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Montana's Dimple Knees Sex Scandal: 1960s Prostitution, Payoffs & Politicians
Beverly Snodgrass made a lot of poor choices. Once a prostitute in the old mining town of Butte, she later became a madam running two of the most popular brothels. She fell deeply in love with a crooked politician, whom she nicknamed "Dimple Knees." When corrupt cops in uniform came to her businesses, it usually wasn't to serve and protect but rather to collect payoffs. Butte is sometimes described as a town that "drinks her liquor straight," but things never were the same after Beverly told her story to a newspaper reporter. That reporter, John Kuglin, recounts the scandal that rocked The Richest Hill on Earth and for a time made Dimple Knees the most famous name in Montana.
144 pages, Paperback
Published June 4, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 8, 2025
As a Butte person, this book brought back memories of politicians and events in our history. Butte is a mining town- not like it used to be it still is. It was also a wide-open place for anything from gambling, prostitution, and drinking. Long after prostitution and gambling was made illegal, it carried on the tradition. When I was an adolescent, I remember hearing that Butte had more bars per capita than any other place in the country. It was also known as the toughest place in the country. So when the legislature stepped in, those laws regarding the aforementioned habits were ignored.
It should come as no surprise then, that at some point, do-gooders from out of town would come to clean it all up. One of the scandals that arose as a result involved a madam who wrote an account of her experiences. She talked of having to pay outrageous amounts of money to the police to keep them at bay- well not quite-they also demanded time with the women free to them.
There was one do-gooder who from from Butte- Father Finnegan who was always interested in reforming the town. I remember this man well, both from going to Mass and from the scandal that erupted around him. At the time we was running two boys "reformatories"- one in Butte and another just over the Continental Divide in Whitehall. He was accused of sexually assaulting and physically abusing boys from the two homes- but the person bringing the prosecution's evidence to Bozeman was mysteriously killed in a traffic accident and the evidence disappeared. Finnegan was acquited as a result and went on a parish in Whitehall where he stayed until he died.
Anyway, Beverly Snodgrass, the madam, never received any satisfaction from writing her account and eventually moved back to W. Virginia, her home place. There was always scandal surrounding the town, and it makes for interesting reading. The book is no masterpiece and I came across several mistakes throughout the book. I also realized that there was a major omission in the book that surprised me. It was about the madam in the Stockman's bar, nicknamed Dirty Mouth Jean because her mouth would have shocked sailors. One morning when I was working in my parents restaurant, a story came on the news. Dirty Mouth Jean had killed two prospective customers for the brothel because one was Black and one a foreigner, possibly Polish. Jean's response to their request for service was an expletive-filled refusal, then she took out a gun and shot both of them dead.
Anyway, this is a quick read and one that I read because Butte is my hometown and it's just an interesting story.
It should come as no surprise then, that at some point, do-gooders from out of town would come to clean it all up. One of the scandals that arose as a result involved a madam who wrote an account of her experiences. She talked of having to pay outrageous amounts of money to the police to keep them at bay- well not quite-they also demanded time with the women free to them.
There was one do-gooder who from from Butte- Father Finnegan who was always interested in reforming the town. I remember this man well, both from going to Mass and from the scandal that erupted around him. At the time we was running two boys "reformatories"- one in Butte and another just over the Continental Divide in Whitehall. He was accused of sexually assaulting and physically abusing boys from the two homes- but the person bringing the prosecution's evidence to Bozeman was mysteriously killed in a traffic accident and the evidence disappeared. Finnegan was acquited as a result and went on a parish in Whitehall where he stayed until he died.
Anyway, Beverly Snodgrass, the madam, never received any satisfaction from writing her account and eventually moved back to W. Virginia, her home place. There was always scandal surrounding the town, and it makes for interesting reading. The book is no masterpiece and I came across several mistakes throughout the book. I also realized that there was a major omission in the book that surprised me. It was about the madam in the Stockman's bar, nicknamed Dirty Mouth Jean because her mouth would have shocked sailors. One morning when I was working in my parents restaurant, a story came on the news. Dirty Mouth Jean had killed two prospective customers for the brothel because one was Black and one a foreigner, possibly Polish. Jean's response to their request for service was an expletive-filled refusal, then she took out a gun and shot both of them dead.
Anyway, this is a quick read and one that I read because Butte is my hometown and it's just an interesting story.
December 26, 2019
This book was pretty good. I had issues with all of the fillers in it however. Also name dropping William Clark and Evel Knievel didn’t make any sense to me. I personally would have stuck to just prostitution and gambling in butte if not then Montana. The last half about Idaho was interesting but didn’t need to be in this particular book.
February 2, 2021
Great stories of.Butte
Well written and kept me.engaged the whole time. Love all Butte history. I love towards the end how the author wrote a sentence exposing someone so casually. chuckled.
Well written and kept me.engaged the whole time. Love all Butte history. I love towards the end how the author wrote a sentence exposing someone so casually. chuckled.
October 7, 2022
Read this for my book club. Had some interesting details, but was quite dry (particularly given the subject matter!). I ended up skimming most of it. Definitely read more like a just-the-facts-maam newspaper article than a historical page turner, for sure.
February 5, 2025
I really enjoyed the book. Beverly Snodgrass is my great aunt and I’ve heard these stories told but never got the details. So happy to have found this book. I have some pictures of her with simple knees.
July 8, 2019
Historical. I read at the same time as watching Evel Knievel documentary, which helped provide contextual insight into his actions. It is a part of history that needed to be told.
May 19, 2022
Fascinating history but this book is very poorly written.
May 12, 2024
Def should have had a different title as it covers more butte history and random facts not just the scandal
January 4, 2020
A very informational book about part of Butte's history. A must read for Montana history buffs.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews