. The names of such establishments had a certain ring to them -- The Bon Ton, The Library, Sunnyrest, The Mikado, to name just a few. However, the Old Homestead became the most famous as well as the most expensive.

PARLOR HOUSES, SALOONS AND CRIBS

A parlor house was the most expensive and sophisticated of these establishments. A man could expect a good meal, liquor and entertainment as well as the company of a pretty girl for the night. Parlor houses were often decorated with fine carpets, elegant wallpaper, mirrors; in short, great finery for a boom town like Cripple Creek. The parlor houses usually catered to the wealthy and elite; few others could afford them.

If a prospective client could not afford a visit to a parlor house, then he could simply step over to one of the less expensive places. Many saloons, such as Crapper Jack's, served as both saloon and brothel. Girls employed as hurdy-gurdy girls would often also work upstairs as prostitutes.

The cheapest of the girls worked in the cribs where prices often began as low as 25 cents. A "crib" was a two-room shack with one of the rooms serving as a bedroom. The girl, who generally worked for herself, might try to brighten her home up a bit, but cribs were dismal places. Crib girls were often older prostitutes (and these women could be considered "old" at 25 or 30) whose looks had faded, making them less than desirable to the parlor-house trade.

In the early days, the girls kept their names on their cribs so visitors would know where to find them. The crib girl usually kept a piece of oil cloth at the foot of her bed -- customers were not expected to remove anything but their hats and the girl did not want a bedspread dirtied by muddy shoes and boots. Paydays were always busy days for the crib girl and it was important to have as high a volume of business as possible.

PEARL DEVERE AND THE OLD HOMESTEAD

Pearl DeVere, the lovely madam of the Old Homestead, Cripple Creek's most famous parlor house, came to Cripple Creek in 1893. She was 31, red-haired and beautiful. She first opened a small establishment on Myers Avenue and quickly became successful.

Not a great deal is known about Pearl's background, but it is believed she was raised and educated near Evansville, Indiana, and later made her way to Denver. Her family, decent people and unaware of Pearl's true vocation, believed she was a dress designer to the wives of the area rich.

The Old Homestead on Meyers Avenue is now operating as a tourist attraction.

Pearl enjoyed great popularity among Cripple Creek's wealthy and for a time was wealthy herself. Apparently even a madam can find true love, and in 1895 she married C. B. Flynn, the owner of a small mill. When the April 1896 fires struck the town, both Flynn's mill and Pearl's business were destroyed, along with much of Cripple Creek's business district. Flynn was bankrupt and in order to get back on his feet financially, he took a job smelting iron and steel in Monterrey, Mexico. Pearl remained in Cripple Creek, intent on building what would become the Old Homestead.

The luxurious and well appointed front parlor of the Old Homestead.

The new building was opulent, and when it opened later in 1896 it was an instant hit with the wealthy males of the community. The 2-story brick building featured a parlor, a telephone, green leather-topped tables in the gaming room, expensive carpets, and extremely expensive wallpaper ($134 a roll) from Paris, which was accompanied by a European wallpaperer.

The Old Homestead also sported electricity, running water, two bathtubs, and all of the elegant amenities the wealthy of that time hoped to see in their own homes. It also had something most homes did not feature -- Pearl employed four lovely girls at a time to work her facility.

Pearl was particular about the girls she hired; they had to be beautiful. This was during a time when the ideal Victorian beauty was a bit plumper than today's ideal. The American stage actress Lillian Russell was all the rage, and she was 5'6", blonde, blue-eyed, and at times weighed close to 200 pounds. While corsets helped to keep a beauty's waist svelte, the ideal beauty was plump and fleshy.

Each girl had her own room, complete with handsome bed, dresser, fancy changing screen, and trunk. Trunks were important as girls kept their money and mementos of a past home life in them; trunks were extremely private. Nearly all girls -- as well as madams -- used bogus names while working as prostitutes to keep their real identities secret. Therefore, there were many Marys, Roses, Dasies and Sadies residing in houses of ill repute. And while there have been incidents of relatives sharing great surprises in bordellos, many young women were able to keep their occupations a secret from the folks back home.

While Pearl's house was undoubtedly the fanciest in the district, it also offered one more unique feature -- the Viewing Room. If a gentleman could not decide upon a lady for the evening, he could ask the girls to help him make up his mind by entering the Viewing Room. This small room -- entered by a door on the second floor -- featured a window, which looked out onto the second-floor hall. Once inside, the lady would divest herself of all her clothing, thus helping the gentleman decide if he actually wanted her company for the night. If the man was content with his choice, the pair would walk the few feet to the lady's second story bedroom.

Not only was the Old Homestead the most elegant and up-to-date parlor house, at $250 a night it was also the most expensive. This was during the time when $3 a day was considered a good wage for a miner. As a result, only the wealthy could afford Pearl's, and they generally made reservations well in advance. Any new gentleman needed a letter of recommendation and wealthy men often ran up a tab at Pearl's.

Pearl served some of the finest food and drink in town. A large part of her budget was spent at the local markets and liquor stores. She often kept a musician on hand for entertainment purposes and gambling tables were kept in the gaming room. A gentleman could enjoy himself immensely before ever going upstairs. Some clients would visit a girl for only a short time, while others would spend the night. Many wealthy and powerful men wished to remain anonymous while at Pearl's, with the result that girls would sometimes have little idea whom their companions for the evening were.

Pearl became legendary in a town used to legends. Her expensive tastes, her clientele, her food and wine, her clothes all were noticed and celebrated. In June 1897, Pearl threw another extravagant party, one in which she appeared wearing her new gown. The gown, made of shell pink chiffon, seed pearls, and sequins, was from Paris and had cost $800, a small fortune for most people of those times. It was also the last garment Pearl would ever wear.

During the party Pearl went upstairs and, feeling nervous, took some morphine to help her sleep. This was a common practice in those times. She asked one of her girls to stay with her while she slept. The girl fell asleep herself, waking late the next morning. Noticing Pearl's labored breaking, she immediately send for a doctor, but it was too late. Pearl had taken too much of the morphine and died that afternoon.

Most Cripple Creek newspapers accepted the coroner's verdict that Pearl had died by accidental overdose, but at least one newspaper insinuated Pearl had committed suicide. There was no indication she was even considering such a thing, and most authorities considered her death an unfortunate accident.

Pearl's relatives were notified of her death and a sister made the long train journey from Indiana to bring Pearl's body home for burial. The sister had believed for years her dead sister was a dressmaker, making her living honestly. She was horrified to learn Pearl's true vocation. Leaving the body behind, she hurried from the mortuary and headed home to Indiana, leaving Pearl where she lay.

Mabel Barbee Lee, author of Cripple Creek Days, describes sneaking into Farley Bros. and Lampman Mortuary to view Pearl one last time. She was only a young girl and had been fascinated by the lovely, well-dressed madam whose name Mabel's mother would not let her mention in the house. Lee mentions that, in an attempt to return Pearl's hair to its original color, the undertaker had unfortunately turned it to an unusual shade of pink. However, Mabel thought Pearl looked quite lovely lying there in her lavender casket.

After Pearl's abandonment by her sister, it was found that instead of being a wealthy madam, Pearl's estate did not even contain enough money to bury her properly. The people of Cripple Creek, incensed over the treatment dealt her by her sister, proposed to auction off her beautiful French gown. Before this could be done, an anonymous Denver-postmarked letter arrived at Farley Bros. and Lampman. The letter contained $1,000 for a proper burial as well as stipulations that Pearl be buried wearing the lovely pink gown.

Pearl was finally laid to rest in Mt. Pisgah Cemetery. She was accompanied by the Elks Band, plenty of mourners, buggies containing girls from "The Row", and four mounted policemen. Her grave was marked with a wooden marker and forgotten. Many years later her grave was rediscovered and Wilhelm Monument Company donated a white marble heart-shaped marker which now rests atop her grave.

The Old Homestead operated until 1917. It served as a boarding house and as a private residence. Today it is a museum, the only house of the row to survive. It has been restored and may be seen, along with many pieces of original furniture, during summer tours at Cripple Creek.