Wyatt Earp Licenses Texas Rose

 

License issued by Wyatt Earp in March 1876

Prostitution was a growth industry in the Old West. Prostitutes were often licensed by public officials and were often required to maintain weekly inspections for sexually transmitted diseases. Gambling and prostitution were central to life in mining and cattle towns, and only later, as the female population increased, reformers moved in and other civilizing influences arrived, did prostitution become less common.  Until the 1890s, madams predominately ran the businesses. 

Gold, Murder and Monsters in the Superstition Mountains