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Soiled Doves: Prostitution in the Early West
Soiled Doves tells of the grey world of prostitution and the women who participated in the oldest profession. Colorful, if not socially acceptable, these ladies of easy virtue were a definite part of the early West – Wearing ruffled petticoats with fancy bows, they were glamorous and plain, good and bad and many were as wild as the land they came to tame.
Women like "Molly b' Dam", Mattie Silks, and "Chicago Joe" blended into the fabric of the American Frontier with an easy familiarity. Others, such as "Sorrel Mike", escaped through suicide, Lottie Johl chose marriage and the Chinese slave girls lived a life without hope.
Illustrated with rare photos, this strong book provides a touching insight into the lives of the ladies of the night.
173 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 197 reviews
January 23, 2012
Picked this up to learn more about prostitution in the Old West. Despite the plethora of commas, I found the text engaging and easy to read. The pictures throughout the book really brought the stories of these women to life.
One thing I thought quite telling was the author's obvious admiration for these women and their spunk. Often I felt they were defended a bit too much, their profession downplayed to make the "sinfulness" of it less an issue than the women themselves. I liked this non-judgmental approach because it really let the women themselves shine through, instead of concentrating on their vices or the aspects of their lives that led them to a life between the sheets.
I enjoyed this book a lot and would recommend it for readers interested in learning more about particular women who dominated the Old West. Though they were prostitutes, their profession was addressed in high-level terms that could easily be processed by a younger reader.
One thing I thought quite telling was the author's obvious admiration for these women and their spunk. Often I felt they were defended a bit too much, their profession downplayed to make the "sinfulness" of it less an issue than the women themselves. I liked this non-judgmental approach because it really let the women themselves shine through, instead of concentrating on their vices or the aspects of their lives that led them to a life between the sheets.
I enjoyed this book a lot and would recommend it for readers interested in learning more about particular women who dominated the Old West. Though they were prostitutes, their profession was addressed in high-level terms that could easily be processed by a younger reader.
January 23, 2012
I read this book some years ago and have an autographed copy on my shelf. I picked it up when I lived in Montana, along with several other, similar, books about women in the west, including "High-Spirited Women of the West," also by Anne Seagraves. Both books were published by Wesanne Publications. I found this book to be interesting, loved the old photographs. It's been a keeper on my research shelf.
Rather than dry, scholarly recitation, I thought each of the stories surrounding specific women felt personal and the writing captured the essence of the hard times for women of this era, especially in the west.
I've had the occasion to visit Virginia City, where Julia Bulette lived and died--or rather was murdered. Have also had the occasion to visit the site of what is now a ghost town in Montana, a mining town by the name of Gilt Edge, in the mountains outside of Lewistown. The remains of two buildings still stood at the time I visited - the jail and the house of ill repute. It's said the rather infamous Calamity Jane once stayed in Gilt Edge. Both these women are portrayed in "Soiled Doves." History always means just that little bit more, I think, when one has an opportunity to visit a place where these people walked.
This book is a good overview of the times and conditions under which these women had to survive and it is written in an engaging and informative manner.
Rather than dry, scholarly recitation, I thought each of the stories surrounding specific women felt personal and the writing captured the essence of the hard times for women of this era, especially in the west.
I've had the occasion to visit Virginia City, where Julia Bulette lived and died--or rather was murdered. Have also had the occasion to visit the site of what is now a ghost town in Montana, a mining town by the name of Gilt Edge, in the mountains outside of Lewistown. The remains of two buildings still stood at the time I visited - the jail and the house of ill repute. It's said the rather infamous Calamity Jane once stayed in Gilt Edge. Both these women are portrayed in "Soiled Doves." History always means just that little bit more, I think, when one has an opportunity to visit a place where these people walked.
This book is a good overview of the times and conditions under which these women had to survive and it is written in an engaging and informative manner.
May 9, 2007
To be frank, Soiled Doves is not the best written book I've ever read...But it's fascinating!
To read Soiled Doves is to step back in time to the Old West...Some prostitutes were content in their profession, some hated it, some were forced into prostitution and others happily chose thier lifestyle. Others chose the life of a madam and made plenty of money off their "sisters".
The subject matter is jarring but at times humorous...some of these ladies REALLY loved their work. If Seagraves were a better writer, with a better editor, it would be a much better book...But it's short, it's interesting, and like an accident, hard to stop looking at.
To read Soiled Doves is to step back in time to the Old West...Some prostitutes were content in their profession, some hated it, some were forced into prostitution and others happily chose thier lifestyle. Others chose the life of a madam and made plenty of money off their "sisters".
The subject matter is jarring but at times humorous...some of these ladies REALLY loved their work. If Seagraves were a better writer, with a better editor, it would be a much better book...But it's short, it's interesting, and like an accident, hard to stop looking at.
April 22, 2014
I read this, then scanned the reviews by other readers. I am in agreement with several; the writing is somewhat amateur, but the content does include well-researched facts and historical information. There is humor, as well as an effort to be non-judgemental. There is also a chapter on the abuse of Oriental women, and a focus on those who worked to free them from a literal slave-like exsitence.
If you have any interest in this time period and issues around this topic, this book is a quick read and has good information.
If you have any interest in this time period and issues around this topic, this book is a quick read and has good information.
January 26, 2011
wow. what can i say? i was so excited to read a book on the subject of prostitution in the west. after the second paragraph, i couldn't escape the fact that i felt like i was reading a book written by a 3rd grader on the subject. beyond the many many items that perturbed me about this book was the fact that the title was never contextualized. 'soiled doves'... i get it...but was that a common term? does the author really need to refer to her subjects as "soiled doves" in one breath and then women of ill repute in another? ugh. really, i'm just asking for some research, some context. well, here - here is a line that may just give one a sample of the rather offensive assumptions made in this book: "Although Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves in 1863, an even more corrupt form of slavery continued to exist in America for another 47 years ---- White Slavery"
she even capitalized it! even more corrupt - huh?
needless to say, i kept plugging through, amused at the naive language and the over-used exclamation marks. there must be better books out there on the subject. help?
she even capitalized it! even more corrupt - huh?
needless to say, i kept plugging through, amused at the naive language and the over-used exclamation marks. there must be better books out there on the subject. help?
July 9, 2008
This book was very disappointing. The premise could have been a very good story, but the author is a very poor writer. Sadly, this is not her first book. The sentence structure was bad. The subjects were jumpy and the transitions poor. In several cases the author used a quote to support one idea, and then later used the same or a very similar quote to support the very opposite idea. I could not even determine the thesis of this book.
August 21, 2015
This is really more of a 3.5 star read, but the author isn't the greatest writer - very basic prose - so leaving it at 3 rather than 4. I did actually enjoy the book and I liked the fact that the author didn't look down her nose at the women she wrote about. I've never seen a reason to treat prostitutes the way some people do. If you've no education and no skills, you work with what you have of value to make a living. End of story as far as I'm concerned. Anyway, off my soapbox. Some of the stories were sad, others somewhat humorous and I particularly enjoyed the chapter that dealt with famous madams in Denver. I read about many people whose names I'm familiar with, Mattie Silks who was THE madam in Denver, as well as women from other parts of the West like Molly b'Dam. If you find this subject as interesting as I do, this book is definitely worth a read and it goes fast, too. Recommend!
October 24, 2019
Think of as many different words and ways you can express the term "prostitute" and I bet you ain't seen nothin' like the scope of synonyms and approximations Anne Seagraves peppers throughout this book. The writing is just okay and full of guesswork, but the subject matter to pretty much speaks for itself, obscure as it is, via photographs and various ephemera. I picked up my copy in Little America, Wyoming on a cross-country drive, and it provided easy, good company from there to East St. Louis, as expected.
October 20, 2018
No idea why I read this, but now I’m an expert in western frontier prostitution. The chapter on Chinese child sex slavery was the most upsetting horrible thing I’ve read in a while.
March 27, 2025
I read this in one sitting and it was basically a bunch of short entertaining stories. Also, imagine living in Northern Idaho in the 80s and 90s and your life's work is researching and writing about prostitution.
Her writing is accessible and does a good job of balancing women's agency with all the other potential factors that brought them to their circumstances.
Her writing is accessible and does a good job of balancing women's agency with all the other potential factors that brought them to their circumstances.
September 1, 2024
This was another of the random books on the shelf at the Mountain View, Arkansas cabin we escaped to for Thanksgiving this year. I’d already set aside my current book, “Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back)” to read Michael Lewis’s “The Big Short,” and was intrigued enough by the title of this small volume to again put Jeff Tweedy’s new autobiography on the back burner.
I don’t know anything about Anne Seagraves, and the book’s jacket offers only that she lives in northern Idaho, that she’s working on her seventh book, and has previously authored, among others, “High-Spirited Women of the West,” “Women Who Charmed the West,” and “Women of the Sierra” going back to the mid-eighties. There is also a black-and-white photo of her, and she appears to be a grandmotherly woman. The book’s publisher, Wesanne Publications, is also located in Idaho, and because there is no cell service or internet at our cabin (precisely the point) I can’t know for certain, but I suspect these books are self-published.
That “Soiled Doves” is probably self-published is a pretty solid clue as to the quality to be expected within its pages. Seagraves isn’t a great writer, and the book would have benefited both from an editor, who could have helped shape what’s here into something more compelling, and a copyeditor, who would have made what is here more readable. What works in the book’s favor is its length (only 165 pages), ample photographs of the characters and places involved (many rare), and, of course, the subject matter itself, about which I knew little to nothing. The women — referred to throughout as fair but frail girls, ladies of easy virtue, ladies of the evening, ladies of the night, painted ladies, prostitutes, but, above all, soiled doves — are, of course, the heart of this book.
Covering the gamut, from high-profile madams and their lavish parlor houses to end-of-the-line hog ranches and, saddest of all, the Chinese slave girls, Seagraves tells their stories with a minimum of flourish, a welcome bent of affection, and nary a whiff of judgement. Think of “Soiled Doves” less a definitive text on its subject and as more an eager telling of an interesting story — the free taste the dealer gives you so you’ll come back hooked for more. And maybe that was Seagraves’ intent all along, to give readers just enough to wet their whistle. It worked for me, and will, no doubt, work for you, too.
I don’t know anything about Anne Seagraves, and the book’s jacket offers only that she lives in northern Idaho, that she’s working on her seventh book, and has previously authored, among others, “High-Spirited Women of the West,” “Women Who Charmed the West,” and “Women of the Sierra” going back to the mid-eighties. There is also a black-and-white photo of her, and she appears to be a grandmotherly woman. The book’s publisher, Wesanne Publications, is also located in Idaho, and because there is no cell service or internet at our cabin (precisely the point) I can’t know for certain, but I suspect these books are self-published.
That “Soiled Doves” is probably self-published is a pretty solid clue as to the quality to be expected within its pages. Seagraves isn’t a great writer, and the book would have benefited both from an editor, who could have helped shape what’s here into something more compelling, and a copyeditor, who would have made what is here more readable. What works in the book’s favor is its length (only 165 pages), ample photographs of the characters and places involved (many rare), and, of course, the subject matter itself, about which I knew little to nothing. The women — referred to throughout as fair but frail girls, ladies of easy virtue, ladies of the evening, ladies of the night, painted ladies, prostitutes, but, above all, soiled doves — are, of course, the heart of this book.
Covering the gamut, from high-profile madams and their lavish parlor houses to end-of-the-line hog ranches and, saddest of all, the Chinese slave girls, Seagraves tells their stories with a minimum of flourish, a welcome bent of affection, and nary a whiff of judgement. Think of “Soiled Doves” less a definitive text on its subject and as more an eager telling of an interesting story — the free taste the dealer gives you so you’ll come back hooked for more. And maybe that was Seagraves’ intent all along, to give readers just enough to wet their whistle. It worked for me, and will, no doubt, work for you, too.
October 9, 2016
This was pretty fun and had the tone of your grandma telling you stories, which is awesome but maybe not if you're, like, writing a grad paper on prostitution during the gold rush.
There's definitely a bit too much romanticizing going on. I can't imagine how utterly gross and degrading and disgusting it would be to live in a tent next to a remote mine in the middle of fucking nowhere and having some gross, dirty dude covered in soot pay you for sex. Ugh. Nightmare. Unfortunately (or, I guess, fortunately depending on your perspective) the author kind of flits over any admission of how awful certain aspects of prostitution HAD to be, and how violating, in this era. Instead it's sort of like, "Poor dears!" As I said, academic it is not. There's also a lot of desperation in the euphemisms used for sex workers: "soiled doves" is the main one, but I could write a separate book for the semi-cutesy things she calls her subjects.
I did find the stories/legends of specific hookers to be good. I didn't realize how little I knew about Calamity Jane, and though I took everything in this book with a massive spoonful of salt, it was fun to read about. I also had never heard of Donaldina Cameron, a champion for sex slaves in San Francisco, and I definitely looked her up after reading for more info. At first that section seemed tacked on, as it didn't fit the "boozy, slutty, dangerous west!" Narrative, but I was glad it was there. (Seagraves' tone is also much more serious in that section, and thank goodness, because the switch from supposedly-free prostitution - no matter how free they actually were - and actual sexual kidnapping and slavery warranted it.)
I have to say, I enjoyed this read more than I thought I would when I started it, and while the tone made me wince at times, there are glimmers of fascinating information (like the setup of whorehouses in mining towns, and how madams would basically pay for a bunch of shit for the town in order to stay/not be harassed -- which I suspect is where the "hooker with a heart of gold" trope came from) and I would totally encourage a read.
There's definitely a bit too much romanticizing going on. I can't imagine how utterly gross and degrading and disgusting it would be to live in a tent next to a remote mine in the middle of fucking nowhere and having some gross, dirty dude covered in soot pay you for sex. Ugh. Nightmare. Unfortunately (or, I guess, fortunately depending on your perspective) the author kind of flits over any admission of how awful certain aspects of prostitution HAD to be, and how violating, in this era. Instead it's sort of like, "Poor dears!" As I said, academic it is not. There's also a lot of desperation in the euphemisms used for sex workers: "soiled doves" is the main one, but I could write a separate book for the semi-cutesy things she calls her subjects.
I did find the stories/legends of specific hookers to be good. I didn't realize how little I knew about Calamity Jane, and though I took everything in this book with a massive spoonful of salt, it was fun to read about. I also had never heard of Donaldina Cameron, a champion for sex slaves in San Francisco, and I definitely looked her up after reading for more info. At first that section seemed tacked on, as it didn't fit the "boozy, slutty, dangerous west!" Narrative, but I was glad it was there. (Seagraves' tone is also much more serious in that section, and thank goodness, because the switch from supposedly-free prostitution - no matter how free they actually were - and actual sexual kidnapping and slavery warranted it.)
I have to say, I enjoyed this read more than I thought I would when I started it, and while the tone made me wince at times, there are glimmers of fascinating information (like the setup of whorehouses in mining towns, and how madams would basically pay for a bunch of shit for the town in order to stay/not be harassed -- which I suspect is where the "hooker with a heart of gold" trope came from) and I would totally encourage a read.
April 22, 2011
This was pretty good. It had a lot of photos of the prostitutes and other photos of the time. I was drawn to this book because I find it interesting how overlooked prostitution is when considering the development of the West, or in civilizations in general. The book tells different life stories of various soiled doves, but keeps them short and to the point where you don't lose interest. I did learn about why hippies are called hippies and why virtuous women of the time didn't own poodles!
March 8, 2019
Thought it would be better than it was. Very interesting and sad how so many of the women were forced into that lifestyle back in those days with no fault of their own and the way they were treated. I learned a lot.
September 17, 2024
2.5 rating
An odd duck of a book - this is more vignettes of various women of the night, rather a history of prostitution. The tag line was kind of misleading - it does have a limited overview of sex work, but it swerves between a number of uncredited, very high level statements and specific profiles.
I did enjoy the profile and pictures included in the book. I am not sure how accurate any of this information but it was interesting to read.
The writing was pretty poor but easy enough read, so giving it a slightly above average. Not sure I would recommend this; but since I haven’t seen a lot of these women get any profiles in the history of the West perhaps check this out.
An odd duck of a book - this is more vignettes of various women of the night, rather a history of prostitution. The tag line was kind of misleading - it does have a limited overview of sex work, but it swerves between a number of uncredited, very high level statements and specific profiles.
I did enjoy the profile and pictures included in the book. I am not sure how accurate any of this information but it was interesting to read.
The writing was pretty poor but easy enough read, so giving it a slightly above average. Not sure I would recommend this; but since I haven’t seen a lot of these women get any profiles in the history of the West perhaps check this out.
January 14, 2024
Strong 3! I care about women, underdogs, history, and silly turns of phrase, so this was a great read for me. It’s more storytelling than reference book, and i read with a grain of salt bc the author does have clear opinions seep through + it is Very Clearly written in the 80s/90s.?But she also clearly cares about the content and did her research. <3
July 26, 2017
I am a big fan of westerns. I love the old ones--anything with Clint Eastwood on a horse will probably make me happy--and I like the newer ones, like Tombstone and the Coen brothers' excellent remake of True Grit. I am especially fond of HBO's (entirely too short-lived) TV show Deadwood. If you haven't seen it, I'd suggest you run out and get seasons one and two immediately (season three is...not as good.) The show is graphic (it's HBO, there are going to be boobs), the language is EXTREMELY salty, and some characters require the use of subtitles to get anything out of their dialogue. However, the acting is top-notch, the plots and dialogue are nearly Shakespearean, and Al Swearengen is about the coolest character to ever grace my television.
I told you that story to tell you this one:
Several of the characters on Deadwood are prostitutes. During the first season, pretty much the only women in the fledgling city are the hookers that were brought in to make money off the miners. The actresses who play them were great at their jobs, and they made me wonder about the lives of the real women who made their living on the wild frontier. Hence, this book.
Soiled Doves is not a bad book. It is filled with interesting anecdotes about famous prostitutes and madams of the time. However, I feel like the author glossed over some of the reality of their situations. While she does point out that many of the women who ended up as wild west hookers did so out of desperation, she tends to focus more on the ones who were successful. I realize that that makes for a more entertaining and enjoyable book, but sometimes I felt like the message was "Here's some adorable stories about prostitutes!" The writing is a bit repetitious, and could have used a more strict editor.
The other problem I have is that while I am sure the author did extensive research, I wonder how accurate many of these stories are. They seem very tall-tale-ish to me, just as the stories of Wild Bill Hickok or Wyatt Earp have become more palatable over time (for example, Kurt Russell's portrayal aside, Wyatt Earp was in reality kind of a scumbag con-artist -- still an interesting guy, but not the folk-hero he's made out to be). The danger of a book like this is while Seagraves does point out the downside of prostitution in the era, she also does a certain amount of romanticizing. I wonder if she would find the habits of modern prostitutes as quirky and their drive to survive in difficult situations as "courageous".
This is not a bad book to start with if one is interested in the subject, but I think I may have to dig a little deeper to get any real information.
I told you that story to tell you this one:
Several of the characters on Deadwood are prostitutes. During the first season, pretty much the only women in the fledgling city are the hookers that were brought in to make money off the miners. The actresses who play them were great at their jobs, and they made me wonder about the lives of the real women who made their living on the wild frontier. Hence, this book.
Soiled Doves is not a bad book. It is filled with interesting anecdotes about famous prostitutes and madams of the time. However, I feel like the author glossed over some of the reality of their situations. While she does point out that many of the women who ended up as wild west hookers did so out of desperation, she tends to focus more on the ones who were successful. I realize that that makes for a more entertaining and enjoyable book, but sometimes I felt like the message was "Here's some adorable stories about prostitutes!" The writing is a bit repetitious, and could have used a more strict editor.
The other problem I have is that while I am sure the author did extensive research, I wonder how accurate many of these stories are. They seem very tall-tale-ish to me, just as the stories of Wild Bill Hickok or Wyatt Earp have become more palatable over time (for example, Kurt Russell's portrayal aside, Wyatt Earp was in reality kind of a scumbag con-artist -- still an interesting guy, but not the folk-hero he's made out to be). The danger of a book like this is while Seagraves does point out the downside of prostitution in the era, she also does a certain amount of romanticizing. I wonder if she would find the habits of modern prostitutes as quirky and their drive to survive in difficult situations as "courageous".
This is not a bad book to start with if one is interested in the subject, but I think I may have to dig a little deeper to get any real information.
May 4, 2020
I picked up this book, because I wanted to read about prostitution in the old west, but the author seems much more interested in pushing an agenda about how prostitutes all had a heart of gold and if the church going folk with their puritanical beliefs had just left them alone, everything would have been fine. There was very little information about their lives, bad things are mentioned and glossed over, and I know almost as much about prostitution in the old west as I did before I read the book. Some of the stories the author tells are interesting, but don't pick this up thinking that you can use it as a reference book.
April 15, 2012
The author's list of acknowledgements fills a page at the opening of this historical account of prostitution in the early West. She has clearly done her research. And her book is a window into a subject often alluded to in the literature of the frontier but seldom if ever revealed in any depth.
The West was a man's world where, according to Seagrave, men often outnumbered women 50 to 1. Employment opportunities being few for uneducated young women, a great many found their way to the brothels in the red light districts of cities, cow towns and mining camps. The author describes these establishments from the most genteel down to the most squalid. She also characterizes the role of the madam, an entrepreneur whose business contributed to the local economy while being at the same time illegal and an object of outrage among the community's socially respectable.
Much of the book is devoted to profiles of individual madams, often known for their sharp business sense and their generosity, while contributing freely to local charitable organizations. The book includes many period photographs, including studio portraits of well established madams and the women who worked for them. One chapter is devoted to the special plight of Chinese prostitutes who lived under conditions of slavery in Western states into the early 20th century.
While the book is informative, a reader may sometimes question its accuracy as history. Myth and legend have a way of mingling with documented fact, and while all of this is interesting, the author isn't scrupulous about distinguishing between them. Because the book tends to dramatize the lives of the women it discusses, a reader looking for an analysis of prostitution in the larger picture of Western social history will probably find a lot of questions unanswered. Still, the book opens up a subject that is too seldom regarded with the historical interest it deserves.
The West was a man's world where, according to Seagrave, men often outnumbered women 50 to 1. Employment opportunities being few for uneducated young women, a great many found their way to the brothels in the red light districts of cities, cow towns and mining camps. The author describes these establishments from the most genteel down to the most squalid. She also characterizes the role of the madam, an entrepreneur whose business contributed to the local economy while being at the same time illegal and an object of outrage among the community's socially respectable.
Much of the book is devoted to profiles of individual madams, often known for their sharp business sense and their generosity, while contributing freely to local charitable organizations. The book includes many period photographs, including studio portraits of well established madams and the women who worked for them. One chapter is devoted to the special plight of Chinese prostitutes who lived under conditions of slavery in Western states into the early 20th century.
While the book is informative, a reader may sometimes question its accuracy as history. Myth and legend have a way of mingling with documented fact, and while all of this is interesting, the author isn't scrupulous about distinguishing between them. Because the book tends to dramatize the lives of the women it discusses, a reader looking for an analysis of prostitution in the larger picture of Western social history will probably find a lot of questions unanswered. Still, the book opens up a subject that is too seldom regarded with the historical interest it deserves.
October 17, 2013
A quaint, self-published look at one of the most lucrative industries of the wild wild west. Seagraves recounts the documented life experiences and personal observations of different classes of prostitutes in diverse locations, including Denver, San Francisco, various mining and logging camps, and Tombstone AZ. Some of her anecdotes are informative, and the quotes from the women are evocative and humanizing. But she writes less as a scholar than as an amateur of local history and personalities, with the result that all but her seediest stories contain a weirdly wholesome and boosterish undercurrent. (One reader noted that she found this book in the gift shop at Bryce Canyon National Park; that sort of market, heavy on "local color" but catering to a vacationing, nonscholarly crowd of all ages, seems appropriate.) Seagraves refers only in the vaguest terms to abusive customers, pimps and madams, or the social ills and deprivations that left some young women with few choices other than making a living in prostitution. She prefers to characterize most of the women she portrays as plucky, spirited and motivated by a desire to be independent; as pragmatic and resourceful in identifying and pursuing a lucrative business; as survivors, not victims. And that may well be true for those prostitutes who made a willing choice regarding their employment - but to imply that many or most of them chose freely rather romanticizes the situation. Yet only the enslavement and selling of Chinese children into the sex trade seems too grim a topic for Seagraves to paint in a sentimental golden light. I'd like to find another book on the topic that is more grounded in real social history than in the author's regional affection.
April 20, 2011
Anne Seagraves novel, SOILED DOVES explores the fundamental concept of economics known as supply and demand. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries opportunities for women were extremely limited so many enterprising ladies opted for "the oldest profession" and took their "wares" out west where they supply was limited but the demand great. Some made fortunes while others were trapped in hopeless situations that led to their murder or suicide.
Seagraves explores the lives of various "professional" women, some of whom we have heard and others whose names have been forgotten over time, as well as the history of the towns and cities in which they flourished. In many of the towns there was a caste system of sorts in place and one was accepted or rejected based upon the establishment in which one practiced her womanly wiles and/or the amount of money and aid that was provided to the community by these SOILED DOVES.
While some of the tales are interesting, most lack depth. The writing itself is merely adequate and somewhat repetitious. The most interesting portion of the book lies in the photos of the ladies in question and the venues in which they plied their trade. While many were considered beauties in their day, by today's standards most would be categorized as overweight and plain. If Clint Eastwood hadn't already utilized the title Ms. Seagraves could easily have called her book, The Good,The Bad and The Ugly......the concept was good as was the picture on the cover, the content and presentation borders on bad, and as for the ugly......... well, you be the judge.
Seagraves explores the lives of various "professional" women, some of whom we have heard and others whose names have been forgotten over time, as well as the history of the towns and cities in which they flourished. In many of the towns there was a caste system of sorts in place and one was accepted or rejected based upon the establishment in which one practiced her womanly wiles and/or the amount of money and aid that was provided to the community by these SOILED DOVES.
While some of the tales are interesting, most lack depth. The writing itself is merely adequate and somewhat repetitious. The most interesting portion of the book lies in the photos of the ladies in question and the venues in which they plied their trade. While many were considered beauties in their day, by today's standards most would be categorized as overweight and plain. If Clint Eastwood hadn't already utilized the title Ms. Seagraves could easily have called her book, The Good,The Bad and The Ugly......the concept was good as was the picture on the cover, the content and presentation borders on bad, and as for the ugly......... well, you be the judge.
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July 24, 2016I actually read this books quite a few years ago but due to recent events this book has taken on a new relevance for me. My wife and I retired in 2015 and moved to Deadwood, South Dakota. One of the big reasons we made Deadwood our home was our shared passion for the history of this area. Now recently we found out about a company wanting to create a $40 million dollar 'Wild West' theme park just outside town. As I understand it this theme park is going to provide a "family friendly" interpretation of this history of Deadwood and the frontier era Black Hills. It's going to be a sort of Old West Disney Land.
I have a problem with that from a stand point of historical reality. One of the facts of the Old West was that a lot of the early pioneers were prostitutes; they made their money selling sexual services to other pioneers. Anne Seagrave's book does a very good job of presenting the story of quite a number of these women. Now the writing is a bit rough at times but it is readable. It's a good entry into the topic of prostitution in the old west.
These women, tragic as some of their stories are, were instrumental in their own way in the opening of the western frontier. They were just about inevitable and indomitable in their own way. Seagrave's book gives these women some credit for their actions. I would recommend this book as a start on this topic.
That being said, if you really want to understand the history of the old west, of the frontier west, you would be making a major mistake and injustice not to remember these women. I don't think any honest history of the frontier is easily going to be "family friendly".
I have a problem with that from a stand point of historical reality. One of the facts of the Old West was that a lot of the early pioneers were prostitutes; they made their money selling sexual services to other pioneers. Anne Seagrave's book does a very good job of presenting the story of quite a number of these women. Now the writing is a bit rough at times but it is readable. It's a good entry into the topic of prostitution in the old west.
These women, tragic as some of their stories are, were instrumental in their own way in the opening of the western frontier. They were just about inevitable and indomitable in their own way. Seagrave's book gives these women some credit for their actions. I would recommend this book as a start on this topic.
That being said, if you really want to understand the history of the old west, of the frontier west, you would be making a major mistake and injustice not to remember these women. I don't think any honest history of the frontier is easily going to be "family friendly".
January 14, 2017
"Soiled Doves: Prostitution in the Early West," by Anne Seagraves, purports to tell the stories of individual prostitutes in the Western USA from about the 1850s or so, complete with early photographs of some of the women and contemporary accounts in local newspapers, etc. But, well, I couldn’t begin to get through it, simply because of totally incorrect statements, starting with the Forward: “Queen Victoria’s strict morality temporarily put a halt to prostitution in England in the 1800s.” Um, no, prostitution was thriving throughout Victoria’s reign, and women in the profession were exceptionally vulnerable because of “strict morality” laws, which gave them no protection against, well, anybody. Then, in the Introduction, consider this description of women in 1800s America who moved West: “Many of these women came from other countries to escape poverty. They usually had no funds and the majority were uneducated and did not speak English.” Um, no, many women moved West with their families, and most of them weren’t prostitutes. Later, “the soiled doves were good for the western economy and helped support the community. They spent their money locally, buying fancy clothing, expensive wines and ornamental jewelry.” Well, um, those commodities weren’t made in the community, they were imported and the locals by no means got the lion’s share of the profits….Well, this is all before Chapter One, and I was just done. I looked at the photos, which might be of interest in the future, but there’s no list of photography supplying their province, no notes, a rather skimpy bibliography and, for no reason I can fathom, a glossary of terms. Very disappointing.
July 15, 2017
Anne Seagraves has written some seven books about the lives of women during the western expansion. Her books are generally not in depth, and I didn't find this one particularly deep either. But each offers an interesting introduction to the subject matter, and she always provides sources should you decide the topic is worth plunging into a deeper trough of detail.
Soiled Doves provides an overview of prostitution in the old west. For those raised on television westerns and Gone With the Wind, this gives you a more realistic view of Miss Kitty and Belle Watling. There are some call outs and interesting stories about the more notable - Julia Bulette, for example, of Virginia City - and the piquantly named - Squirrel Tooth Alice, for example - as well as a number of photos. There's detail on how the role of prostitution evolved as local civilization evolved, and how maturing women in that role were impacted. And interestingly enough, a list of vocabulary words, should you not know what a "hog ranch" really is.
As usual with Seagraves, the organization of the book is all her own. In this particular book, although she doesn't specify, it turns out she provided information based (primarily) on physical location of topic. You just go with the flow and enjoy the details as they come. So although at times she might not seem like the easiest author to read, don't dismiss her. She gives you a taste of a topic, to whet your appetite; she gathers quite a bit of physical information for you, so it's all in one place; and she's got a huge list of sources for you to consult if you want more.
Soiled Doves provides an overview of prostitution in the old west. For those raised on television westerns and Gone With the Wind, this gives you a more realistic view of Miss Kitty and Belle Watling. There are some call outs and interesting stories about the more notable - Julia Bulette, for example, of Virginia City - and the piquantly named - Squirrel Tooth Alice, for example - as well as a number of photos. There's detail on how the role of prostitution evolved as local civilization evolved, and how maturing women in that role were impacted. And interestingly enough, a list of vocabulary words, should you not know what a "hog ranch" really is.
As usual with Seagraves, the organization of the book is all her own. In this particular book, although she doesn't specify, it turns out she provided information based (primarily) on physical location of topic. You just go with the flow and enjoy the details as they come. So although at times she might not seem like the easiest author to read, don't dismiss her. She gives you a taste of a topic, to whet your appetite; she gathers quite a bit of physical information for you, so it's all in one place; and she's got a huge list of sources for you to consult if you want more.
March 16, 2016
It's hard to imagine that there was a time before the internet, a time when if you wanted to know more about the sex industry on the American frontier but were not a scholar with access to dozens and dozens of sources, you were basically screwed.
I imagine this book might have been a delight in that time. The narratives of these women as told by the author are like mini wikipedia articles. No correlating details, no thesis, no grand story. Just short splits of stories. It's digestible in its best moments.
Which is code for saying this book is not at all well written. The chapters have little to do with one another, and little the author brings to light is compelling. Oh, being a prostitute on the frontier was shitty? I feel like everything on the frontier was pretty bad, but thanks for the extra insight.
It's not even well researched - a quick glance at the Bibliography shows that there is not a single first source. It's basically a giant 6th grade report. Completely devoid of depth and poorly organized. It'll show pictures of Josephine Marcus (Wyatt Earp's common law wife) and then talk about Big Nose Kate (Doc Holliday's partner). They aren't the same person just because they may have met at some point.
Don't even get me started on the chapter on white slavery/Chinese brothels chapter. It festers from poorly done to just kind of racist. No one likes "kind of racist."
I imagine this book might have been a delight in that time. The narratives of these women as told by the author are like mini wikipedia articles. No correlating details, no thesis, no grand story. Just short splits of stories. It's digestible in its best moments.
Which is code for saying this book is not at all well written. The chapters have little to do with one another, and little the author brings to light is compelling. Oh, being a prostitute on the frontier was shitty? I feel like everything on the frontier was pretty bad, but thanks for the extra insight.
It's not even well researched - a quick glance at the Bibliography shows that there is not a single first source. It's basically a giant 6th grade report. Completely devoid of depth and poorly organized. It'll show pictures of Josephine Marcus (Wyatt Earp's common law wife) and then talk about Big Nose Kate (Doc Holliday's partner). They aren't the same person just because they may have met at some point.
Don't even get me started on the chapter on white slavery/Chinese brothels chapter. It festers from poorly done to just kind of racist. No one likes "kind of racist."
April 8, 2019
This is an interesting read, but not especially well written and the sources are not well noted. The author does not say anywhere what her qualifications or background are, only that she is a resident of northern Idaho and has written several books. I can't find a web page or any interviews either, so I assume she is a history buff but not a historian. On that basis - the book contains some good information that she seems to have gleaned from a fairly extensive list of sources. Unfortunately, Seagraves is not meticulous about crediting her sources with footnotes or references, so you can't easily follow up. But her subject material is well organized and she has some great photos.
August 23, 2008
The stories of the prostitutes and madams were compelling and painted a good picture of the business and lifestyle of prostitution in the 19th Century American West. What was annoying to the point of distraction was that the author chose to write what could have been a really good sociological and historical study with personal commentary from a 'Spirit of the great sisterhood of Woman' position, using far(!) too many exclamation marks to make her heavy-handed points(!)
I get that a book on prostitution is fertile ground for expressing righteous indignation about how screwed up things were for a certain group. Still, I blame the book's editor for not nipping the author's post facto 1970s-style feminist outrage in the bud; it ruined the good research that was obviously the genesis of this work. Comparative to a book like A Thousand Years Over a Hot Stove, this was a true stinker. On its own, it was only okay...
I get that a book on prostitution is fertile ground for expressing righteous indignation about how screwed up things were for a certain group. Still, I blame the book's editor for not nipping the author's post facto 1970s-style feminist outrage in the bud; it ruined the good research that was obviously the genesis of this work. Comparative to a book like A Thousand Years Over a Hot Stove, this was a true stinker. On its own, it was only okay...
March 31, 2016
I was curious when I picked up this book, not knowing the magnitude of the content. You cannot judge this book by the cover or title. I found this particular book interesting and educational. Prostitution in the early days had become a way of survival for many of these women. During the horse and buggy day, an unwed mother had a difficult finding a job so she could support her children. Even a single young woman left to fend for herself had a hard time. Seeing how they turned to the only thing available for them to survive, I admire them. I could not imagine living in the rugged west as they did. Reading some of these stories made me want to cry for their hardships as well as smile for the bravery and determination. I don't often pick up a book with historical facts and make it past the first chapter. I applaude Anne Seagraves for a job well done. I was hooked from the first page and had a hard time putting it down until I was finished. Would I recommend it to my friends? Absolutely! Bravo!
June 25, 2009
When I read the personal history of my great grandfather, I felt cheated. There were no personal histories of my three great grandmothers who were his wives. His experiences and thoughts were interesting but included little of his feelings or anything much about his wives or children. For instance, after writing about a page on his views one day, he added two brief sentences revealing that one of his children by his first wife, Ann, died that day and that it was Ann's birthday. Huh?
This book has a bit of the same effect on me--though much more sensitively expressed. The author tells many stories about different "fallen women" in an entertaining way, but I want to know more--to go deeper into the causes for their sorrows and their strengths. The pictures, though grainy, are great additions. They illustrate pride, dispair, wariness, shame, and courage. Still, the real words and voices of these women are missing.
This book has a bit of the same effect on me--though much more sensitively expressed. The author tells many stories about different "fallen women" in an entertaining way, but I want to know more--to go deeper into the causes for their sorrows and their strengths. The pictures, though grainy, are great additions. They illustrate pride, dispair, wariness, shame, and courage. Still, the real words and voices of these women are missing.
April 7, 2016
This was an enjoyable read. While it is by no means a scholarly or very deep look into prostitution in the early West, it does offer brief insights into how and why women became prostitutes. It also briefly delves into how hard the life could be for the majority of 'soiled doves.' Most of the book is composed of equally brief bios of various women; some successful in their profession, some not so successful and some simply notorious.
Some of the best phrases are to be found scattered throughout the book in the excerpts from newspaper stories. One of my favorites comes from a story about some raids on the Red Light District in Denver, where the prostitutes were described as 'frail women in frailer garments.'
This book could well serve as an introduction to some of the more notorious women of the West. There is also a fairly good bibliography included if someone wanted to delve a little deeper into the subject.
Some of the best phrases are to be found scattered throughout the book in the excerpts from newspaper stories. One of my favorites comes from a story about some raids on the Red Light District in Denver, where the prostitutes were described as 'frail women in frailer garments.'
This book could well serve as an introduction to some of the more notorious women of the West. There is also a fairly good bibliography included if someone wanted to delve a little deeper into the subject.
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