As word of the gold rush spread so did the word of opportunities for
women to work in the women poor gold fields and communities.
Women going to California to rejoin their families usually had their
passages paid for by miners or businessmen who had decided to make
California their new home. Most of the male
Argonauts had originally planned on getting their gold and returning home to rejoin their families and enjoy their new riches.
[1] Typically women euphemistically labeled as
entertainers had little or no money for passage but as soon as they showed up in California they were hired by various
saloons, gambling halls, dance halls,
peep shows and/or
brothels. The cost of passage was typically paid for by the
entertainer
agreeing to work for the payees for at least three to six months. These
’’entertainers’’ initially were the majority of the female population.
[2] Very few of these ’’entertainers’’ made the five- to six-month trip by wagon on the
California Trail or chose the five- to seven-month all sea journeyWomen flooded to California from several countries and cities to work as prostitutes and
entertainers to capitalize on the scarcity of women. Most had worked as prostitutes or
entertainers in some other city before going to California.
entertainers and worked in
saloons,
gambling halls, dance halls, peep shows or brothels. Many came to take
advantage of the possibility of getting married to a prosperous miner or
businessman and getting out of the business. Many of them did. Others
became mistresses to high rolling customers who could afford to keep
them in the style they desired. In the early 1850s women were so scare
that prostitutes were not typically viewed by most as immoral,
[citation needed]
and many were in fact highly desired and their company actively sought.
Initially there were virtually no laws prohibiting or trying to
regulate or control prostitution. Then as now the often flamboyant
fashion styles set by many prostitutes was copied by other women. The sudden massive influx into a remote area overwhelmed the state
infrastructure, which in most places didn't even exist. Miners lived in
tents, wood shanties, wagons, or deck cabins removed from abandoned
ships.
[59]
Wherever gold was discovered, hundreds of miners would collaborate to
put up a camp and stake their claims. With names like Rough and Ready
and Hangtown (
Placerville, California), each camp often had its own
saloon, dance hall, and gambling house and Brothel. Rough and Ready is a census-designated place in Nevada County,
California, United States. It is located west of Grass Valley,
California, approximately 62 miles from Sacramento. The population was
963 at the 2010 census...
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| Rough and Ready is the only mining town to have "seceded" from the Union and then voted itself back in.[6] Populated mostly by miners from the state of Wisconsin, the town hoped to rid itself of a recently-introduced tax on new mining claims and the prohibition
of alcohol in Nevada County. Residents were also frustrated that the US
Postal Service was demanding they change the name of the town to either
"Rough" or "Ready", but not both. Another incentive for secession is
found in the legend of a local con man. The con man would wager with
miners that if he was able to prospect a certain amount of gold from
their claims, he would pay them far more than their claim was worth. He
would prospect until he had slightly less than the amount of gold needed
to make good on his wager, then quit and keep the gold. Since he
technically hadn't committed a crime, the courts were unable to
prosecute him. It was decided in a town meeting in April 1850 to draw up
articles of secession, forming the "Great Republic of Rough and Ready"
(and according to legend, the con man was immediately hanged). Less than
three months later, when preparing for an Independence Day
celebration, community members realized that they were no longer
entitled to celebrate US independence, and the secession was rescinded
by popular vote. |
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