Here you will find articles, letters, a few pics and such about The Dumas Brothel. The world famous brothel has been featured in numerous newspapers and magazines all over the world and also included in some books.

January 5, 1999

To Whom It May Concern:

The City of Butte was designated a National Historic Landmark and listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. The Butte Historic District is one of the nation's largest national landmarks. It is of national significance for its associations with labor, mining, immigrant groups and social history.

Butte prided itself on its reputation as "the most wide open town in the wide open West." Hundreds of saloons, open gambling and a teeming red light district confirmed its renown. Butte's legendary red light district once supported as many as a thousand women who worked in tiny alley cribs, in the streets, in glamorous parlor houses and in scores of brothels. Many have commented on Butte's red light district, among them Charlie Chaplin who, in My Autobiography, describes the women of the district as some of the most beautiful in the world.

The Dumas was built in 1890 as a high class parlor house. It was one of half a dozen such high class houses. The Dumas, however, is not only significant as the last standing parlor house in this area of Butte, but also because of its length of operation and as a rare, intact commentary on social history.

The Dumas operated continuously from 1890 until it closed in 1982. The building itself is particularly unique because its architecture reflects all aspects and economic levels of this business as it changed over time. The upper floor retains its original configuration as a house that catered to a wealthy clientele, but conversion of the basement and first floor to cribs illustrate the lower hierarchies of the business that gradually encroached and the ensuing layers of remodeling that occurred to accommodate economic changes. These changes are mirrored in the general economy of the town and the mining industry that, kept it vibrant. In addition, artifacts and furnishings that remain span a century and include tools of the trade as well as everything from Victorian era wallpaper to orange shag carpeting of the 1960s.

The Dumas is the only intact house of prostitution that we know of that encompasses these various hierarchical levels and operated continuously for such a period of time. Indeed, the Dumas is a unique, tangible archive of social history.

The building's extremely fragile, in dire need of stabilization and repair. It is an intrinsic and essential the American West where prostitution was a component of nearly every frontier community. For more information, please feel free to contact either of us.

Sincerly,

 Ellen Baumier, Ph.D.
National Register of Historic Places Sign Program Coordinator

Lon Johnson
National Register of Historic Places Coordinator 

Montana Standard(12 front page stories since 1991!) These stories were put on the the news wire and were picked up and ran by newspapers from around the world--NY POST, BOSTON GLOBE, LA TIMES, USA TODAY, THE IRISH TIMES, THE VILLAGE VOICE, THE SEATTLE P.I. THE SPOKESMAN REVIEW, BALTIMORE SUN, MISSOULA INDEPENDANT, BILLINGS GAZETTE, all did their own stories about The Dumas.

A.B.C. Radio Network(500 stations nationwide), Alaska Radio Network, Australia Radio Network(10 million listeners), Voice of America (52 million listeners in 50 different languages) National Public Radio(10 million listeners),The Bobby Slayton and Sue Murphy Show
 

CNN International (The Larry Woods Show) 10 million viewers, R.T.L. Germany, Switzerland, Austria (20 million viewers) Dutch TV, The History Channel, The Jay Leno Show( Rudy Giecek was featured as a Monday Night Headliner 9/4/98) ABC, NBC, CBS

Entrepeneur Magazine, Penthouse, Playboy Dot Com, Sunset Magazine, Montana Magazine of Western History, Der Spiegel Magazine(Germany) Newe Review(Germany) Details, Maxim, Outside, Civilization, True West, Easy Rider Biker Magazine, Outlaw Biker Magazine, Arts and Understanding, Pollstar, Crossroads, and several travel publications have done stories about The Dumas.

Easyriders Video Magazine (Sturgis Madness)--- Movie and film deals are in the negotiations based on Rudy's forthcoming books "Venus Alley" a novel and "Prostitutes, Miners and Dynamite" (History of Prostitution in Butte, Montana!)