Open Secret: The Story of Deadwood's Most Notorious Bordellos

by Chris Enss, Deadwood History (Contributor)

The discovery of gold in the southern Black Hills in 1874 set off one of the great gold rushes in America. In 1876, miners moved into the northern Black Hills. That’s where they came across a gulch full of dead trees and a creek full of gold and Deadwood was born. Practically overnight, the tiny gold camp boomed into a town that played by its own rules and attracted outlaws, gamblers, and gunslingers along with the gold seekers.

Deadwood was comprised mostly of single men. In the beginning the ratio of men to women was as high as 8 to 1. The lack of affordable housing, the hostile environment, the high cost of travel, and the expense of living in Deadwood prevented many men from bringing their wives, girlfriends, and families to the growing town. Hordes of prostitutes and madams came to Deadwood to capitalize on the lack of women. By the mid-1880s, there were more than a hundred brothels in the mining community.

One of the most notorious cat houses in Deadwood was owned and operated by Al Swearengen. Swearengen was an entertainment entrepreneur who opened a house of ill-repute shortly after he arrived in town in the spring of 1876. Initially known as The Gem, the brothel was host to several well-known soiled doves of the Old West from Eleanora Dumont to Kitty LeRoy.

Among the many madams who ran other cat houses in and around Deadwood were Poker Alice Tubbs, Mert O’Hara, and Gertrude Bell. The names of some of the most popular brothels in Deadwood Gulch were the Shy-Ann Room, Fern’s Place, The Cozy Room, the Beige Door, and the Shasta Room. After more than a hundred years of continual operation, the brothels in Deadwood were forced to close in 1980.

In the summer of 2020, the Beige Door reopened for business. This time as a museum. The Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission, the Main Street Initiative Committee, and Deadwood History, Inc. (DHI) developed the idea of opening the only brothel tour in the Black Hills. The Brothel Deadwood has had a steady flow of visitors since the tour opened

The book An Open The Story of Deadwood’s Most Notorious Bordellos focuses on infamous cat houses like the Beige Door, those individuals who managed the businesses, their employees, their well-known clientele, the various crimes committed at the locations, and their ultimate demise.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

187 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 1, 2023

Reviews

[David Crow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chris Enss has long been one of my favorite authors. I read everything she writes and have never been disappointed. She tells the story of women's roles in the Old West that have been mainly ignored. This book brings new information about the notorious town of Deadwood, South Dakota. Like all Chris Enss' books, its the story telling that grabs the reader on the first page and never lets them go.

[Ronald Schulz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished this excellent read on a favorite town and Chris brings the scarlet history up to date to the Madams I knew personally in 1978, before the untimely end of a golden era. Thanks to winning the Kindle Giveaway, I Jumped in and read it fast. The bordellos, known only by the Red, Green, Purple, and White colored doors, were like a 2nd home to me and I sampled them all, being fascinated by the sexual subculture which is too often lambasted by prissy blue-noses without an honest telling by the participants in our double-standard society.
It was a woman owned business and the girls were treated as fair as in any job I've seen, given paid medical checkups, protected from harm, got along despite the usual petty sisterly squabbling they told me about. If I had it to do over, I'd break up with nagging Marsha, stay longer at the Green Door & run off with beautiful black Cindy to Montana, instead of letting her marry that rich Wyoming rancher when they shut it all down. A museum, while informative, cannot replace real life, nor can cyber games replace genuine human experience.
I'm hoping to get my own book out on the subject in due time, after I finish what I'm working on now. Drop me a line if you were there or know any of the participants personally and we can swap spit, I mean stories, for real.

[Mike Cross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some very interesting stories well told, but not very deep. You get accounts from newspapers and other records, but nothing behind the scenes or what life was like during these times. The read never gets a feel of what life was like during these times nor what the real lives of these (mostly) women were like. A quick read if you're interested in the topic.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another wonderful read by Chriss Ends. This is historical facts about the beginning brothels in the Deadwood area. It also tells the stories of the local madams.

[martha s. williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Open Secret

I wish there was a lot more detail about their lives, but quite a bit is no doubt lost in time. Very interesting and informative book.