The early 19th century was a time when Chinese women were commonly stereotyped as prostitutes. This labeling allowed political leaders to justify racially exclusionary laws.
As a result, Chinese women faced poverty, imprisonment, deportation, racist and sexist violence, rape and isolation. They also did not have access to health services and were often deprived of education.
San Francisco
In the 1850s, as the California Gold Rush was booming, thousands of Chinese men left their homes and families to seek their fortune in the new United States. While a few women did accompany their husbands, many women were left at home to fend for themselves and their children.
The result was a shortage of female companionship, which created a natural market for prostitution in the American West. As Judy Yung points out in her book Unbound Feet, in San Francisco alone, there were 1,565 Chinese prostitutes between 1850 and 1860.
These numbers were high, especially given that the population of Chinese women in San Francisco was small compared to other cities and regions in the country at that time. Still, the ratio of Chinese to white prostitutes dropped as social reformers and anti-prostitution laws forced their expulsion from the city.
During this period, Chinatown’s China tongs were highly active in trafficking girls from the country to the American West. The tongs were sworn brotherhoods of immigrants who offered protection and opportunity for their members, but they were also notorious criminal enterprises that kidnapped and bought Chinese girls to furnish the growing sex trade.
One of the most infamous of the tongs was Ah Toy, who operated two brothels in Chinatown, at 34 and 36 Waverly Place (then Pike Street). She brought young Chinese girls into her establishments as prostitute-slaves.
Toy’s business was a lucrative venture that thrived under the aegis of her tong. She was so successful that she was able to sell off her brothels and even travel back to China as a wealthy woman.
As with so much of this era, Toy’s business was dominated by the Chinese secret societies known as tongs. These groups of men were sworn brothers of Chinese immigrants who offered a sense of loyalty and protection to their members, but they were also feared by policemen and the courts for their brutality and corruption.
Tongs often fought each other to control the traffic in Asian women between China and the United States. They sometimes fought each other in court over the ownership of girls, and they often killed each other in gang fights. These battles led to the death of many Tong members and to the expulsion of hundreds of Chinese prostitutes from San Francisco.
Oregon
While the Pacific Northwest may conjure images of beautiful landscapes and bustling cities, it also has a long history of sex work. From World War I to the early 1900s, Oregon’s state governments were forced to contend with the rise of vices such as prostitution and gambling. Efforts to eradicate sex workers were often met with skepticism, and many officials found it difficult to completely extinguish the vices that were prevalent in the region.
In the early 19th century, thousands of Chinese men arrived in the United States as gold seekers. They left their wives and families behind in China, seeking wealth, freedom and new lives. This lack of female companionship caused a demand for sex in San Francisco and other Western cities.
Some of these men had criminal networks in China that were set up to help them smuggle women into the United States, either directly or through agents who would sell them to brothels. It was a lucrative trade and Chinese brothel owners could easily make five times the average income of other Chinese businesses in the state.
Among the most notorious were the Hip Yee Tong, which imported some 6,000 women between 1852 and 1873. They made a profit of around $200,000 per year from these prostitutes.
The Hip Yee Tong also sent sex traffickers to other cities in the West to buy or sell women. They were able to do so because of restrictive laws on immigration, which made it harder for poorer Chinese to immigrate to the US.
For most of these women, they were tricked into coming to the United States, but for some there was no choice but to become prostitutes. Some of them were kidnapped and coerced into coming to the US or they were sold by their parents, who could only afford to pay for passage.
Another common scenario was for girls who were rescued from brothels by missionary homes, such as Wong Ah So, who was rescued in 1869 by Donaldina Cameron from a Fresno brothel. She was able to get her out of that place and into a mission home where she received training and then married a Chinese widower in Idaho.
Nevada
Prostitution in the Old West was a lucrative business. Brothels crowded the streets of boomtowns and the railroad tracks a few miles outside cities. Chinese prostitutes flooded the Nevada market in the 19th century. The influx of Chinese immigrants into the United States during the Gold Rush created an incredible demand for women.
While there was no shortage of Chinese men seeking a sex partner, many white men were unwilling to be courted by these women. As a result, a small number of Chinese men in the United States became prostitutes themselves.
As anti-Chinese sentiment and harsh working conditions made it difficult for Chinese men to find jobs, the number of Chinese prostitutes grew rapidly. These women provided a sexy alternative for men who found it hard to earn money in the mining and logging industries.
These women were often forced into prostitution and sexual slavery in brothels as a means of survival. They were a significant source of income for brothel owners and pimps, who were not required to pay taxes on the profits they made from their services.
Some of these brothel workers were not registered with the state health department, and their work cards were not checked. This allowed them to illegally traffic in people from other countries, including China.
Since 1987, Nevada law has required all prostitutes to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV. All sex workers must use condoms during oral sex and intercourse with their clients.
The women who work in Nevada brothels must also register with the state, and they must be fingerprinted. These women are not allowed to leave the state without a medical certificate.
In Lyon County, the state’s largest brothel industry is under threat from a proposed amendment to state law. The amendment would remove the right to operate a brothel in the county.
According to a study published in 2006 by UNLV sociologists Barb Brents and Kate Hausbeck, these brothels resemble “pussy penitentiaries.” The women live in tiny rooms that look like trailers with barbed wire around them.
As a result, these brothels are a breeding ground for infectious disease, and they can be a source of public health threats for those who frequent them. They also create an underground economy, where sex is a way to earn money.
Idaho Territory
In the early days of the American West, Chinese prostitutes were a common sight in mining camps. Typically, a Chinese man would bring a concubine along to help him with his business, usually in exchange for a portion of his salary and a room and board allowance.
There was one woman in particular who made her mark on the Idaho Territory. Her name was Polly Bemis and she became the subject of a biographical novel about her life, as well as a 1991 film. She was smuggled into the United States in 1872, and despite being sold as a slave, she made it to her new home in Idaho Territory.
As she made her way to the west, her tale became more than just a story, it was also a testimony to the courage of women. She won her freedom through a combination of wit and perseverance. She was eventually married to Charlie Bemis, and the two settled on the Salmon River in Warrens.
Most towns in the western US would keep their dirty little secrets close to the vest, but Wallace, Idaho, is a different story. The town’s infamous red light district is still standing, and you can still see the modern-day equivalent of those old-fashioned opium-filled brothels where girls were forced to pay a small fee to be served in an over-priced establishment.
A spooky fact is that the city of Wallace is now owned and operated by the University of Idaho, and if you want to get a glimpse of the history behind this quaint little town, consider visiting the Oasis. It’s a great way to learn more about the people who helped shape the region.
