Farcountry’s newest release, Boudoirs to Brothels: The Intimate World of Wild West Women, offers an
in-depth look into the lives of 18 prostitutes and madams in the West from 1850 to 1974. Awardwinning
author Michael Rutter shines new light on well-known madams Squirrel Tooth Alice, Mattie
Silks, and Jennie Rogers, and also features less famous characters—Dora Topham, hired by the city
council to run the red light district in Salt Lake City; Annie Groves, who tried to kill the man who
infected her with syphilis; and Dorothy Baker of Helena, Montana, whose doors remained open until
1973. Amply illustrated with 47 historical photographs, some never before published, Boudoirs to
Brothels is sure to beguile anyone interested in the Old West, women’s history, and life on society’s darker edge.
