Wild Women of the West Part 2: Squirrel Tooth Alice
Howdy folks and greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas! Yesterday I started to tell a story about one of Dodge City's most famous, or infamous, Madames who went by the name of Squirrel Tooth Alice. lol. I burst out laughing when I first heard that name. Maybe that's just me.
She got that nick name because she was using a fake name, Alice, in her dance hall work as a prostitute but she had an odd obsession with Prairie Dogs and used to keep one as a pet. She would keep it in a cage but also took it out on a collar and leash when she went out in public.
Well, she also had a prominant gap in her front teeth and people would mistake the Prairie Dog for a squirrel.. so because of all those things they started calling her Squirrel Tooth Alice and the nick name stuck.
After a few years she was very well known, I'm sure having a name like that helped a great deal because how could you forget that name?
To catch those up who missed yesterday's post, her real name was Mary Elizabeth Libby Haley Thompson so I'm calling her Libby. She was kidnapped by Comanches in 1864 and lived with them for 3 years until her father paid a ransom and got her back and she was 13 when she came back home.
Her father was convinced that she had been used by the Indians so he shunned her and and wouldn't let her date. When she met a man twice her age and brought him home her father shot him dead on the front porch!
Libby splits
Seeing that she had no future at home she ran away to Abilene, Kansas which was a booming cowtown full of brothels and that's where she started working as a prostitute at the age of 14.
I feel sorry for her, the father was crazy. She already had a very rough start in life.
Starting a career as a prostitute at that age is horrible but obviously Libby had to grow up much faster than normal because of what had happened to her. So what seems terrible to us may not have seemed that bad to her.
She met a gambler by the name of Billy Thompson who was trouble of course, always getting into drunken fights and shooting people. He was another crazy Texas cowboy, dang it!
Here's Billy. He looks halfway normal. Mustache is kinda small.
In Austin he shot and killed a guy during a drunken fight over a card game so he fled to Rockport where he shot and killed a young man who worked in a stable and who had slapped his horse.
When a warrant was issued for his arrest he made his way to Abilene where he met Libby and the two moved in together. What a pair. Billy got into another drunken fight when a Sheriff stepped in between the two and Billy "accidently" fired his gun and killed the Sheriff!
Libby and Billy then fled back to Texas but he was picked up by the Texas Rangers on an unrelated charge of cattle rustling and was sent back to Kansas for the trial of killing the Sheriff. He was aquitted, amazingly. The jury thought it was an accident.
The couple then moved to Dodge City where Billy worked as a gambler and Libby worked as a prostitute. Does anyone else find this highly strange, bizarre and unfathomable??? I mean they both sound crazy so maybe they were meant for each other!
Libby and Billy settle down
Libby would split her earnings with Billy so he could gamble it away.
They stayed together though, as dysfunctional as it sounds. After Dodge City they moved to Sweetwater, Texas where they bought a ranch.
Libby started up a brothel in town and continued working in that profession and get this: over the years she had NINE kids! Three of them from different men, six of them were Billy's. All the girls followed in Libby's footsteps and became prostitutes and all the boys got into trouble with the law for various crimes.
Billy got sick and died from a stomach ailment and Libby ran her brothel until retiring at age 66. She lived to be 98 years old and died in 1921. Unfortunately she didn't write a book about her life, it would have been a doozy!
Thanks for reading about one of our most colorful women of the Old West..and her nutcase husband. These are good examples of our ancestors folks. Is it any wonder we have alot of crazy people running around?
-jonboy Texas
the gentleman redneck
PS- ya know..you might just be a redneck if:
You've figured out a way to put a gun rack on yur bicycle!
I wonder if her daughter's worked in her brothel?! Crazy story, this one!
howdy today Lynn! I bet ya anything they did! Can't comprehend all this stuff but if you got used to it and it was your lifestyle and if you grew up surrounded by it as a kid then....it would seem normal!
Did you call her Libby because it has the same letter as Billy? Billiby Gang would’ve been good for those two.
God bless prostitutes! I’ve been meaning to tell you I like the way you catch us up at the beginning of your stories. Thanks @janton, that was fun!
haha! sir dandays! "Billiby Gang!" lol.. that would fit for sure. I called her Libby because I like that name and it was my post. Why, you got a problem with that? lol..
The prostitutes...that's a tricky moral question for some because even though it was a very carnal business I believe that they saved alot of lives by providing all these young men a way to channel their energy and attention towards them, the women. Otherwise I think you would have had a great deal more killings and shootings from guys fighting. I believe they were a stabilizing force, it was always more civilized when you had women around.
Women were scarce and that's why the explosion in brothels. Some historians estimate that there was only one woman for each ten men who ventured West. I think the women were smart in not wanting to leave the cities and go into the wilderness and I think it proves how much smarter they are than men! lol.. that's good I think I'll put that in a post.
I wasn't sure about doing the recaps but I think they are necessary even though I have people screeching about my posts being too long. I don't think I have a choice so thank you for mentioning that.
I disagree. They’re short and direct, not too long. I think the length is perfect.
Eh, are western stories something you’ve always been into or did #steemit curve your hobby?
Howdy again sir dandays! wow don't you have more important things to do? Oh that's right I forgot. Of course you do but you're addicted now! lol. Thank you for saying that about the length, I try to keep them just long enough to have some good information but not too long to start losing people.
The West is part of me, I was raised out by Dodge City on a farm/ranch, been shooting since I was knee high to a grasshopper, heard stories of Indians when I was a kid, found arrowheads on our property, read books about the Old West. So yes I've always been a Western fan. And of course Steemit is a great outlet to talk about history so it's a natural.
And then like we talked about before, it doesn't hurt to be branded or have a niche on here and I don't think anyone else is doing what I'm doing so that's an advantage. But there are people who told me they hate what I'm doing.
The same interest can be created by you though, not in Westerns but a curiosity of what you're going to post about next. Most people love that too, they want to be pleasantly surprised! And you deliver! lol.. especialy if they have a sense of humor and most people here have a great sense of humor! You can go no where but up.
did you really feel the need to say all that twice? 😉
Ok, hold on, I’m pretty sure you said knee high to a grasshopper, hold on a second... Yup! That’s what you said:
What in the dodge city shooting stars does that mean pard’ner??
One more question. Are you serious @janton, someone has actually told you they hate what you’re doing? “I hate what you’re doing?” <- like that?
Oh my gosh this comment has had me rolling!!! Glad you asked the question and I am not the only one asking WTH? Just thought since I am from the city I am the only one not comprehending (but loving the unusual wording).
I also was wondering about that second question. So I think I will be sticking around for the rest of this thread! :D
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haha! I never even thought about the expression "knee high to a grasshopper" as being strange but that's what happens when you grow up with certain sayings. lol. Thanks so much for your interest and comment!
Howdy tonight sir dandays! haha! well since I know you're suffering from the cognitive confusion of COS or Cemmenters Overload Syndrome I figured I better make it plain so yous wouldn't mix it up with someone else.
I can't remember when I started shooting BB guns, that's how young I was. Then I started shootin real guns around age 10 or 12 I reckon. By the time I graduated from High School I was quite the pistolero. It was second nature to me. most people don't know but much of the fancy shootin in the movies is very possible, it's just not possible by the movie stars! lol.
like this guy, the world's fastest gun
Regarding the people who have told me they didn't like my posts, they didn't use the word hate but might as well have. Thre e of them have told me they didn't like what I post about..one guy said he didn't like what I posted about but he didn't say hate. another guy said that my subject material was all wrong, that it glorified "shitty" people. and a third person said that my posts sucked because I was promoting guns and violence! lol.. I laughed at all three of them because I get so many people telling me they love the stories I tell.
What surprises me is that they want alot of shooting, violence and action. Some of the most popular posts are the most bloody ones which kind of surprises me.
What in the?!? That YouTube clip makes me want to break all of my own rules and just start dropping every curse wOrd I can think of... F’ing phenomenal! that’s as close as I’m gonna get
While I’m dropping F bombs... F anyone who has something negative to say about what you’re doing here @janton, right in their neck! Whoever has something bad to say to you should say it to the mirror as they’re wiping their butt with their opinion. That irritates me—sorry you have to deal with ignorance.
Glorifying bad people and promoting gun violence... :vomit: these are the same people who watch porn and talk bad about their neighbors... F’em! They ain’t no better than me or you janton and actually, I think they’re burning up too much of our oxygen.
Don’t ever stop what you’re doing, sir, you’re doing great!
How many times has that yourube dude shot himself? How many injuries has he sustained learning that craft. I watched that thing in awe! Thanks for showing me something I never knew.
haha! "I think they’re burning up too much of our oxygen." that's funny. It's amazing to me how many people on here are crabby and bossy know-it-alls who love to criticize others. I think they have to be miserable in their own life so they try to make everyone else miserable too. If they don't like what people are posting then don't read it!
But no, many of them start downvoting and flagging which I think Steemit shouldn't even have those options on the platform because the whales control way to much with their power and it's censorship pure and simple instead of being an open platform.
That guy with the six shooter, Bob Munden, the worlds fastest draw, he is something isn't he? They say that the body simply cannot perform an act that fast, it's physically impossible for him to do what he does! lol.. I love that. That's what you call gifted.
There are lots of people doing fast draw competitions all over the country but the mainstream media would never report it. lol. Bob isn't just fast though, he's super accurate shooting from the hip, that's really hard to do but not for him. Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed that. I bet anything he's never shot himself.
Thanks for the encouragement. I like history and this is a way to teach it that people aren't aware of, they think they're just reading a story. They're being forced to learn history without realizing it! lol. And hopefully there will be some moral to the story which I don't pound on too hard because I don't want to sound preachy. lol.
I guess you're working on your fridayfoodfight post?
Howdy again sir dandays! wow don't you have more important things to do? Oh that's right I forgot. Of course you do but you're addicted now! lol. Thank you for saying that about the length, I try to keep them just long enough to have some good information but not too long to start losing people.
The West is part of me, I was raised out by Dodge City on a farm/ranch, been shooting since I was knee high to a grasshopper, heard stories of Indians when I was a kid, found arrowheads on our property, read books about the Old West. So yes I've always been a Western fan. And of course Steemit is a great outlet to talk about history so it's a natural.
And then like we talked about before, it doesn't hurt to be branded or have a niche on here and I don't think anyone else is doing what I'm doing so that's an advantage. But there are people who told me they hate what I'm doing.
The same interest can be created by you though, not in Westerns but a curiosity of what you're going to post about next. Most people love that too, they want to be pleasantly surprised! And you deliver! lol.. especialy if they have a sense of humor and most people here have a great sense of humor! You can go no where but up.
Hi, @janton!
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Howdy today steem-plus! Thank you so much for the upvote and for helping so many people!
This is just sad. That poor little girl never had a chance.
yes sir I agree. Talk about a rough start in life, geez. I bet she learned how to have a pet Prairie Dog from the Indians though but everything else about her life was not fun stuff.
Indeed not. I sometimes wonder if people like this get some sort of special consideration when they cross over....
I'm sure they do , yes sir I believe that and I bet we'll be surprised by who we see there!
98 years was quite an accomplishments after having nine children, not to mention all the hardships that she must have seen in her life. You are right it's too bad she didn't write a book. I would love to hear her stories.
wow Melinda, can you imagine the stories she had to have had? and I bet she could tell them good too! Yeah her age was amazing because anything I've read about those gals in her line of work drank whiskey, smoked cigars and cigarrettes, and did drugs like opium so I'm surprised she lived so long.
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All I can say is...WOW! That time period really was wild!!!
haha! Howdy snowpea! Yes Ma'am like if you didn't like the guy your daughter was dating you just shoot him when he shows up on your front porch! It was a crazy and sometimes dangerous time but most women were smart enough not to migrate to the West, only about one tenth of the number of men, that's why the brothels were everywhere.
Thanks so much for reading and commenting!
What a exciting life and colourful life. I guess that's where the phrase the good old days come from, or maybe not. lol
haha! well I don't know if she had any regrets or not sir Vincent, I would say those were the Bad old days but apparently she liked the lifestyle so it takes all kinds!
Thankfully none are related to me! 😅 I don’t believe I have ever had any relatives from Texas. So nope no crazy ancestors.
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haha! that's good to know coquiunlimited! I hope they stay far away from you guys!
😲.... Wow
@janton.
I absolutely love the photo of Libby with her prairie dog...
the photo alone says to me this is not your average women... And for sure she was not...!!!!
Its hard for wrap my head around everthing that went on in her life.
And lived to be 98..... amazing.
howdy annephilbrick! yes Ma'am she had an extraordinary life. You can object to the way she lived it but it was truly unique! She may have learned about having Prairie Dogs as pets from living with the Indians. After going through all that it is truly remarkable that she lived that long indeed. Thanks so much for reading and commenting!
Hello.. @janton
I could object to the way she lived but I don't...
I pass no judgement on this women.... Her life and circumstances... very complex....!!!!!
I totally agree annephilbrick so that makes us very wise! lol.