THE PATRONS OF SIN

Approximately every other morning, before I start my coffee or get my paper from the driveway or take the dogs out, I open the file that stores my first-draft-in-progress of my book about the 1890's madam, Emeline Cummings.  My agreement with myself is that I will put the rope in my mouth as early in the morning as I can stand, and out I will begin to wade into some kind of fast moving water.  That's what writing Emeline's story is to me.  I have no idea how fast or deep I will go when I sit down to write.  I read related historical documents the night before, so that such will be the stuff of my dreams.  At some point, the coffee does get made and all the other rituals too, but I make it to Emeline at least 3.5 times a week.

For the last month or so, I've been focused on the kinds of men who would frequent high-end whorehouses -- although, they aren't called that at the high end.  In the late 1800's, high end brothels were typically known as boardinghouses or parlor houses.  

And --surprise, surprise!  There are not reams of paper to work through about men-of-means and their away from home sex needs and appetites.  But, it's not difficult to infer. 

For one thing, there are fictional and non-fictional accounts of madams and prostitutes. In the high-end sex trade of the late 1880's in the Pacific Northwest, Madams made their fortunes -- or at least met their expenses -- from gambling and liquor rather than direct payment for sex. 

Women with the right combination of beauty, wit, charm and poise might make enough money as freelance prostitute in their twenties and early thirties to live comfortably the remainder of their lives.  There existed a circuit of such women, traveling between Victoria, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland to high-end parlor houses, boarding houses and gentlemen's clubs in these areas.  Many chose their route based upon the schedule of a few patrons -- businessmen making their fortunes in these cities and surrounding areas. 

Enter Emeline Cummings, the madam who is the subject of this blog, and my fictional account of her life and times in Skagit County and Edmonds, Washington State.   She would make her money by creating the perfect respite for traveling men who were building and investing in Skagit and Snohomish County in the late 1800's. 

Her women pay Emeline rent for the nights they use a room in her establishment and keep what the men pay them for sex.  Or what should we call it?  Cuddling?  Listening?  Spooning?  Playing Loving Mother?  Yes, to all of the above.  These needs are easy to predict and understand.

As with other high-end madams of this era, Emeline will supply the food, liquor, live entertainment such as music or magic, and gambling for fees that are greatly inflated. 

In general, who were these men, these so-called patrons of sin?  One thing they all had in common was ambition.  Some had traveled by train from the east or the plains to San Francisco, making their way by various ships and steamers to the Skagit Valley where they found land to file claim on.  They had come alone or with brothers or friends, but they worked literally day and night to dredge the sloughs (you can only dredge at low tide), cut the timber, burn stumps, plant and harvest.  

None came with female family or companions.  They all built their cabins by hand in order to homestead the land and own it.  Many went home after one lousy season of unpredictable tides, floods, sickness and near starvation.  Some prospered, and made more claims and kept building, selling, expanding, investing and grew wealthy in a relatively short period of time.  Some sent for family some point after the cabin and before the wealth.  Some never wanted to settle with one woman.  Or any women. 

Other men were hired by railroad and mining industries, to name a few.  There were bankers, lawyers, traveling salesmen -- all covering a territory that sometimes stretched from San Francisco to Bellingham, Washington and into Canada.   The late 1880's boomed in the Pacific Northwest.  Merchants did well because of discoveries of gold in the Klondike River of Alaska, and in numerous mountain streams of the northwest.  Timber was needed for construction, and the logging industry flourished, as did heavy equipment for mining, and building. 

There was big money to be had in the transport of people and goods.  Transportation in the Pacific Northwest meant land, water and mountain problems to be solved while rapidly supplying a burgeoning customer base with goods and services that poured into the region.  All of these things made some men exceedingly wealthy, traveling often and lonely. 

Loneliness, feeling uprooted, chasing ambition, gambling and liquor combine to make a human being do just about anything to feel at ease.  For women, these truths made for a living -- and for some, a fortune.