Stag Dance in the Gold Camps
German “Hurdy-Gurdy Girls” come to the Mining Camps
“During the Gold Rush, dance halls spread rapidly around mining camps. In some mining towns, the hurdy houses had balconies where a rich prospector could sit and watch the girls below, sometimes showering his favorite dancer with gold dust or trying to drop gold nuggets into the Hurdy’s bosom.
“Except in German beer halls, where the wives or daughters of owners worked, there was generally not a “respectable” female presence in 19th century saloons. Before the Hurdies came, miners had to make do with all-male amusements and often had stag dances in the saloons, the “ladies” being represented by men with a white handkerchief tied about their arms. They danced the galop, a varsouvienne, waltz, mazurka, do-si-do, or schottische.
“Four girls made up a typical Hurdy company, and they were generally accompanied by a married couple, often with children of their own, who chaperoned them at all times, plus two or more musicians who usually played an accordion. These girls traveled on foot from camp to camp, and remained in one camp as long as they made good money or married, which was common. There was great joy at their arrival.
“The dance hall women provided entertainment and companionship for men, especially in the far west which at the time had a predominantly male population, in some areas over 90%. Arrayed in their scandalous calf length skirts, they wore kid boots that often sported tassels, and stockings held up by garters. Their shirts were low cut and showed cleavage and they also wore make-up and often dyed their hair.” — (Source: http://www.revisionist.net/hurdy-gurdy.html)
Hurdy-Gurdy Girls
Dame Shirley on Dancing in Gold Rush San Francisco
“In San Francisco, the Dance House has fixed its location in the vicinity of Pacific and Jackson Streets. It is liberty hall — all colors, classes, conditions, ages and nationalities meet on an equal footing on the passage of its portal. There are no grades or classes — all are on an equality, be it the European, the Mexican, or the Negro.
“When the dance is announced, a master of ceremonies hurries around and bustles the couples on the floor to participate in a quadrille, whose figures would puzzle a veteran in the dance. Negros select white partners, and white men, negresses, Americans, Mexicans, Frenchmen, Spaniards, Chilenos, of every hue, are here, each vociferating in their vernaculars; but the jargon ceases, on the musicians operating on their harps and violins.”
A Frenchman’s View of Dancing in San Francisco, 1851
Although Americans are generally awkward and unbending, they enjoy dancing, and above all they love to watch other people dance. [At the public dances] all the women in town appear, French, American and Mexican; the men gather in crowds; and one often sees beautiful costumes richly adorned with lace, which the women make themselves or order from dressmakers for each occasion. A masked ball naturally permits a certain freedom, but here the feverish atmosphere of the city produces an abandon I have never seen elsewhere…
Three distinct quadrilles are always in progress simultaneously, French, American, and Mexican, and the races mix only in waltzes, polkas, and gallops. The American quadrille is danced with Anglo-Saxon stiffness and passivity; the Mexican with a southern languor and indolent grace; but the French quadrille is the center of genuine gaiety and animation. I often notice how American men steal away from their own group and enviously watch the vivacious French women, who do not hesitate to let themselves go, when they see they are being admired….
I am occasionally reminded of our balls at the Salle Valentine on the Rue St. Honoré. There is one important difference: Parisian rowdies often come to blows; but in San Francisco hardly an evening passes without drunken brawls during which shots are fired.
— Albert Benard de Russailh, Last Adventure
Dance Rage
Last April, the actors in the French Theatre got up a ball, and Charles Duane,who is presentable and has good manners, made one of the party. Halfway through the evening, in the midst of the laughing and stamping of the dance, a quarrel broke out between Charles Duane and an actor, Monsieur Fayolle, who had by accident stepped on Duane’s foot. In fear, everyone stopped dancing.
Fayolle was very apologetic, but Charles Duane’s rage flared up when he saw that the Frenchman wanted to avoid a fight.
Some men intervened, separated the two, and pacified Charles Duane, who seemed ready to leap at Fayolle. At last everyone thought that the quarrel was ended for good; but they had not taken into account the thirst for blood that maddens Charles Duane.
A quadrille began. He moved aside and stood behind Monsieur Fayolle, who was dancing. When the dance was over, Duane coldly drew his revolver and shot Fayolle in the back.
The actor fell severely wounded and lay in a pool of blood. At the sound of the shot the women ran away or fainted.
As for Duane, he stood calm and impassive beside his victim, apparently contemplating the work with satisfaction, and quietly took a cigar from his pocket.
Charles Duane
