Mattie Silks
Mattie Silks was probably Maté Weinman according to a document found after her death and addressed to that name. She was born on a small farm in Kansas, ran away from home in her early teens, and by age eighteen was managing a brothel in Springfield. After much travelling, she set up at brothel in Georgetown, Colorado in 1875 and there she married a man named Silks. No marriage certificate survives. Mattie met “Cort” Corteze D. Thomson in Georgetown and the pair arrived in Denver in 1876 or early 1877. Cort received word in July 1884 that the wife he had abandoned had died and he and Mattie were married in Peru, Indiana where Mattie had friends. Thomson was a fairly successful amateur gambler who lived primarily off Mattie’s money. The best known of Mattie’s Denver houses was the famous House of Mirrors, purchased in 1911. It was the most luxurious bordello in Denver.1)
Early in 1898, Mattie, Cort, and eight working girls left Denver for Dawson. Mattie was about 52 years old and carried a pistol in the pocket of her dress. Cort drank too much and most of his debts in Dawson were at Joe Copper’s Dominion Saloon where he played Faro. Mattie rented a building on Second Street, owned by William Jenkins, proprietor of the Sourdough Saloon, and opened her brothel. It was one of the biggest sporting houses in town. Many Dawson townspeople turned out for the opening of Mattie’s brothel – her reputation preceded her. Most of Dawson’s prostitutes worked by themselves or is a small brothel with one or two women. Mattie’s girls were known to be honest and did not steal from their clients. Mattie was a good businesswoman and made some wise investments. Mattie told her friend Charley Nolan that in Dawson she paid off the Mounties to stay out of trouble: “I had to pay them $50 a day for every day I operated at Dawson City, but I’m not kicking. It was worth it.”2)
Mattie took 50% plus board from each girl’s earnings. The girl’s net profit was $30 to $50 per day plus tips. Mattie charged $30 for a quart of champagne. The whiskey was made from grain alcohol that cost $60 per gallon and Mattie diluted and coloured it so, sold by the glass, it was worth over $130 per gallon. Mattie, Cort and her girls were in Dawson for about three months. She decided to quit the town in May 1898 and return to Denver. The girls were homesick and Cort was sick and in debt. Mattie told her friend Charlie Nolan that she made a net profit of $38,000 for her ninety days in Dawson. She also said she would not spend another winter in Dawson for a million dollars.3)