What are your favorite books or historically accurate resources on the wild west? What about on working girls from that era? Thanks!
Documentaries are a good place to start for those who don’t like to read. Ken Burns has a good one. There is an old US history show called “Wild West Tech”. Some of the episodes are on youtube. It’s not just tech, though. I’ve read over 80 books and articles so I’ll just do a few of the books. There are “two types” - Popular history is history written for a wide audience in mind. They assume that readers have some understanding of history. They are mostly good books to read. but make sur e to read reviews carefully since they are not peer reviewed. Academic books are books that are usually published my university presses. They can more difficult to read, but not always. Just be prepared for the information to be almost overwhelming at times, have more advanced language and complex grammar. (Which is not always a good thing. Trust me, many of us hate these type of books.) So it just depends on the book again! I’ll order it from easy to harder reads. Academic articles are a bitch to read so I won’t include it unless requested.
Boudoirs to Brothels: The Intimate World of Wild West Women by Michael Rutter - This is probably the easiest and least intimidating read.
Upstairs Girls: Prostitution in the American West by Michael Rutter - more Academic minded, but still an easy approachable style
Getting more academic minded - but still easy. Wanton West: Madams, Money, Murder, and the Wild Women of Montana's Frontier by Lael Morgan. Each chapter is like a story. It can be hard to keep track of everyone and I did struggle to verify a few of her sources. Still a good read. She doesn’t pull any punches. All of the books talk about the dark side of prostitution, but this one seriously dives into it.
Soiled Doves: Prostitution in the Early West (Women of the West) By Anne Seagraves. Very respected book considered one of the most important reads for those interested in Sex work history. I find the book dry.
Brothels, Bordellos, and Bad Girls: Prostitution in Colorado, 1860-1930 by Jan MacKell These next few are some of the most imporant books. Jan MacKell is THE brothel histoian and no one has written more than her. This is probably the easiest book to read of her series. She has books about other states, too. I used this one in my paper a lot. My recommendation is to start here.
Daughters of Joy, Sisters of Misery: Prostitutes in the American West, 1865-90 by Anne M. Buttler Another respected book that I used heavily. Focuses on the second sex work “Boom” when sex workers were still so prevelant. Not intimidating, but some may struggle with it. This is Grimshaw, John’s mother and later Abigail’s era. Some could describe it as dry, but I like it.
The Lost Sisterhood: Prostitution in America, 1900-1918 by Ruth Rosen. This book focuses upon the end of sex work in the United States due to “Morality” Temperance Movement minded laws. A little tougher read, but lots of good info about the end of sex work as the “wild west” knew it. This is seen in RDR 1.
Historical Sex Work: New Contributions from History and Archaeology by Kristen R. Fellows, Angela J. Smith, Anna M. Munns I LOVE this book. Archaeology is where we get a lot of our info about the sex workers themselves because there aren’t a lot of records about them from their p.o.v. Love Love Love this book.Very expensive, but can be read online for free, especially if you have a university library account. (Local universities will usually allow you to check books out too.) I learned so much from this book and I hope I can do something similar. Literally writes about everything you could think of from how children were treated, the girl’s beauty or medical products, what they ate, etc.
The Archaeology of Prostitution and Clandestine Pursuits by Rebecca Yamin and Donna J. Seifert. Also a good book but a more challenging read. It focuses on sex work and gambling around the U.S. through its long history. Also expensive so either check the book out at a library or find it online to read.
Red Light Women of the Rocky Mountains by Jan MacKell. Again, the top historian of sex work. This would be seen more on tons of kindle versions or at used book shop. The largest book in this list, but if you have any questions ever - this book will probably answer it. Very good academic read.
Uneasy Virtue: The Politics of Prostitution and the American Reform Tradition by Barbara Meil Hobson. Not an easy read. I had to work to concentrate, but they talk a lot about court cases and religion and how the two basically ended sex work. The girls are painted as someone to be repulsed by, but also needing “rescuing”. This is not the author’s opinion - but she explains the mind set. Lots of good data.
