Mattie Silks

She was born on a small farm in Kansas in 1846. She knew at an early age that she would be a madam at a fancy parlor house. In 1865, when only 18 years old, she was already managing a parlor house in Springfield, Illinois.

She worked her way west, working at the various cowtowns and boomtowns. She ran only the finest houses. Soon she was well known throughout the west. She carried a pistol in a hidden pocket in her dress.

She came to Colorado in 1875 and first settled in Georgetown. A year later she took her girls to Denver. She opened a fancy house on Holladay Street (later named Market Street) and started making money right away. Her main operation was located at 1916-22 Market Street, but she sooned other smaller establishments up and down the street. In 1877, she met Cortez Thomson, a foot-racer who wore pink tights and star-spangled blue trunks. He had ridden with Quantrill’s raiders during the Civil War. He frequently ran foot races and the people turned out in droves to watch and bet on him. The man was married and had a daughter, but Mattie continued to shower her affections on him. They got engaged and on August 24, 1877, held a big party at Olympic Gardens on Colfax Avenue on the Platte River. At the reception another woman, Kate Fulton, was angry that Mattie had "stolen" her man. They started to argue when someone suggested they settle it like men did. They were handed pistols and paced off the distance. They both fired and missed each other. But someone’s shot hit Thomson. The woman was hauled away. A few days later, on September 3, Kate Fulton attacked Mattie again. This time she was hauled away by the police and arrested.

He was basically a kept man. He spent Mattie’s money and frequently demanded more from her. Sometimes he would ride his horse right into her house. She gave him anything he wanted. Thomson’s wife died in 1884 and he married Mattie soon after. A couple years later, Thomson’s daughter died, leaving a small child. He refused to acknowledge the child. But Mattie felt differently. She adopted the child herself and then placed her in a boarding home. Thomson died when Mattie was 54 years old. She spent very lavishly on his funeral.

Her business was still doing well. She hired "Handsome" Jack Ready to be her financial adviser and bouncer. It wasn’t very long before they were lovers. Mattie married him in 1923, when she was 77. He was several years younger than her. They moved to a house on Laurence Street. She died in 1923 at age 83. She was buried beside Thomson. By the time she died, prostitution had been outlawed. So even though she had been a successful businesswoman, she died with only about $4,000 worth of assets. The assests were split between the adopted granddaughter and Ready. He died a couple of years later.

She was never a prostitute herself.

Copyright May 2000 by Beth Gibson

Sources: The Seamy Side of Denver by Phil Goldstein, and Soiled Doves: Prostitution in the Early West, by Anne Seagraves

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Last updated: 5/3/00