Mattie Blaylock - Runs Away

Runs Away

In mid-1868, Mattie ran away with her younger sister Sarah to avoid farm life. Mattie was a reasonably skilled seamstress and may have sought work in that field, but both girls found life on their own very difficult. There were few employment possibilities for young girls. They likely headed west to one of the growing towns along the Kansas-Iowa-Missouri border area.

Sarah returned home less than a year later, chagrined and shamed by her experience. Her parents greeted her cheerlessly and took her back in disgrace. The first known record of Mattie's presence is a picture taken in Fort Scott in 1871. It's not known where she and Sarah spent the intervening time. Court records indicate that the clerks may have phonetically spelled her Iowa-accented use of "Celia" as "Sally", for no court records are found throughout her life using the name Mattie. At some point she chose the alias "Sally" probably in an effort to conceal her identity and remain as anonymous as possible. Court records show that she adopted prostitution as her profession beginning in 1872 in Fort Scott, then later in Dodge City.