Dora DuFran

[Linked Image from recollections.biz]


Deadwood with Dora DuFran, one of the most famous madams of the Wild West.
Like Fannie Porter, Dora’s family immigrated to the American West (Nebraska) from England when she was just a girl. And like most of the women in this post and most that I’ve read about who became “soiled doves,” she entered the sex industry as a teen, but the trajectory as to how that happened is muddy at best. What we know is that she began working as a prostitute in Nebraska at a young age and then made her way to Deadwood as the Gold Rush hit, arriving in town and declaring herself a madam from the get-go. She may have started in nothing more than a tent or two, but she eventually became one of the most successful madams in the area up until her death in 1934. 

We know that Dora was friends with some of the best-known characters in Deadwood. Calamity Jane worked for her from time to time, likely as a cook or maid. It is said that Calamity visited Dora’s place on the night she died. Dora published a pamphlet about Calamity’s life as told to her by the famous character before she passed. She was also friends with the famous Charlie Utter, who is said to have helped procure employees for her.