Wicked Western Slope by D.A. Brockett

Author:D.A. Brockett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Inc.
Published: 2012-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

“Broken Jaw” Nell, seated on the left of the horse-drawn buggy, ran a bawdyhouse at 538 South Avenue—“the Row.” Jean Harris, next to her, was her neighbor and fellow madam. Nellie Page was disfigured, reportedly from a shooting in a Leadville saloon, and always wore a high collar. The madams were known around town for their generosity, though generally no one acknowledged knowing them. Courtesy of Loyd Files Research Library.

One day, the morning news shocked residents of Denver and Grand Junction. On May 13, 1928—Mother’s Day—Mrs. Alice Baine was arrested at 2303 Curtis Street, a hotel, along with the manager of the hotel, who was Baine’s partner, Bee Howard. They were charged with vice and human trafficking. Revealed in the report was that Baine, who’d “more or less openly” run 550 South Avenue for many years, was also the ringleader of a white slavery ring that operated in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

The two women were caught in a sting by the United Investigation Bureau, which had sent in a pretty young agent to pretend a desire to go into the business. Alice was impressed. She said when interviewing Miss Lita Steward, “We like baby-faced girls, not too plump.” She encouraged Lita to let her “bob” grow until it touched her shoulders and promised her a life of luxury in Grand Junction. An arrangement was made, and after a switch at the train station, Baine and Howard were arrested. S. Solomon, a Denver jeweler, posted Alice’s bail.

That wasn’t the last of the sensation. Several days later, the Sentinel reported that Hazel Daniels, a former inmate of 550 South Avenue, said she’d been sold into slavery by Alice Baine. What made her case extraordinary was that Mrs. Baine was her own mother. She claimed her mother had been dealing with young girls for almost forty years. Girls from as far away as Chicago had been enticed to join a life of shame, and the price on each head was twenty-five dollars. Baine brought the girls to Denver and then meted them out to points in Colorado and surrounding states. Hazel had spent years at 550 South Avenue before she found the courage to leave and felt it was time to speak up. Proceedings to shut down the resort began immediately.

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