Prostitution
Women 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. Most were called 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, 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.
Women of all different statuses, classes, and races were involved in the California Gold Rush. The rapidly increasing California population had very few women and women found a myriad of different opportunities which were normally not available to them. 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. Some of the first women to show up were women from southern California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Acapulco, and San Blas. Since Sonoran women predominated they all were typically all labeled ‘’’Sonorans’’’ or ‘’Senoritas’’ by the miners. They were soon joined by women from Panama, Ecuador, Peru and Chile. Since Chileans predominated all the South America Latinos were all typically called ‘’’Chilenos’’’. As word got back to the east coast of the job opportunities for women and travel arrangements were worked out with paddle wheel steam ship lines with dependable schedules on the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean many more women started coming to California.
Most of the women who worked in the saloons, gambling halls, dance halls and/or brothels were labeled ’’entertainers’’. Typically these entertainers had little or no money for passage but as soon as they showed up they were hired by various, saloons, gambling halls, dance halls and/or brothels who paid for the cost of their trip. The women typically repaid the cost of passage by agreeing to work for the payees at least three to six months. In women-starved California men paid up to $16.00 to $20.00 a night for the privilege of having them sit at the same gaming table with them. 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 journey around Cape Horn.
In San Francisco, an official port of entry for California shipping and passengers, the population exploded from about 200 in 1846 to 36,000 in 1852. In San Francisco initially many women (and men) were housed in wooden houses, ships hauled up on the shore to serve as homes or businesses, canvas wood framed tents and other flammable structures. These types of structures combined with a lot of drunken gamblers and miners led almost inevitably to many fires. Most of San Francisco burned down six times in six Great Fires between 1849 and 1852. From San Francisco by late 1849 Paddle steamers were transporting the miners and others 125 miles (201 km) to Sacramento, California and the start of the California Gold Rush country.
Young Chinese girls were bought in China and sold as Chinese prostitutes for Chinese men and were considered to be the bottom of the prostitute's hierarchy. They were always far fewer than the male Chinese population with only seven Chinese prostitutes known in 1850. Hispanic women typical were considered one rung up in desirability. In late 1849 French Prostitutes got a head start as about 200 of them showed up in San Francisco. Other French prostitutes showed up from French settlements in Lima Peru and Santiago Chile. White American and French prostitutes were considered the most desirable and could and did charge the highest prices. Many French prostitutes, for example, became very wealthy since they were actively sought at the saloons, gaming tables, dance halls, peep shows, etc. and as escorts to prosperous miners and business men. Typically, the lighter complexion a woman had, the higher price she could get. Prostitution occurred in organized brothels, individually rented rooms, and in saloons, gaming halls, or fandangos—which offered dancing, gambling, alcohol, and sometimes prostitutes. Increasing populations of miner's and businessman's wives and their families helped further stigmatize prostitution when middle-class morality began to come to California in the late 1850s.
In 1850 San Francisco had 537 registered saloons. There was little opportunity to do anything except visit the saloons—very little else existed. California Prostitutes suffered from a litany of problems common to prostitutes then and now. Unwanted pregnancy was a distinct possibility since there were no commonly available contraceptive drugs or apparatus. The alternative to an unwanted pregnancy was back room abortion or giving birth and raising an illegitimate child of often uncertain parentage. Disease was a constant problem difficult to escape since syphilis was common among a lot of men and women. If discovered in time, there were treatments for syphilis but it was costly and painful. Communicable diseases, like cholera, measles, tuberculosis, diphtheria, etc. were a constant threat as knowledge of how they were spread or how to treat them was unknown. Germs would remain unknown for another 30 years and effective treatment for over a century in many cases. Sanitation practices were expensive and not understood so clean water and sewage collection and treatment were just starting to develop. Epidemics like cholera and yellow fever killed thousands. Medical treatments were of very uneven quality as almost anyone could call themselves a doctor and treat patients—professional medical training and certification was just starting to be developed. Medical knowledge was so poor that training often did little or no good. If you survived you got a doctor bill, if you died you got buried.
To make more money, the women were often paid to ‘’push’’ drinks on their customers and if successful they often ended up inebriated. Sometimes they were allowed to drink tea which only ‘’looked’’ like the expensive drinks their companions were paying for. Drug, alcohol or gambling addiction was common problem as some women tried to escape into another world. Often prostitutes were managed by pimps who collected a large share of their earnings. Drunk customers were a continuing problem. Many men were dirty and wore dirty clothes. Almost unique to this period is the lack of baths of the typical man (and women). Bathing involved a strenuous process of heating water on a wood stove, dumping it in a tub, washing down and then dumping the dirty water. Not everyone believed in being clean and baths were infrequent for many. Eventually there did develop bath houses where bathing could be done for a fee. Clothes were hard to wash and iron and there are several stories of dirty laundry being sent to Hawaii to be cleaned and ironed and then returned—it was cheaper than getting it done locally.
Some of California’s prostitution practitioners were indentured Chinese women, economically and socially oppressed Latina women, or kidnapped and enslaved white women. From 1848 to the late 1850s, prostitutes experienced an unprecedented ascension in power and a rapid fall from grace as more ‘’respectable’’ women and their families came to California. Many prostitutes were illiterate and signed contracts with dubious legality with an X. As the number of prostitutes multiplied prices went down and it became harder to make a living. As prostitution became more illegal it was often necessary to pay bribes to the local police to keep operating. It is unknown what the average life span of prostitutes was but it was almost certainly less than the average woman in this era. Prostitution was often a dirty degrading experience for the women who participated in it.
Read more about this topic: Women In The California Gold Rush