Molly B'Dam or the Cross of Gold

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MOLLY B'DAM OR THE CROSS OF GOLD by Charles A. Menges, hardcover with dust jacket (not price-clipped), probable first edition, 1931. BOOK CONDITION: fair. The text block is in good condition, with no tears, dog-ears, or marks, but many of the pages are rippled (not water-stained). Not a remainder nor library book. No bookplate nor signature of prior owner. The binding is good but for the final page pulling away from the spine and revealing the webbing. The brown boards are in fair condition (slight fading along edges, shelf-wear, and bumped spine). The dust jacket has torn along a fold and is thus in two pieces. It is in poor condition with age-browning, others tears, and chipping. 7 ½ x 5, 331 pages, 18 ounces NOTE THAT SINCE THE BOOK WEIGHS OVER ONE POUND, THERE MAY BE ADDITIONAL SHIPPING CHARGES IF YOU LIVE OUTSIDE THE U.S OR REQUIRE PRIORITY MAIL INSIDE USA XX [From the dust jacket] In the Shadow of the famous Mount of the Holy Cross "Molly B'Dam," or "The Cross of Gold" is wholly an imaginative story, with the exception of the cross of snow. This is an actuality, and one of the natural wonders of the world, In the early gold rush days of Colorado, when Holy Cross City sprang into existence, and "Molly B'Dams" and "Bill Lawsons" held forth, there were many thrilling heart dramas enacted in the environs of the noted mountain, similar to the drama set down in this story. Note: There really was a prostitute named Molly B?Dam in Murray, Idaho. She may have been the inspiration for Menges? novel about the old West and prostitutes with hearts of gold. [Wikipedia] Maggie Hall (Dublin Ireland 1853 ? Idaho 1888) was also known as Molly Burdan and Molly B?Damn, who worked as a prostitute and the madam of a brothel. Hall was born in Dublin, Ireland, to an English Protestant father and an Irish Catholic mother, both of whom were well educated. They ensured their daughter was also well educated. Hall felt confined in Ireland and, despite her parents begging her not to, she sailed for America to seek her fortune. After working as a barmaid, she married the son of a rich man, who cut his inheritance off once he discovered the marriage. Molly?s husband talked her into working as a prostitute. Around 1877, Hall left her husband to work solely for her own rewards. She travelled to Chicago, Virginia City, Nevada, San Francisco and Portland, Oregon. In 1884, after hearing about the gold strikes in the Coeur d'Alene Mountains, she headed to Idaho. In Murray, Hall met a man named Philip O'Rourke and the two became longtime friends. O'Rourke helped her to find a cabin in Paradise Row where she set up a brothel. Hall gained the nickname Molly B'Damn in Murray. On miner's payday, Hall would fill a bathtub with water in the alley behind the brothel and invite miners to throw gold dust in it. When enough had been thrown in, she would strip off and bathe in the tub. For extra gold dust, the miners could help wash her. Hall was known for her kindness and charity. She would home the homeless, feed the hungry and nurse the sick. Hall contracted tuberculosis in October 1887 and died on January 27, 1888, aged 34. The community pulled all their curtains shut and the bars, gambling dens and surrounding mines shut down for her funeral. The service was given by a Methodist minister as the Catholic priest refused. At her own request she was buried as Maggie Hall in Murray Cemetery. Hall's legendary compassion led the citizens of Murray to name their annual city celebration the "Molly B'Damn Gold Rush Days" in her honor. Seller Inventory # 001154

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