They were called "frail sisters," "fallen angels," "filles de Joie," "soiled doves," "queens of the night," and "whores." They worked the seamy brothels, saloons, cribs, streets, and "hog ranches" of the American frontier. They were the prostitutes of the post-Civil War West.

Daughters of Joy, Sisters of Misery details the destitute lives of these nearly anonymous women. Anne Butler reveals who they were, how they lived and worked, and why they became an essential element in the development of the West's emerging institutions. Her story bears little resemblance to the popular depictions of prostitutes in film and fiction. Far removed from the glittering lives of dancehall girls, these women lived at the boarders of society and the brink of despair.

Poor and uneducated, they faced a world where scarce jobs, paltry wages, and inflated prices made prostitution a likely if bitter choice of employment. At best their daily lives were characterized by fierce economic competition and at worst by fatal violence in the hands of customers, coworkers, or themselves. They were scorned and attacked by the legal, military, church, and press establishments; nevertheless, as Butler shows, these same institutions also used prostitutes as a means for maintaining their authority and as a lure for economic development.

Daughters of Joy, Sisters of Misery is based on an enormous amount of research in more than twenty repositories in Wyoming, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, and Kansas. Using census lists, police dockets, jail registers, military correspondence, trial testimony, inquests, court martials, newspapers, post return, and cemetery records, Butler illuminates the dark corners of a dark profession and adds much to our knowledge of both western and women's history.

About the Author
Anne M. Butler is a member of the history faculty at Gallaudet College in Washington, D.C.


Reviews
Winner of a Golden Spur Award for Non-Fiction of the Western Writers of America, 1986.
"It breaks new ground as the first extensive study of prostitutes in the post-Civil War American West. . . . Well written, rich in anecdote, amply documented, and handsomely illustrated, this book combines thoughtful interpretation, sensitivity, and meticulous scholarship."--Choice
"Daughters of Joy will prove to be a gold mine of information, since the author's massive research makes the book a primary source as well as a thoughtful study of soiled doves on the frontier. . . . Butler has portrayed the stark realities of prostitution in the American West with sensitivity and insight. Her superb study is certain to become the standard work on the subject."--Southwest Review
"A good revisionist history. The analysis is built on a careful examination of previously neglected data, and the author's conclusions mesh nicely with our changing view of how the West was really won."--Smithsonian
"Daughters of Joy is scholarly in the best sense of the word."--Journal of the West


Awards
Winner of 1986.



Book Information
ISBN 9780252014666
Author Anne M. Butler
Format Paperback
Page Count 232
Imprint University of Illinois Press
Publisher University of Illinois Press
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 15mm