Julia Bulette
English-born sex worker and madam of Virginia City.
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Julia Bulette, born around 1832 in London, England, worked as a sex worker in Virginia City, Nevada, a boomtown that sprang up after the Comstock Lode silver strike. She was murdered in 1867, and a French drifter named John Millain was quickly convicted and hanged for the crime. Over time, legends about her life and her work as a madam have grown into a lasting part of Virginia City's folklore.
Biography
Juliette "Julie" Bulette was born in London and moved with her family to New Orleans in the late 1830s. Around 1852 or 1853, she relocated to California, living in various places until she arrived in Virginia City, Nevada, in 1859—the same year the Comstock Lode silver strike turned the area into a mining boomtown. Because she was the only woman in the region, miners sought her out heavily, and she quickly began working as a prostitute. Known as Jule or Julia, she was described as a beautiful, tall, slim brunette with dark eyes, refined manners, and a humorous, witty personality.
She lived and worked out of a small rented cottage near the corner of D and Union streets in Virginia City's entertainment district. Operating independently, she competed with fancy brothels, streetwalkers, and hurdy-gurdy girls for meager earnings. Contemporary newspaper accounts of her gruesome murder captured the public's imagination, but in reality Bulette was ill and in debt at the time of her death. On the morning of January 20, 1867, her maid found her partially naked body in her bedroom; she had been strangled and bludgeoned to death.
A little over a year later, John Millain, a French drifter, was arrested and charged with the crime. On April 24, 1868, he went to the gallows, swearing he was not guilty of killing Bulette but had only been an accomplice in the theft of her meager belongings. Author Mark Twain witnessed Millain's hanging.
Legacy
Bulette's legend continued after her death. The Virginia and Truckee Railroad honored her memory by naming one of its richly furnished club coaches after her. Her portrait hung in many Virginia City saloons, and author Rex Beach immortalized her as Cherry Malotte in his novel The Spoilers. Oscar Lewis, in his book Silver Kings, reported that Bulette was written about more than any other woman of the Comstock Lode bonanza.
Only two authentic portraits of Bulette exist; one is a photograph showing her standing beside an Engine Number 1 fireman's hat. A third photograph, previously identified as her, was most likely that of her maid, who was also named Julia.
The television show Bonanza aired an episode called "The Julia Bulette Story" (Season 1, Episode 6, October 17, 1959), with actress Jane Greer portraying Julia. The Virginia City chapter of E Clampus Vitus, a men's historical society, is named #1864 "Julia C Bulette" in her honor. Also named in her honor is Bulette Drive in Carson City, Nevada.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Julia Bulette (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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