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Sadie Orchard

Santiago Street in Albuquerque — Santiago Street, Old Town Albuquerque, c. 1880

Bordellos of the West

Prostitutes provided female companionship, entertainment, and salacious services to a flood of miners, soldiers, and settlers moving into the New Mexico territory during the late 1800s. Though sex work was considered scandalous, it was legal. In fact, brothels were a ubiquitous part of the American West, as integral to the western mythos as gunslingers and outlaws.

It was a hazardous occupation. Many women experienced tragedies; physical abuse, drug addiction, unwanted pregnancies, and hazardous abortions. The fortunate ones worked in brothels and parlor houses where they could make more money in a day than teachers made in a year, paving a path to alternate options. Ultimately, the carnal career path provided a source of income and a level of independence that was otherwise out of reach for most women in the 19th century. In fact, many of the most successful working women became wealthy and influential members of their communities, carving out a niche through charitable acts and financial investment. Though there were many notorious madams in New Mexico in the 1800s and early 1900s, few exemplify the impact and influence these women had on their communities like Sadie Orchard.

Sadie Orchard (1860 – 1943)

Sadie Orchard was the reigning madam of the Black Range during the silver and gold mining boom in the late 1800s. The details of her life are a mix of fact and fancy, due in part to Sadie’s tendency to flagrantly embellish her personal mythos. Several versions of her life story claim she was born in London, but many “working girls” created elaborate back stories and pseudonyms in those days. On the 1940 census she cited Mills County, Iowa as her birthplace.

Sadie’s Adventures in the American West

Sarah Jane Creech was born into a large family in 1860. Her mother passed away when she was 14, leaving her father to provide for eight children. There wasn’t to go around and Sadie cast her eyes towards greener pastures early in life. Drawn to the wealth flowing out of the mines in the Black Range, she moved to Kingston in 1886. She worked as a prostitute for about a year, saving enough money to open her first brothel on Virtue Avenue in 1887. Though the irony of the brothel on Virtue Avenue is glaring, the reality is Sadie and her girls contributed enormously to their fledgling community, including raising money to build Kingston’s first church.

The old-timers who knew Sadie described her as petite and fashionable, with dark hair and blue eyes. She dressed in silk gowns, adorned in diamonds. Though she wasn’t considered conventionally attractive, she had a charismatic, commanding personality. Beneath the polished facade, she was bawdy, brazen, bold, and eloquently profane. For example, she road down Hillsboro’s Main Street naked to win a bet. She was also accused of trying to murder a man with a stick of dynamite. Sadly, there’s no way to corroborate Sadie’s exploits, because all parties, guilty or innocent, left this world long ago.

Black Range Museum — Sadie Orchard built the Ocean Grove Hotel in 1896. Tom Ying, a Chinese immigrant from San Francisco, ran the restaurant. His Victorian house is adjacent to the Museum. The museum houses items that belonged to Orchard and Ying, as well as local artifacts documenting the mining and ranching history of the area.

Headed to Hillsboro

“I’m a product of the ‘Old West,’ and you know in those days we didn’t have much chance to practice the refinements and niceties of high society.” ~ Sadie Orchard, WPA interview with Clay Vaden in 1936

When the silver market crashed in 1893, the impact rippled across New Mexico’s mining communities. Miners, and the businesses who catered to them, were forced to relocate. Sadie moved 8 miles down the road to Hillsboro, where the economy was anchored to gold rather than silver, with ranching in the area providing additional economic stability for the community.

When smallpox hit Hillsboro in 1893, the local doctor was overwhelmed. The loss of so many children weighed heavily on Sadie, so she rallied her girls to help take care of the afflicted families. They tended to their patients both physically and financially, even donating the silk from her dresses to line the coffins of the youngest victims.

Sadie also met her husband, Jack Orchard, in 1893. They got married in July, 1895, launching the Mountain Pride Stagecoach Line together. Sadie was one of the drivers, becoming the first female stagecoach driver in New Mexico. The buggies shuttled passengers, mail, and other goods between Lake Valley, Kingston, and Hillsboro for fourteen years; however, Sadie didn’t abandon her prior career. She opened a brothel in Hillsboro in 1896, the Ocean Grove, opening the Orchard Hotel, a restaurant, and stables shortly thereafter.

The restaurant at the Orchard Hotel was one of the best in the region, featuring the culinary prowess of a Chinese chef from San Francisco, Tom Ying. Tom became one of Sadie’s closest friends and allies, though he eventually branched out on his own, opening the Chinaman’s Place down the road from the hotel. Today, the Black Range Museum is housed in the remains of the hotel, with a collection of Sadie and Tom’s personal items.

From the Wild West to the Modern World

Sadie’s fortunes waned in the 20^th century. Her marriage to Jack didn’t work out. He had a weakness for women and whiskey, compounded by a knack for making disastrous business decisions. When he lost the mail contract for the stage line in 1901, Sadie filed for divorce, escorting him out of the house with a shotgun. It was a messy break up. Later, Sadie was charged with stealing Jack’s buggy and shooting at him with a pistol (she missed). Eventually, Jack dropped the charges and left Hillsboro rather than contending with a vindictive ex-wife. Sadie kept his name and continued to manage the businesses, including the stagecoaches.

Though she kept the stage lines running for several years, the glory days of New Mexico’s mining towns had peaked and the west was changing rapidly. The rowdy, raucous boom towns of the Black Range became quiet, peaceful villages. Trails were replaced with railroad tracks and roads, eliminating the need for long stagecoach commutes across rough terrain. After the stagecoach line went out of business, Sadie relied on the hotel and restaurant to stay financially afloat, but the money dwindled with each passing year.

During World War I (1914-1918), Sadie stepped up again for the less fortunate in her community. She spent most of 1918 fighting the ravages of Spanish flu, nursing families in the community until they recovered or died. Again, she scavenged silk from her dresses to line plain, wooden coffins.

Main Street Hillsboro — Hillsboro Main Street, aka Hwy 152

Woman of a Bygone Era

Sadie Orchard died on April 3, 1943. The fortune she had amassed was gone. After her property and belongings were sold, and her expenses were settled, the estate was left with $45. She was buried in a pauper’s grave in Hot Springs (now Truth or Consequences). Two of her siblings attended her funeral. Decades later, the Geronimo Springs Museum raised money to erect a headstone. If you happen to visit Hillsboro or T or C, stop by her grave, The Geronimo Springs Museum, or the Black Range Museum to pay your respects to one of New Mexico’s most audacious dames.