She was highly organized. She was a very detailed individual. In fact, when we were selling the house, I came across, she made notes to the nines. She just organized everything, detailed all around. But she never wrote any names down as far as people coming to the houses, never let her girls keep any books. She was strict with the girls, didn’t allow them to be out on the street during their days off, they had to be out of town.
Do you know how long the women worked there on average? Did they stay there for quite some time or were they transient?
I would assume that the girls stayed a long time. I met three of them that through her lifetime continued to stay in contact with her. There were some girls if they passed through, they were gone because she would not tolerate any drugs at all, would not put up with it. She was not a drinker; she had no kind of vices, which I think is pretty admirable for a madam.
After she became a madam in Wallace, did she ever continue to see men professionally? Or did she retire from that?
I would think not, considering her standards, but let me ask my husband if I can tell this. He says I can. When she and MacMillan split, she went down to the house—and she called him Mac—he cleaned her out; he cleaned out every safe deposit box. He stole every dime she had and left her flat-ass broke. And for five years, she never stepped out of the house again in Wallace. She worked every day to get back what she had lost.
People have told me that she didn’t really leave the Oasis, that she didn’t leave her bedroom and lived in her pajamas and just kinda stayed up there.
He nearly destroyed her. He nearly destroyed her. She was pretty broke after that. And that may have been what made her a recluse, I don’t know. Pretty sad story. And pajamas? That gal had pajamas. I would say when she passed she had five hundred pair of beautiful pajamas. And people would send her pajamas as gifts. Beautiful pajamas. And when she went shopping and found something she liked, she would order one in every color.
What kind of pajamas did she prefer?
Silk. Silk. In fact, that really was almost always what I ever saw Mother in. The only time I ever saw her dressed was if I had to take her to the doctor.
And I doubt you really heard anything on the negative aspect because she really genuinely cared about people. But she had no problem telling you how the cow eats the cabbage either. But she was only fifteen when Norval was born and that’s the only child she ever had.
You know, you asked about how I felt about her profession. I mean, it really does just make a difference [in people’s lives]. And only a madam could put it in such an honest raw perspective of men not beating their wives and raping their daughters. Because it happens more than people realize.…
Anonymous 2: Ginger’s Attorney
Ginger’s attorney spoke with me about getting to know her during the aftermath of the FBI raid. We were talking in a local bar in the Arment building. The bar was called the Silver Corner, on Sixth and Cedar, located directly beneath one of the houses that Ginger managed. The upstairs was called the Arment Rooms for most of the town’s history, up until 1977, when Dolores relocated the Lux Rooms there. The attorney first went to see her at her house in Coeur d’Alene.
I spent about half an hour/hour with her and she said, “You need a retainer.” And I said, “Ginger, I don’t need a retainer; I’ll just bill you in a month.”
But she wouldn’t hear of it and walks down this hallway and goes into a room. She unlocks it and I heard her lock it again, then she unlocks it, comes out and locked it again and she handed me four $100 bills. She says, “When that’s over, come back, and I’ll give you more.”
And I’m like, “Nobody’s ever given me cash like that before.” And she had to testify in a grand jury trial in Moscow.… She told us stories, “Oh my God, I didn’t need to know this, this is too much information, Ginger,” but I learned more about that business. And I don’t know where you’d ever learn that otherwise, to get into the business.…
But she said she worked on the Strip in Las Vegas…and I think she started real young, around fifteen. She paid off all the cops and she knew them and she worked a particular territory and one day got tipped off by one of the cops that they were going to crack down on the girls working in Vegas. And they told her, “You need to get out of here, or they’re going to arrest you.”
So she got on a bus, and she took off. And somehow she knew to come to Wallace. And I’m not quite sure how she knew to come here, but she got here, and she went to the Exxon station where the Red Light Garage is, and she says to the guy, “I understand this is kind of a hooker town, and who’s the queenie?”
And he was surprised she knew that, and he goes, “Dolores Arnold” [and she asked him where the house was and he told her] so she goes right up to the door.
She said, “I’d like to run a brothel.”
And Dolores told her, “The Oasis is available, that building, you could probably rent it easily. But here’s the rules, you gotta do this and this and this, that’s all my territory.”
Just phenomenal to me. And then she told me about the condition the miners were in when they came up there. They were just filthy. And she would tell them, “Go home and shower and come back and we’ll be available.” Just some of that stuff, oh those poor girls, I don’t know how they did it.
[Ginger came into town] maybe ’62, ’64, something like that. And I have to say from talking to Ginger they were very particular with the girls. And this payoff thing that they talked about [whispering, almost inaudibly], well, they had to. Because if one of those girls gets beat up by these [again, whispering] asshole guys—I mean, I’d see them every day as a public defender, they want to kill women. And so she’d just call up the cops and they’d be right there and take them away. But their lifestyle, I just, I mean, I bet she had a million bucks when she retired, but how she earned that? I just can’t imagine.
The Arment’s sign in 2010. It was covered up during a recent remodel. Photo by Heather Branstetter.
[Ginger’s attorney didn’t think she continued to see men while she was in Wallace, however. I asked if Ginger seemed to have mixed feelings about being a brothel manager.]
No. Most of the madams in Wallace felt like they were the mother hens. And that’s that weird thinking I don’t get. I mean, if you were her real mother hen, you would get her out of that crap. But no, she felt she had arrived when she got to Wallace, and I think that’s why she stayed here. And she had great connections here. When I was representing her, I mean, she had people in high regard that respected her, and I think she deserved it.… I had a lot of respect for her. I mean she was a businesswoman, odd business, for me, but then, I always tell everybody, “I charge by the hour, too, so what the heck.…” So, I kind of have forgiven a lot of that. Not that I needed to forgive it, but maybe I understand it more because we’re all just trying to make a living.
I don’t want to glorify prostitution in Wallace, but I love Wallace. My spirit is in Wallace, and we work so hard to keep it alive, which is just amazing to me all the time. And I’m not proud of the brothels, but I’m proud that we have that history and we kept it for a long time.… But we have great history in this town and it needs to be preserved.
“JAMES ARNUFF,” BRAGGING ABOUT VARIOUS
EXPERIENCES IN THE HOUSES
I was only about fifteen at the time. As soon as we were in the room, the robe came open, and I could see everything, nipples, camel toe, and of course being fifteen, I got excited, and as I was installing the stereo, she reached down and caressed me.
Then the maid came in—she’s kind of like the sergeant of arms—and she says, “What’s up, are you done?”
“Yeah, I’m done. Just got to plug it in and see if it works.” So then the woman closed up her robe. She reached into her dresser and pulled out a bunch of bills and gave me a tip.
I was walking down the stairs and trying to count the money, and she said, “Well, thanks for everything. If I need you again, I’ll call you.”
I said, “OK.”
About that time another guy was coming up the stairs, and he looked at me counting my money and said, “They pay you?”
And I looked at him and said, “Of course.” That was my first experience up there.…
Did you develop any personal relationships with any of the women?
One.
Do you remember her name?
Raime. I don’t think that was her real name.… She kinda fell in love with me. I was eighteen at the time—actually I was seventeen. And she was probably twenty-three, twenty-four. And the relationship we had was if I put in ten, she’d put in ten. If I put in twenty, she’d put in twenty. She’d match my price. And she bought me gifts all the time.… And at one time she wanted to give me her grandfather’s antique watch. I refused it.
Why?
Because I had no feelings for her except for sexually.
How did things end with you guys?
She left town, moved on.
How long did it last?
About a year and a half.
What did you know about her?
Not much. She had no kids. That’s about all I know.
Did you know how she got started in the profession?
Nope. Didn’t ask. Didn’t care.
Do you know where she came from?
Nope.
Why did she like you/love you?
Eleven and seven-eighths inches.… She officially measured me. Now all it does is get me closer to the toilet.
Did you get the feeling that she enjoyed sex with you, then?
Yes, she did. And most of the girls up there, I got the feeling, they didn’t like it like that.
They did not?
They did not. They were there for a job. But she enjoyed sex.
Did you think that what they were making was worth the services they provided or should they have been paid more? Did you have a feeling about all that?
In my opinion, they did what they did for fairly cheap.… At that time it was ten bucks for a quickie. Which was about a dollar a minute, and well, back in the ’70s I guess that was pretty fair wages, but I don’t know what the cut was, how much the house took.
Were you a miner?
Yeah.
Do you remember what you were making at the time?
In 1971, I was making thirty-five dollars a day.
So as far as what you were making versus what they were, they were outdoing you.
Oh yeah.
And you felt like that was fair.
Well, yeah. About up to the end, 1985, I guess, I was making close to $500 a day.
And in ’85, what were the women making in the houses, do you know?
Twenty dollars for a quickie.
[Bartender interrupts] Hey how do you know so much about the cathouses?
How do you think?
[Bartender] I used to tell the guys where they were.
That’s the way we used to get our beers in high school. Would hang out in front of the Lucky Horseshoe bar [603 Cedar]. Sooner or later, a guy would come out from out of town, “Hey kids, where the cathouses at?” Well, we’ll tell you if you’ll buy us a case of beer. And sure enough, nine times out of ten, we’d get a case of beer out of it.…
In junior high, used to hang around the Wallace corner [Sixth and Cedar], and a couple times tourists would come up, “Hey, what are good places to stay in town?”
And at that time, all the cathouses had neon signs, the Arment Rooms, you know, we’d say, “This place over here has air conditioning.”
And Ma and Pa and the kids would go up there. About five minutes later, they’d come back down, and the dad would give us a dirty look, really dirty look, and the kids would be tugging on mom’s skirt, asking questions. And they’d get in the car and leave, so we weren’t very good for business, but we got a kick out of it.…
Want to hear the story about how I got officially measured? It was Christmas. Stopped by up there and Raime goes, “This is all paid for, don’t worry about it.” And in come three—like I said, it was Christmas vacation—three college girls. Beautiful. Well, she had them put on different color lipstick. And then they had a high mark contest.
A high mark contest?
Who could go up the farthest, yeah. Different color lipstick. And they all put in a buck, just for the hell of it. And after that when I got good and excited, she pulled out a “dick-a-pult.” I don’t know what it was. It was a little contraption that was lined with a fur type of cloth, and she put that on my dick and I’m excited. Then she had the girls with their different color lipstick kiss my body to see where this fur would land. And I told Raime, “I’ll put in a buck. Kiss my forehead just for luck.” And they weren’t allowed to jerk me off or anything. They just had to kiss me, rub their boobs on me, whatever.…
Needless to say, it hit me right there [points to his chest]. I won. So then they got me hard again. And Raime says to the girls, “You’re outta here. It’s my turn.” And she screwed me then.…
Want one more cathouse story?
Yes.
OK. This was the first time. You know the movie Barbarella, Jane Fonda? I’d just watched the movie Barbarella at the Wilma Theater here in Wallace. At the time, that was a pretty risqué movie. I came out of it, and I was horny as hell. I don’t know if I was sixteen or seventeen. Came out, walked to the car—it was 1970, because I had a car. Walking to my car, and I was horny as hell. And I had ten bucks in my pocket. Passed the U&I, and I stopped there. OK, I’ll give it a try.
Walked up the steps, pushed the doorbell. Maid: “Hey how are you? Come on in.”
I was surprised, thought they’d turn me away because I was definitely underage. Anyway, these gals come walking in and there was a petite gal, very beautiful. Blond hair, short blond hair, named Crystal. And we go back into the room. And that’s when you gave her the money, and she’d give it to the maid. I gave her ten bucks, and she looks at me and says, “Are you a virgin?” Well, yeah, I am. And she goes, “OK.”
So she goes and takes the money back and comes back in. The procedure was, they held this wash bin down here, and they’d wash you off.… Then she tells me to lay on the bed, and she goes down on me and she gave me a full blowjob. All the way.
And I go, “Oh, I didn’t want to go like this.”
And she goes, “Don’t worry. I talked to the maid. You get the virgin special.”
What’s the virgin special?
Well, I got a full blowjob. Then she got me up again, and she climbed on top of me and she gave me the best ride of my life. The whole thing took about twenty minutes when it only should have taken ten.
The best ride of your life?
Well, it was the first ride, so it was the best.
[Bartender] So that’s where you lost your virginity, up in some whorehouse?
Yep, so did five other people I know about in town.… After our session, with the gal, I go, “How come I got special treatment?”
She goes, “Why do you think people call us hookers? Now you’re hooked.”
And I was.271
“SANTA CLAUS,” USED TO DO REPAIRS IN THE HOUSES
When I was fifty, no, fifty-nine/sixty, I was in Sweets, having a drink. I don’t know why, this guy says, “You know anything about the houses?” This was just before they all closed.
“Sonja,” 1970s. Richard Caron Collection.
I said, “Yeah, I know all about them.” Well this guy run a big farm deal in Washington. He had two teenage boys, and he brought them over for their first go around—that’s what we used to call it.
He says, “Where do you think we should go?”
Depends on what they want, how much money they brought. And I explained to him, I said, “Now, you only give them exactly what you want them to spend. Because trust me, them girls”—and by that time, I’d known a lot of them for years, personally—I said, “If you don’t, and you send them up there with fifty dollars, they’re going to lose fifty. You send them up with five
hundred, they’re going to lose three hundred of that, at least.”
“Oh not my boys, they’re smarter than that.”
I said, “Hey, trust me, these girls are professionals. They’ll talk them into anything.”
So, about three hours later they come back to town, and I see that same guy sitting at the bar and he’s all madder than hell. I said, “What happened?”
He said, “Them boys went up there and they spent three times what they were supposed to.” I said, “I warned you. Them girls, they’re not here for the fun of it, they’re professionals. You know, it’s an occupation for them. Some of them have kids to raise and everything else. That’s just the way life is.”
But these girls, they were, they were professionals.272
LEE MARTIN, TANYA AND THE U&I ROOMS
Lee Martin ran the U&I Rooms in the later years. She was nicknamed “Mama Lee” because of the way she was said to look out for people. Several people talked about how she had a daughter or granddaughter, and a teacher said she once received a phone call from Lee because the madam was concerned the girl was reading a book that glorified prostitution.273 She was known for enabling the girls who worked in the house to have more freedom to integrate into the town than the madams in the earlier years. In the 1980s, Tanya took over more of the operations at the U&I. She was known for being kind, and one man described her as “ambitious, genuine and nice.”274
Former Miner Bill Mooney, Wife Karen Mooney,
Anonymous 10 and Anonymous 31
B. Mooney: Lee had a husband we called Magoo. She would turn an occasional trick, and the husband didn’t like that so they broke up. We threw a party in Lee’s apartment one day, and she was so upset. We took advantage of her kindness.
Anonymous 31: Visited the girls because you got lonely.
B. Mooney: Once we were stuck in Colorado, had been tramp mining and landed in jail with Ronnie Stack for a month after getting into a bar brawl. Jimmy Tear-em-up Taylor spent all our money in the meantime. We dug through the car once we got out and only came up with a dime. We called all the people we thought might send money but couldn’t get enough to make it back to Wallace. Called Lee, and she sent $500 right away.
Selling Sex in the Silver Valley Page 16