Fascinating photographs show prostitutes who ruled men in the 19th century Wild West and went on

MATTIE SILKS (1845-1929)

Mattie Silks became on the best known madams in the west, having brothels in Dodge City, Kansas and Denver, Colorado where demand for women was high due to the gold rushes.

Mattie was a competitive businesswoman and engaged in a public duel with rival madam Kate Fulton when she opened another brothel on her patch.

Mattie was so successful that she netted £30,000 (the equivalent of £750,000 today) running a bordello for three months in Dawson City, Alaska.

Mattie married at least twice and also kept a lover.

She had a reputation for excellent service in her establishments and was known for sheltering the needy and homeless in her brothels.

BELLE BREZING (1860 - 1940)

Belle Brezing was a nationally-known madam in Lexington, Kentucky – and started her first brothel in the former residence of First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln.

Belle catered to powerful men from Lexington and beyond, men who came to the city because of the horse business and tobacco.

She gained a national reputation during the Spanish-American War (1898) when U. S. Army units were billeted in Lexington – and she only allowed officers of senior rank in her brothel.

Belle was so famous that her death warranted an obituary in Time Magazine – that she is said to have been the model for Belle Watling in the classic novel, Gone with the Wind.

BIG NOSE KATE (1850–1940)

Originally from Hungary, Mary Katharine Haroney – more commonly known as ‘Big Nose Kate’ to her clients – travelled to Kansas at age sixteen to seek her fortune as a prostitute.

Whilst working as a prostitute in Fort Griffin, Texas, she began a relationship with one of the deadliest/legendary/gunslingers Doc Holliday – which lasted until his death.

Kate continued to work as a prostitute throughout her relationship with Holliday – and even broke him out of jail in 1877 by starting a fire and pulling a gun on the prison guard.

JULIA BULETTE (1832-1867)

Julia Bulette, an English-born American prostitute moved to mining boomtown Virginia city, Nevada, in 1859 when she was twenty-seven years old.

As she was the only single/unmarried woman in the city, she became sought after by the miners and quickly decided to take up prostitution.

Julia is often remembered as being the "original hooker with a heart of gold" – she donated large sums of money to miners in hardship, nursed victims of the influenza epidemic and was much-loved in Virginia City.

When she was murdered by a French drifter in 1867, the whole town went into mourning for her – all the mines and saloons closed out of respect and thousands attended her funeral.

LAURA BULLION (1876–1961)

Born in Knickerbocker, Texas, Laura Bullion worked as a prostitute in Fannie Porter’s famed brothel in nearby San Antonio.

It was here that Laura began a relationship with outlaw and member of Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch, William “News” Carver.

Although Carver initially denied Laura’s pleas to join the gang at first, he eventually relented.

The group admired her skill at stealing stolen goods and assisting their train robberies - and she was nicknamed the “Rose of the Wild Bunch” by them.

When Laura was arrested after a train robbery n 1901, the Chief of Detectives Desmond noted of her, "I would'nt [sic] think helping to hold up a train was too much for her. She is cool, shows absolutely no fear”.

Laura Bullion was released from prison in 1905 and lived the remainder of her life as a seamstress, dying in Memphis, Tennessee in 1961, the last of the Wild Bunch.

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