"The Cottage" in about 1904, on Broadway, north of Seventh Avenue, Skagway's largest, most opulent brothel.

Behind the Red Curtains: Prostitution and Reform in Skagway, Alaska, 1897 - 1917.

By 
Catherine Holder Spude 

A manuscript. 375 pp., 30 period illustrations, 5 maps, 5 tables, 43 pp. of endnotes, complete index and bibliography.

Ready for peer review.

Table of Contents

 Frontispiece Map                                                                              i

  Table of Contents                                                                            ii

  List of Figures                                                                              viii

  List of Tables                                                                                 ix

 Preface and Acknowledgements                                                        x

 A short discussion of the long-term use of the color red (as in curtains, lights, clothing, and letters) in describing prostitutes. Why were prostitutes and politics intertwined in the first two decades of the twentieth century? Who helped me with this study?

 Introduction                                                                                  1

 A light introduction with touches of humor spells out what little Skagways’ citizens and visitors know about prostitution in the town and perhaps why (except when they visit Madam Jan’s fanciful bordello museum at the Red Onion Saloon). I suggest it had to do with the suppression of a story by the men – mayors and business leaders – and women – historian “Ma” Pullen, temperance leaders and museum sponsors – who brought about the demise of the institution. The legend that has taken its place would shock and dismay the good women that fought to eradicate the institution from their town. The object of this study is to set the record straight with a story that is much more interesting than the silly fantasy that has taken its place.

1. "Little Better Than Hell on Earth."                                                 7

  This chapter explores a brief history of the Klondike Gold Rush and Skagway’s role in it; the legends of Soapy Smith and the damage he and his gang did to the community’s long term growth and business reputation; the legends and romance surrounding Dawson’s prostitutes and other fancy women, and the famous entertainers such as Little Egypt, Mattie Silks and Klondike Kate, who frequented Skagway.

 2. Dancehalls and Saloons                                                            19

 Skagway had its share of scandalous women during the gold rush, but they appeared to differ in character from those in Dawson. This chapter explores the difference, attributing much of it to those people who described them. They are followed by a description of the principle places the prostitute could be found, the dance halls and the saloons, with a detailed history of one such place, Clancy’s Music Hall, Club Rooms, and Theatre. Documentary evidence from a 1902 trial in Juneau is used to describe the activities within the dance hall, on nights other than “family nights.” This chapter also explores some of the individual women known to habituate the dance halls and upstairs rooms of Skagway’s saloons during the gold rush days, women who didn’t appear in the popular accounts of Stroller White and later story teller, Pierre Berton.

 3. The Cribs                                                                                49

  The small, one-room, single women businesses rented at usurious rates from greedy landlords formed the base of Skagway’s early economy in sex, even when the women worked the dance halls. Spread behind the saloons, dance halls, gambling dens and cigar stores on Fifth, Sixth and Seventh avenues, women displayed their wares and begged men for a quick turn-around for four to six bits so they could pay their five dollar weekly rents. Paradise, French and Jap alleys betrayed the ethnic composition of the women who operated Skagway’s cribs.

Frank Keeler, who called himself Alaska’s money king, sat on the city council and had multiple connections with the Japanese community. When the “temperance women” tried to move Jap Alley away from the public school, Frank used all of his bluster to stop them. He was unsuccessful, and the city council created the Seventh Avenue Red Light District.

 4. A Place of Her Own                                                                  75

 This chapter profiles three prostitutes who operated one-woman businesses in Skagway during the 1898 – 1902 period, before the city obtained the right to prosecute and fine the prostitutes. Maggie Marshall, also known as “Popcorn Kate” was scorned by the newspaper editor and in the court documents. Old timer Dixie Anzer raved about her in his memoirs. “Dutch Rosie” Wagner had a macque, a lover who accommodated her occupation and who, as a bartender, probably facilitated her liaisons. She married him and the couple eventually became recognized as Skagway pioneers. The mature Belle Schooler, Skagway’s first true madam, owned a good deal of property around town and used her influence to bribe court officials.                                                             

 5. The Madams                                                                            97

The madams emerged in Skagway with the establishment of the red light district and began to replace the usurious landlords as business owners. They also brought peace and order to the district. This chapter explores the function of the madam, describing how she taught the prostitutes about birth and disease control, and kept the women from bringing unwanted attention to the district as a whole.

The chapter profiles two early Skagway madams. Frankie Belmont owned “The Cottage,” Skagway’s flashiest and most posh setting from 1898 to 1904. An arrogant Frankie got too cocky ran up against city hall, so, the newspaper editor (John Troy, later Alaska governor) worked to drive her from town. Ida Freidinger, much more conservative, thrived with her two small brothels, living to be 68 and being eulogized as a long-time Skagway pioneer. Freidingers’ probate provides a fascinating glimpse into the inside of two brothels in 1912.

6. Gentlemen of Standing and Property                                         133

Reformed madam Josie Washburn, in 1919, believed the “Man Landlady” to be at the root of all evil in the institution of prostitution in early twentieth century America, the man who took rents from prostitutes but provided no services or comforts in return, as did the madam. This chapter profiles the two major landlords on Seventh Avenue, one already having been discussed (Frank Keelar). Both Lee Guthrie and Phil Snyder became city council members and remained influential in the Skagway power structure long after their terms in office expired. I discuss how intricately their political decisions intermeshed with their interests in the red light district.

7. The Social Evil                                                                        164

 Chapter 7 begins to step away from the biographical material and into the social and analytical context of prostitution in the early twentieth century of America. It discusses how the newspaper editor and columnists such as Canadian Stroller White, whom Pierre Berton relied upon for many of his Skagway gold rush stories, denigrated the Skagway prostitutes to uplift the “reputation” of middle class ladies. The class structure of the community becomes important to understand. Stories of rape and adultery were treated differently, depending on the social class of the principles involved, as shown by two case studies. I discuss how the Victorians and Edwardians firmly believed that women were morally superior to men, therefore could control their lust; whereas men had no such control, thus justifying a double sexual standard. By hiding the uncomfortable problem of “the social necessity,” it could be ignored, and men could indulge their uncontrollable lusts.

With the large male to female ratio in Skagway, and large number of working class, bachelor men, middle class women feared for themselves and their daughters. They were sure the Rapacious Stranger would attack them on the streets if they did not have the red light district in which to vent their base lusts. The social evil was indeed necessary for the safety of good, reputable, middle class women. Although I touched on the subject earlier, I now go into some depth discussing the rise of the middle class women’s movement in Skagway, their effort to move the Japanese prostitutes from behind the public school, and their success in creating the Seventh Avenue red light district.

8. Judicial Christianity                                                                194

  After the creation of the Seventh Avenue red light district in 1901, a series of judicial decisions in the First District court in Juneau had repercussions on the how Skagway’s citizens would interact with her own prostitutes. After reviewing the way the government worked in the military district of Alaska and her penal codes, I outline specifically the response of First District Judge Melville Brown to pressure from the reform community to clean-up of the southeast Alaska. In particular, four spectacular cases in Juneau and Douglas set precedence for handling prostitution crime, not only in the Southeast, but in Alaska as a whole. Two of the cases went all the way to the Supreme Court on appeal. There is some evidence that these cases contributed to Alaska’s ultimate success in getting Territorial status.                                                                                                                   

In Skagway, having finally been able to incorporate, the city began to prosecute the prostitutes under its ordinances. In a battle with the federal authorities, the prostitutes were fined almost into bankruptcy, seriously threatening the institution, and causing panic among the employers of working class men and those depending on the transient miners during the spring and fall travel seasons. A deal was finally reached with the district attorney in Juneau to stop the federal prosecutions and Skagway began a quarterly fining of the prostitutes, instituting a defacto sin tax on them and the men who operated gambling in the saloons. These taxes provided almost three fourths of the court revenues of the city.

9. The Politics of Prostitution                                                     213

 After discussing how women had traditionally operated (or failed to participated in) politics by influencing their husbands, I introduce Sarah Shorthill, the founder of Skagway’s chapter of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union in 1900. An early case with the WCTU involved their protest of four liquor licenses. They successfully closed down one saloon. Two others closed their doors the following year, due to the protest filed by the WCTU. Their efforts to move the women on Jap Alley succeeded. Then they abruptly quit their activities when Mrs. Shorthill became the president of the Alaska organization.

I introduce John Troy at greater length here, as he was instrumental in the dissolution of the WCTU. He actively criticized the efforts of this politically active women’s organization to reform the community from his position as newspaper editor. Troy also held considerable power as chairman of the nominating community for the Citizen’s political party, which had run City Hall since 1898. After the city gained the power to tax the prostitutes, he stopped reporting their activities except in cases where council and police authorities wanted to run certain individuals out of town.

The WCTU rose from the ashes only after Troy left Skagway in 1907 and the Labor party of working class men that rousted his middle class Citizen’s party was defeated by a new and Progressive middle class Taxpayer’s Party. The new newspaper editor, Sam Wall respected the WCTU, who took on the domestic duties of the city, such as providing drinking fountains for dogs and horses, restrooms for tourists, reading rooms for bachelor men, non-alcoholic parties on holidays and during elections, and entertaining religious lectures.                                       

One leader of the WCTU is profiled: Anna Stinebaugh. She had been active during the saloon and alley protests in 1900 and 1901, and been pinpointed as the wife of the owner of a landlord on Seventh Avenue. She helped form the reincarnation of the WCTU and led the successful efforts that followed.

10. The Landladies                                                                     254

      A landowning madam always referred to herself as a landlady, not a madam, who generally just owned the business. Skagway had several important landladies. A few were absentee landladies, who never participated in their businesses. Two important active Skagway landladies, Kitty Faith and Ida Freidinger are profiled in this chapter. They exemplify the astute businesswoman of the time.

11. To Move a District                                                                265

      The turning point for prostitution as an institution occurred in 1909, shortly after the defeat of Christopher Shea’s working class Labor Party at the city election in April. Shea had wrought important Progressive political reforms for the working men in Skagway and was on his way to courting the businessmen as well. However, as a former saloon owner, he failed to appeal to the wives of the middle class men in town. Although he stayed on the city council, his party had only two of the seven members and could not muster enough strength to outvote the more conservative Citizen’s Party that returned to power in 1909. In response to a petition from the reform community, the Seventh Avenue red light district was closed and removed to a more remote part of town.

12. Bootlegging, Unfortunates and the Higher-Ups                           288

The women of Alaska, largely through the efforts of the WCTU, gained the franchise in 1913. In the Skagway city election of 1914, they overthrew the existing Citizen’s party, ousting longtime legislator, magistrate and lawman, Marshal Josiah M “Si” Tanner, a man who rounded up the Soapy Smith gang in 1898 and was much beloved of the male community. Si had supported Shea in his Progressive Era reforms, and continued those reforms, but apparently had not done enough to satisfy the women of the moral reform community. Newspaper editor Sam Wall attributed his 1914 defeat specifically to the women’s vote. An organizer of the women’s vote was temperance leader Harriett Pullen, owner of the Pullen House Hotel, who drove women to the polls in her hotel carriage.

In 1916, fifty year old Kitty Faith, the majority owner of the Alaska Street red light district, married a simple carpenter from San Francisco and left with him to live in his mortgaged house. They begin to sell off her Alaska Streetproperties. Essie Miller, Ida Freidinger’s heir, and a long time Skagway prostitute, became the last landlady in Skagway.
    I profile Essie Miller as an example of a woman who rises within the ranks of the demimonde, learning her trade from a mentor and moving from a trouble-maker to an astute businesswoman. She also moved into a relationship with long-time saloon owner F. C. “Tuck” Flaharty, a favorite saloon owner in Skagway. He epitomized the man who came with the gold rush, worked for the railroad, tended bar, bought his own business, and successfully fought off the reformers who tried to close his business three times and failed. In 1916, he was forced to close up his business when the women of Skagway succeed in instituting local prohibition. He went to Juneau to open another saloon.

In 1917, the reform community lodged a complaint that the Alaska Street red light district was funneling illicit booze into Skagway. In a sting operation, the U. S. Marshal arrested all five madams for selling liquor without a license. The U. S. Commissioner gave them heavy fines and closed down the district. The marshal arrested Tuck Flaharty two days later for bootlegging. Tuck’s lawyer got him off on a technicality. A month after the sale of all liquor in Alaska become illegal, Tuck and Essie married and moved to Seattle, where they opened a speakeasy on First and Yesler Street in the heart of that city’s tenderloin.

13. The Red Curtain                                                                   312

 I review the events that lead to the closing of the red light district, including the lowering of the gender ratio, Skagway’s declining economy, the exodus of vested economic interests, the decline of the railroad, the re-emergence of the WCTU and subsequent rise in political power of middle-class women, the change in leadership at The Daily Alaskan, the coming of Prohibition, and the inter-relationship of prostitution and gender politics, specifically the cause of moral reforms during the Progressive Era.

14. In the End                                                                           343

 This final short chapter provides ending with a few anecdotal stories about later events worth telling. It concludes with a quote from John Troy in which he suggests that the women who married or died after living a life of sin should be “forgiven, and then forgotten.” I disagree with much of what John Troy did during his life in Skagway. I disagree with much of this sentiment as well. These women, both the prostitutes and the reformers, deserve much more and especially not to be forgotten. Their story provides a rare glimpse of Alaskan women and working class men so often overlooked in the gold rush and Progressive era literature.

 Epilogue: What Happened to Them                                            348

A follow-up on each of the primary individuals in the book: prostitutes, reformers, politicians and newspaper men.

 Appendix: Names of All Skagway Prostitutes Found in Records      356

Index (not yet compiled)                                                          375

 References Cited                                                                        376

If you have additional information about prostitution in SE Alaska, please contact Dr. Spude at

montdawn@msn.com