The year 1848 witnessed two events that, while occurring simultaneously and separated by an ocean, triggered the most unlikely narrative. These events, while somewhat tragic and sometimes colorful, give insight into some of human nature’s most basic impulses. Allow me to explain…
In February of 1848 the French monarchial government of King Louis Philippe was toppled. Political turmoil followed— replete with anarchy and societal upheaval. Throughout the French speaking world (Wallonia, Luxemburg and Martinique included) political chaos resulted in over 10,000 people killed, thousands arrested  with masses of the unemployed engaged in street fighting. The government that emerged under Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (nephew of Emperor Napoleon) immediately sought dynamic reforms: Land and fiscal reforms, labor laws that included the right to work with a shorter work week, employment training for the unemployed, price controls, less restrictive voting rights, etc. The French monarchy had indeed fallen and the Second French Republic emerged.
One of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte’s more creative reforms was a plan to rid France of its criminal and political elements. In 1850 his government devised a scheme to deport from France its malcontents. The maneuver called for a national lottery in which the grand prize would be a gold brick worth 400,000 francs ( over 9 million in today’s Euros). The proceeds would pay for 5,000 hand-picked French “undesirables” to be deported to California. Bonaparte’s stratagem called The Lottery of the Golden Ingot , was wildly popular as nearly 7 million tickets were sold. The campaign worked. The winning number was drawn and the government began to choose whom to send into exile. Selected for deportation were criminals, dissidents, the destitute, political prisoners, the chronically unemployed and  “ a contingent of highly skilled drunkards’’. Also selected were a troupe of  “ladies of the night.” Over the next year, “lottery ships” sailed from La Harve carrying nearly 5,000 to San Francisco —-never to return to France.  Â
In the exact same month of the newly formed Second French Republic, GOLD was discovered at Sutters Mill , California.  The subsequent “Gold Rush” brought approximately 300,000 people to Northern California from virtually all over the globe—- Latin America, Australia, China, Japan, Africa and the four corners of North America. When the French “emigres” arrived in San Francisco they entered an environment few could have anticipated. They entered a proverbial “boomtown” replete with hastily constructed shacks, boarding houses, gambling casinos, saloons, banks, churches, roads, jails, and alas, brothels. Perhaps the most dramatic metric to this “chaotic instant city” was the extreme disproportionate ratio of the genders.
In the large absence of women—-a 50 to 1 male to female ratio—the surplus of lonely men comprised a plentiful market for female companionship—read; prostitution. Most of the earliest prostitutes were the economically and socially oppressed Latina women (from Mexico, Central America, and Chile) but were joined by indentured Chinese women and kidnapped and enslaved American women (both black and white). Theirs was a subjugating and degrading profession.
According to the 1855 classic The Annals of San Francisco:
“ …these women were the vilest character and openly practiced a most shameful commerce. The lewdness of these desperate women is shocking enough to witness but it is far exceeded by the disgusting practices of these tawny visaged creatures. Their dwellings were dens of infamy where drunkenness and whoredom, gambling swindling and brawling were constant.”
With the entry of the newly arrived French women, this perspective would change —and change radically. What separated the French women was a perception of open sensuality. The gold fever clientele was charmed by the novelty of the feminine French composure, gracefulness, and attention to fashion. The French courtesans tended to project a quiet lady -like style, a feminine demeanor, and an easy relaxed bearing. In no time ,the mechanisms of supply and demand amongst the starved bachelors of the mining camps elevated the French women to a favored status.
Over time, the profits from the lucrative trade enabled many French women to open their own private casinos and brothels. Often, they would sit at the bar or deal cards, drink, and converse, ultimately charging an exorbitant fee for their “services.” Records show some women would demand as much as an ounce of gold (today worth $2,300) per night!
Taken individually, The Lottery of the Golden Ingot, the California Gold Rush and “the oldest profession” are mutually exclusive of one another. Lotteries give people the opportunity to indulge in fantasies about how their lives would change if the won— a very powerful emotion. Gold has always been perceived as a symbol of wealth, power, and majesty . Prostitution—whether it be frontier style or the more sophisticated French approach—has been part of human history that dates back nearly 4,000 years. Taken collectively however, these events tell a story of some of human nature’s most basic instincts.
Fun Facts
James Michener is one of America’s most beloved (and prolific!) authors. He wrote over 40 historical novels and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and the Presidential Medal of Freedom—the highest civilian award in the United States. In his epic historical novel Alaska , Michener’s protagonist was named Belgian Mare— a French speaking madame from Brussels who skillfully ran all the business operations during the Klondike Gold Rush.
Alexandre Dumas (fils) was the son of his famous father of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Christo fame. He too was a prolific writer in his own right. In 1851 he wrote The Lottery of The Golden Ingot — a history of the events discussed above. He dismissed the idea that lotteries were “immoral.” Dumas argued that:
“Everything in the world is a lottery— life is a perpetual lottery for the benefit of death. Love is the lottery of the heart while the future is the lottery of everything.”
Mark Twain — often praised as the greatest American humorist—summed up the tragic state of the non-French prostitutes with a lighter touch. Twain proclaimed
“they were virtuous according to their lights but I guess their light were a little dim.”
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