Klondike Kate, The Richest Saloon Girl in the Wild West
She made more in one night than most gold miners earned in a month. From dance halls to saloons, Klondike Kate proved that women could make a fortune in the Old West.
Men outnumbered women in the Old West. Overall, there were about three times as many men as women. And when the gold rush lured miners to California in 1849, the state’s population became 90% men.
Lonely men visited saloons to meet women. But don’t confuse the saloon girls, also called dance hall girls, with prostitutes. Saloon girls were entertainers who danced with guests and flirted.
Saloons hired dance-hall girls because it brought in patrons. And it was a lucrative profession for women in the Old West. For Kathleen Rockwell, better known as Klondike Kate, working in the saloons made her a fortune.
Life as a Saloon Girl
Working in the saloons was a respectable option for women in the Wild West.
Saloon girls received around $10 a week in wages, plus a commission on drinks and dances. When a customer bought a drink for a saloon girl, she received a cut.
Bartenders worked with saloon girls to make sure they didn’t actually have to drink the shots that men bought for them. Instead of whiskey, the girls might receive a shot glass filled with cold tea or dyed water. None the wiser, customers paid full price for the whiskey, and the women stayed sober.
Dancing was another lucrative way for saloon girls to make money. Saloons charged as much as one dollar to dance with the girls, who received half the ticket price. The most popular dance hall girls might squeeze 50 dances into a single night, raking in the riches.
In fact, some “soiled doves” gave up sex work because they earned more in the dance halls. And there was a clear status difference between the town’s saloon girls and the prostitutes. One saloon girl fought with a customer who tried to cross a line. “I don’t mind the black eye,” the saloon girl said after fighting off the man, “but he called me a whore.”
On a typical night, dancing started at 8 p.m. Dancers would take turns on the floor with different men. When the song ended, saloon girls would encourage their dance partner to buy more drinks, putting more money in her pocket as well as the saloon owner’s.
Saloon owners took care to protect their saloon girls, since the girls brought in so much business. Many saloon owners complained when patrons spent too much time buying dances and drinks from one particular woman — the greatest threat to the saloon owner was marriage, which often ended a saloon girl’s career.
Still, the women who chose to work in saloons often preferred it to the tough life of a homesteader’s wife. Saloon girls had money, fine clothes, and the admiration of the town’s men. Raising children, milking cows, and harvesting crops didn’t appeal to the women who took jobs in the saloons.
Anti-saloon advocates targeted the saloon girls as a sign of vice. “In Denver, when I was there, saloons were full of disreputable women, drinking with the men right at the bar,” complained George Hammel. “One would come up and nudge you and say, ‘How’s things for a drink?’ The barkeeper would say, ‘Yes, go on, throw a drink into her.’”
Hammel complained that the saloon girls made 15 cents out of every 25-cent drink. Girls, gambling, and gin were a potent combination — and bartenders were often more interested in profits than anything else.
In fact, saloon girls sometimes made more money than their customers. Klondike Kate, one of the most famous saloon girls, was said to earn more in a single night than most miners brought home in a month.
Klondike Kate’s Journey West
How did women become saloon girls in the Old West? The journey of Klondike Kate reveals the opportunities that women took advantage of in a wild era.
Born Kathleen Rockwell, Klondike Kate was a dancer, entertainer, and singer who earned her nickname during the Klondike Gold Rush. But years earlier, Kate led a more average life. Born in 1876 in Junction City, Kansas, Kate traveled West with her mother when she was a child.
Kate’s mother left behind Kansas to move to Washington State. From there, she explored the Pacific Coast, heading all the way to Valparaiso, Chile, with her daughter.
Young Kate had a reputation as a wild child. “It wasn’t that I was bad,” Kate later explained. “I was just imaginative and full of life and the excitement of living.”
That excitement got Kate kicked out of one boarding school because she was dancing and singing in class.
Kate was also generous. When a fire burned down a nearby neighborhood, Kate welcomed the homeless townspeople into her own home, even though her parents were out of town. The generous offer racked up huge bills to feed everyone.
When she turned 18, Kate moved to New York City, where she worked as a chorus girl. But Kate didn’t appear on Broadway. Instead, she worked in a Coney Island bar and a handful of vaudeville houses. Kate’s career netted her $18 a week — a pale shadow of what she would earn later in her career.
When a Washington State variety theater offered Kate a job, she headed West again.
Kate lived in Washington during the 1890s, when rumors of gold in the Yukon Territory ignited a feverish rush to Alaska.
And when Kate heard about the gold rush, she headed north with a friend, arriving in 1900.
In the Yukon, Kate worked at the Savoy Theatrical Company. It was there that she earned the name Klondike Kate.
Klondike Kate’s Flame Dance
Audiences filled with miners flocked to see Klondike Kate perform. While working at the Savoy, Kate danced and sang popular songs like “Put Your Arms Around Me, Honey” and “Sweet Rosie O’Grady.” Miners in the audience rewarded her by throwing gold nuggets on stage.
Kate also caught the eye of a promoter, who lured Kate to the Palace Grande Theatre with the promise that she could develop her own dances.
The “Flame Dance” was Klondike Kate’s most famous dance. In each performance, Kate appeared on stage wearing a red sequined dress. During the performance, Kate flung off a massive cape, revealing her racy outfit. As she twisted and turned on stage, Kate fanned out 200 feet of chiffon to give the illusion of flames.
At the end of each performance, Kate twirled a cape and dropped to the floor, leaving the audience with their mouths open.
Miners who clamored for Kate’s performances called her “The Flame of the Yukon.”
The act turned Kate into a star of the Yukon Gold Rush. On her best nights, she earned more than $750 — a fortune in 1900, and as much as many miners made in a month of work.
“I’m not trying to put over the idea that we were vestal virgins,” Kate said in a 1940s interview. “Far from it. We fell head over heels in love and we made mistakes. But primarily we were vendors of laughter and music to men who were starved for beauty and gaiety.”
Life after the Gold Rush
Klondike Kate made a fortune during the Gold Rush. She bragged that her riches bought “$1,500 gowns from Paris and bracelets of the purest gold.”
When the Gold Rush cooled down, Kate returned to the West Coast where she traveled to theaters and saloons as a performer. She also planned to open her own theater company until her partner swindled her out of the deal.
Kate married three times, owned several homesteads, and confused polite society with her riches. Later in life, she visited Hollywood, teaching starlets how to roll a cigarette with one hand.
Klondike Kate summed up her philosophy this way: “I believe it’s better to be interested in what’s coming around the corner, good or bad, than it is to moan about the present. I see so many persons in worse condition than I am. I feel that I am lucky and happy. And then, there’s nothing like laughing your way through the world.”
Some wondered if Klondike Kate was a bootlegger or a madame. Newspapers called her a “shady lady.” And many questioned whether her tall tales were true. In reality, Klondike Kate was one of the most successful saloon girls of the Wild West.
For more true stories of the Old West, check out Wild Life, a book on the outlaws, gamblers, and cowboys who made the West wild.
Bruce Wilson Jr. is the author of nine books on history. Visit Bruce Wilson’s website to learn more.
