THE LUMBER INDUSTRY AND WHITE SLAVERY by Marisa Masterson

Before writing my newest release, Manny’s Triumph, I set out to research lumber camps. What I came across changed my novel’s conflict completely.

Human trafficking has been in the news for some years now. PBS’s Frontline recently featured sex trafficking in an episode. This became a hot issue in the late 1880s in Wisconsin. I had no idea that once upon a time there weren’t sufficient laws to protect women or punish the victimizers.

An example of a cartoon that ran
with a newspaper article in 1886.

In 1886, newspapers began reporting about young girls enticed with promises of fame by theater agents, something I mention in my novel. These “agents” would then be forced into work as dance hall girls to pay for their costumes and the cost of their travel. The girls would wear risqué clothing and socialize with the men while selling high-priced drink. The bartender physically abused any female who refused. At this point, tales of prostitution didn’t enter into the newspaper reports.

This image accompanied Minnie Pine's
story in the St. Louis Globe.

That changed with Minnie Pine. She came from a good family and had traveled to Iron Mountain, Michigan to be a waitress. According to an article in the St. Louis Globe Democrat (January 24, 1887), the young woman reported that she’d been taken to a heavily guarded brothel. Two women held her down while men used her sexually. Though I’d like to know how she escaped, since that seems like “the rest of the story” as Paul Harvey would say, I couldn’t find those details. Julia Howden had a similar experience in Wisconsin. She was lured by an advertisement for a respectable job and ended up in a brothel guarded by armed men and dogs. (Daily InterOcean, Oct. 28, 1887)

Because of actual victims’ stories, one would believe the law would help. Julia Howden’s imprisonment took place in Marinette, Wisconsin. The prosecutor visited the brothel and decided it was a pleasant place. Hah! He didn’t see any need for the law to be involved.

Dr. Katharine Bushnell

Enter Dr. Katharine Bushnell, a real person who I include as a character in my book. This woman tirelessly traveled around Northern Wisconsin interviewing people and visiting logging camps. She rallied supporters of her cause to help young women such as Julia Howden and Minnie Pine by petitioning lawmakers. Though the governor seemed unwilling to do anything, eventually a law nicknamed the Kate Bushnell law was passed in Wisconsin. For the first time, it was illegal in the state for unmarried women to be abducted and forced into prostitution. Married women, incidentally, were not covered by this law.

Should you wish to read further, I relied heavily on an article by Bonnie Shucha for the William and Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice (Volume 23, issue 1) and https://wisblawg.law.wisc.edu/2015/10/white-slavery-in-the-northwoods-describes-major-19th-cen-sex-trafficking-scandal-in-wi-mi/.

To learn more about the author and her novels, please subscribe at https://mailchi.mp/543792bef24a/marisamasterson.

You can also visit Marisa's website at www.marisamasterson.com.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SGL29ST

An excerpt from Manny's Triumph (a sweet romance)

Later that evening she paused outside of the office door. Earlier the man behind the desk, Silas, directed her to a room at the very top of the hotel and left her there to settle in. A meal arrived for her so she hadn’t needed to leave the room. For all of her misgivings after speaking with the owner, she started to feel hopeful again. She had a room to herself, a job, and a full belly.

Now, she could be content with something to read before settling in to sleep. That’s when Silas’s newspaper came to mind. Deciding to see if he left it at the front desk, she crept down the backstairs.

To her relief, no one stood behind the counter. She nosed around freely. Not seeing the paper, she searched the lobby, hoping someone might have left a paper on one of the small tables placed by the sofas. Then she spotted a folded newspaper on the chair next to the office.

Hearing voices behind the door, she moved to quickly grab the paper and leave. Her ears caught the words “the new girl” and she couldn’t resist. She stopped to eavesdrop.

“…weren’t planning to make another trip to Hurley this month. LeClaire won’t be down for at least two weeks. Since that trouble with the Fuller girl, we can’t leave her with Shirleen. You’ll need to take her up to Hurley tomorrow.”

Since the other person spoke quietly, Carlene couldn’t make out the response to those words. What she heard next chilled her. “Don’t leave her without getting the money from LeClaire. He’s sure to buy a lovely little virgin like her, but he’ll try and cheat you since we didn’t arrange the details ahead of time. I wish she wrote like the others did so I could have the brothel owner here.”

A voice that she recognized as belonging to the desk clerk whined, “Why can’t the boss deliver her, Mr. Halderson?”

At that point, she heard footsteps and rushed to hide behind the plant. She put thoughts of the day aside and focused on the here and now.

Peering through the plant’s leaves, Carlene decided that the girl knocking on the office door must be a maid. At the knock on the door, her boss opened it and brusquely asked, “What is it?”

 “Sir, are you wanting me to take a uniform to the new girl’s room?” the maid asked.

“No, I’ve decided she won’t be staying with us Gretchen. If you’ve finished your jobs get to your room now.”

She wasn’t staying? So, the two men had been talking about her. Tomorrow they’d sell her if she stayed here. What would she do?

Since she poured over every newspaper she could get ahold of, she been aghast at news about the white slavery rings in Northern Wisconsin and Michigan. She’d read many editorials criticizing Governor Rusk for refusing become involved with the problem. To actually be trapped by white slavers after reading about them came as a terrible shock to Carlene. Forcing away the terror that held her immobile, she tried to form a plan.

Sister Mary Boniface had advised her about this. “You answer an advertisement at the risk of your virtue,” she’d warned. With that warning in mind, Carlene had asked Sister Magdalena to read through the job notices in each paper with her. She wanted wise counsel on which jobs would be safe.

Both women knew that white slavers lured young women with the promise of theater jobs. That had been reported in more than one paper. Carlene had never heard of entrapping young women by advertising for maids. What a pickle she was in now!

The lobby was quiet again and Carlene decided it was time to leave the camouflage of the potted plant. Poking her head out to be sure no one was there she left the safety of the large plant. Before racing up to her room, she moved first to grab the paper off the chair.

Drats! The man took it with him. She had wanted to check the job notices she felt sure she’d find in it.

Sneaking back up the rear stairs and to her room, she stealthily entered it and locked the door. She refilled her carpet bag with her few possessions she unpacked only a few hours ago. Done, she unlocked her door and peered out into the hall. Seeing it empty she crept down the stairs and into the kitchen. She would exit using the back door in that room.

She slipped into the room and stopped. A maid stood directly in front of her. The girl’s gaze darted from the bag Carlene held to her terrified face. With a pitying glance, she nodded her head and pointed to the door with her chin.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Carlene escaped into a small garden at the back of the hotel. Keeping close to the building, she inched along in the shadows until she reached the boardwalk that ran along the street.

She needed a disguise and a ride to the lumber camp.

Pioneering Prostitutes of Tombstone - Part 1

Back in the days where there were no food stamps, welfare, or other types of government assistance, some women were in dire need of a man - father, brother, or husband - for support.  Without one, even respectable employment opportunities for most were limited to menial jobs such as seamstress, cook or laundress.  These jobs barely paid survival wages.  These conditions forced many young women to make a choice between suicide and scandal.

Those who chose a life of easy virtue were assured survival, for a while anyway, and an above average income.  It was a tough existence, but for some, better than suicide. One of those who ended it all was Mattie Earp, Wyatt Earp's second wife who died in her crib on July 3, 1888.  It was from an overdose of laudanum and whiskey.  Below are just a few of Tombstone's famous ladies of the evening.

Josephine Marcus - Wyatt Earp's third wife

Kate Harony (Big Nose Kate) opened Tombstone's first bordello.  Also known as Doc Holliday's combative girlfriend.

Jessie Jo came to Tombstone with a husband who spent time drinking and gambling.  She turned to prostitution to support herself.

"Lizette the Flying Nymph" arrived in Tombstone with the Monarch Carnival Company.  Once there she decided to move into a new entertainment arena.

"Faro Nell" was a card dealer at Danner and Owens Saloon, but soon found she could demand a much higher price in a town where women were scarce.

"China Mary" was known to run Tombstone's Chinese quarter with an iron hand.  Anyone desiring a Chinese prostitute had to first see Mary.

Hi everybody and thanks for stopping by!  I've always been fascinated with "the wild west" in the Arizona Territory, and Tombstone, in particular.  I hope you enjoyed my story about some famous women from years ago and next month I'll finish with some women who found their way to Tombstone and their stories.

Hope to see you then.

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The Life of ONE Madam in The Arizona Territory

“Belgian Jennie” Bauters ran a brothel in the young mining town of Jerome. Though she was a successful immigrant entrepreneur, her life as an Old West madam was far from pretty.

 Our ideas of the West are colored by myth. The fast draw. The brave cowboy. The kind and generous madam.

“Belgian Jennie” Bauters was a madam in Jerome. She arrived on the scene when the mining town was young, all tents and shacks and saloons scattered on the hillside. She had a knack for business, buying property, running a brothel, and rebuilding after a series of three fires that struck the mining community between Christmas Eve 1897 and May 1899 and it is said that tents made do for shelters until a new brothel could open. Bauters finally rebuilt with brick facing Hull Road since brothels were not allowed on Main. Jennie's place had 20 rooms. Bauters became known as one of the wealthiest woman in the Arizona Territory with property from Main to Hull Avenue and with a bar and hourly accommodations later in Gold Road.

Little is known about her past. She was born in Belgium. She had a son. She enrolled him in a Catholic school in Chicago and visited from time to time, according to an article by Melanie Sturgeon in The Journal of Arizona History. “Like many other legendary western madams, she was supposedly a generous person, tenderhearted toward down-and-out miners and prospectors,” Sturgeon wrote. The reality is that she was probably more complex.

Prostitutes and madams were generally tolerated, not celebrated, and lived at the edge of society. One reason they were tolerated is that their businesses were taxed. It is a myth that they eventually married well and left their profession behind, Sturgeon writes. Romantic stories about "big-hearted dance hall girls ... trivialize these women's experiences."

"Belgian" Jennie Bauter was a madam of enduring notoriety and love in Jerome and later in Gold Road, another mining hotspot southwest of Kingman in the last century. Jerome would later abolish prostitution in the moderation of the mining town.

Now, 100 years later, "Jennie's Place," the Jerome hotel and one-time "cribs," where she built her fame and fortune in Jerome, has a new lease on life. A new madam is now running the house, but Mary Wills peddles kaleidoscopes, not flesh. Still, she has also kept intact the history of what has became known as the Sullivan Hotel and given it a new backbone to support its four floors into the future.

But after Jennie was killed, an agent sold the Jerome land to John Sullivan in 1907. The new owner expanded the cribs with a second floor, and built out a hotel to Main Street with a total of 60 rooms. The building remained in the Sullivan family through son Jerry and grandson Leo. But Leo had the cribs torn down in 1971 and 1972 as unsafe. "He was not one who was preservation minded," mused Mary Wills.

 The building passed through another ownership in 1986 before being purchased by Mary Wills and Sally Dryer. When Mary and Sally realized their purchase could crumble to earth, they looked at restoring the grand hotel. But the endeavor was to be a monumental undertaking that would drag on for years. It called for architects, engineering and lots of expense. Just this past week, the external structure was finally completed and awaits paint. Then the effort will move inside.

If fire sprinklers are required, there could be more delays. The story goes back to late 2007, when an oversized check was presented to the preservationists from a State Heritage Fund grant to save the historic building. The money passed through the town of Jerome. But that joyous mood didn't last, because the state began the first of its many "sweeps" of State Parks Heritage Funds (in this case) to save the state general fund from the economic collapse as the recession began to sink in. Mary says they learned their grant had been cancelled just after they had issued a contract for the purchase of a ton of steel for $98,000. Today, that steel stands four floors tall to support the building. They had earlier been holding the building in place with steel cables. Eventually, the money was restored. Then it was taken away again before it finally was restored again just over a year ago.

 "We have borrowed from friends, everyone we can think of ... even employees," Mary says. No one is saying the building is finished. There is still plenty to do. The interior of the basement floor is likely to one day provide room for a spacious shop with all those windows that gaze out across the Verde Valley to the San Francisco Peaks.

But, what happened to Jennie?  
The story goes, according to the Museum of History and Art in Kingman, in 1903, Bauters moved to a new location, about 23 miles from Kingman, called the Acme Gold Mine, now known as Gold Road. While there, she took up with a man named C.C. Leigh. It is possible they began their relationship in Jerome.

After a time, Jennie began to feel he was a threat. In September 1905, Leigh needed money to settle a bad debt. With anger and a gun in his hand, he headed to Jennie's place and demanded she hand over her cash. An argument ensued and Jennie tried to flee from the building. He chased after her, firing several shots, which wounded her as she ran into the street.

“Several people heard her express her fear of Leigh, but either did not listen or did not care. Witnesses heard her screams, watched Leigh chase her with a revolver, but did not help. After he shot her the first time and they heard her pleading with him, … no one came to her rescue. Leigh had time to walk back to the saloon, reload his gun, return to the spot where Jennie was lying and shoot her one final time.” He approached the paralyzed woman and fired a fatal shot to her head. He then pointed the gun to his chest and fired again. He lay down beside her to die.

But, instead, Leigh survived the suicide attempt and was carted off to jail. Jennie was mourned by all and laid to rest in the Pioneer Cemetery in Kingman. In 1907, justice was served and Leigh was hanged. He too, was buried in the Kingman Pioneer Cemetery.

“These accounts reveal the stark loneliness and isolation that characterized Jennie’s vocation,” Sturgeon writes. This was not a glamorous life.

But even death wasn't easy for Jennie. Beginning in 1917, the Pioneer Cemetery was moved to make way for a school building. Relatives had to pay a substantial fee (in those days) to move the remains. According to the story, when school children began to dig up bones, an urgent effort was made to remove the last of the remains and place them in a mass grave. For some, it is just not easy.

Most folks who live in Arizona have probably been to Jerome.  It is an amazing place to visit!  It's full of history, artists, restaurants, bars, and shops galore!  For those who have not been there and if you ever have a chance - Don't Miss It!!!

I'm very excited that my next book, Chase's Story, takes place in Arizona.  It's a state full of history AND I happen to live here.  I write all genres from little one's picture books, to time travel adventures for the middle grade kiddos, to romances for adults.  My favorite, at this point, is writing the historical western romance.

Find out more about my books and/or me at the following links.....

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The Soiled Doves of old Abilene!

The “Soiled Doves” of old Abilene

When Joseph McCoy started the booming cattle trafficking in Abilene, the town started growing way beyond everybody’s expectations.  When gaming houses and brothels started popping up, the good women of Abilene spoke up – Loudly!  It was decided those establishment would be moved across the railroad tracks.  Thus, the “Red Light” District came to be.  Some nicknames such as:  Devil’s Addition, The Valley, Devil’s Island, Texas Village” and other less dignified titles could be heard on many men’s lips.

Each house paid the city a $200 license fee, as did the saloons.  A few of the women were well educated, refined in appearance, but most were addicted to heavy drinking.

The brothel colony was fenced off like and six or eight barracks-type building were erected to house the women.  Eventually a few house “madams’ began to surface, but nowhere is there any mention of vice bosses trying to take over and control the prostitute racket in Abilene.  Each girl paid rent for her own crib in a house, more or less a business all her own.

Each staked her being as freely as a poker chip.  Most were truly “Pistol packin’ mamma’s,” carrying small pearl handled revolvers or knives in their boots under layer of petticoats.

 * * * *

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Several of my historical western romances take place in Kansas in the mid 1800s.

By the way, as a thank you for visiting, I am going to choose one commenter to receive an eBook of their choice between Jesse’s Find, Jesse’s Nightmare, or Justice Comes to Salina.  Be sure to leave an email address!

Jesse’s Find, Book One of the Jesse’s Series

“Jesse,” Ginny asked when they were on the road, “when you asked her about her son she said he was spending his time in the Devil’s Addition as a box herder. She seemed disgusted with him. What does that mean?”

The Devil’s Addition is an area of town in Abilene where some saloons and whore…or brothels are located. A box herder is a man who keeps the – ladies in line.”

She looked at him, plainly confused and then her eyes opened wide. “You mean there are soiled doves in this town?”

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Soiled doves? Yep, Abilene has its share of them.”

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NAGZD4E

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http://www.amazon.com/Penny-Estelle/e/B006S62XBY

On November 2, I’m talking about the law in old Abilene.  Hope to see you then!!!!!