The Real Lives of Prostitutes of the Old West

Painted ladies. Soiled Doves. Women of the night. Red light ladies. Public women. Whatever they were called prostitutes are very much a part of the history of the Wild West. In a part of the country when men outnumbered women three to one and sometimes much higher, prostitutes of the Old West were very popular, and also considered a necessity. But what were their lives really like? The movies have often portrayed these women in ways that gloss over the truth or are simply an outright lie. These portrayals are not even close to reality. In reality, prostitutes of the Old West had a very difficult life that often ended tragically.

Who Became Prostitutes?

Women from many walks of life became prostitutes in the Old West. The early 1800s saw many women traveling with their husbands or families to a new life in the relatively unsettled western states. For women who lost their husbands, and had no money or family, prostitution was often the only way to make a living. If a woman was raped or despoiled by a man, her prospects for marriage disappeared, even though it was not her fault that she was put in that situation. Sometimes their families would ask them to leave home, and with no place to go and no skills, prostitution became the only answer. Respectable positions were few and far between in the Old West. Women could be seamstresses, laundresses, milliners, waitresses or teachers, but in the small western towns, these jobs were quickly filled, which left other women to find other ways to live and eat. There were women who chose to become prostitutes for a life of adventure, and to escape the constraints of Eastern rules regarding women's behavior. There were also many Chinese and other foreign women who were kidnapped from their homes or sold by their families into a life of prostitution in the U.S.

How Old Were Prostitutes?