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Mattie entered the sex industry at an early age, becoming a madam for the first time at just 19. She would later say that she never actually worked as a prostitute, but only as a madam. She ran brothels in Springfield, Dodge City, and Georgetown before landing in Denver. 

Mattie was a famous Madam of the Wild West because she was a true businesswoman. She was known for her inventive marketing, often holding elaborate parades in which she displayed the women in her employ. Her efforts paid off. The Market Street brothel was the most popular brothel in the city, surpassed only by the famous House of Mirrors in 1898. Mattie kept at it, however, continuing to operate competitively, and then buying the House of Mirrors when its owner died in 1909. 

By far, what I love most about the history of Mattie Silks is the lore of the duel she fought with rival brothel owner, Kate Fulton. Yes, you read right, an actual duel between two women. The legend has it that the two women were battling over business as well as the affections of Mattie’s lover, Cort Thomson. When the competition reached a boiling point, a duel was arranged in which the two faced each other, topless none the less. While they both missed, Cort himself was hit by Mattie’s bullet. 

In reality, it may have been a drunken bar fight when the two rival madams ran into each other while enjoying some time off. Either way, Mattie was a woman who left people talking wherever she went.