Named for Davis Levy, the original owner of many of the cribs that lined the alley in the 1880s, Levy’s Alley ran behind the 600 block of Main Street in downtown Boise. While the alley was not the only restricted district in the city, it was the most notorious, and the majority of Boise’s most famous madams and sex workers lived and worked there. One such person was Agnes Bush, also known as “Queen Aggie,” a Black woman who operated multiple cribs and parlor houses in Boise. Bush was one of Levy’s prior tenants, and after he died, she acquired some of the property for herself and expanded a pleasure business of her own. Bush soon ran multiple rooms in the district, by then nicknamed “Levy’s Alley” after Davis, which she rented out by individual women known as “crib girls.” She was known not only as a successful businesswoman but also as a prominent citizen, and the Idaho Daily Statesman frequently wrote about her charitable acts for the poor and children in need. Bush also made important donations to the city and formed long-standing financial and “friendly” ties with the press and local law enforcement. These relationships were supplemented by expensive gifts such as a diamond-encrusted badge she gave to Boise police chief B. F. Francis and a $250 diamond ring to local journalist C. Miles. These gifts and activities both ensured and announced Bush’s prominent role in Boise, for which she earned the nickname “Queen Aggie.” Agnes Bush stands out because she was a Black woman. As a prominent figure in the Boise community with ties to law enforcement, as well as significant property holdings and wealth, she stands as a curious anomaly in the history of the Treasure Valley and the broader region. Though there was white supremacist activity in the area given Boise’s proximity to Oregon (which white residents established officially as a white-only state in its 1859 constitution), Bush was a major player in her community. Indeed, local government and law enforcement typically tolerated sex workers in Boise until 1909, when national sentiments turned against the traditional practice of relegating sex workers to restricted districts in favor of completely expelling such para-legal practices in the name of public health. That year, Congress passed the Mann Act, and local Boise officials began targeting their city’s sex workers for fear of federal intervention. After being run out of the city, Bush moved to Portland, Oregon to live with one of her sons while she suffered from partial paralysis. In 1910, the Statesman reported her death in Portland and revealed her “real name,” Frances Richardson. Despite how her story ended, Bush’s success and her ties to the community suggest the rich tapestry of people that comprised the state of Idaho’s early years and reflect the fascinating and dynamic time in which she lived.

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Wallace, Idaho has a history of indulging in vices and lasciviousness. Since its establishment members of the local government engaged in the illegal prostitution and gambling activities produced as an outlet for miners in the community. This led to continued government corruption that perpetuated into the mid twentieth century. From 1963 to its unexpected closing in 1988, Ginger Murphy ran The Oasis Rooms. When Murphy bought The Oasis, mining and prostitution were declining in profits and popularity. Due to this government corruption and other allegations of prominent members in the community, it was not until 1973 that the town ordered all operating brothels to shut down. Each brothel took down its business signs, hid from the public eye, and operated in secret. Consequently, the brothels of Wallace flourished until each shut down decades later.

The Oasis brought in profits near one million dollars a year and on a good weekend each woman could earn upwards of two thousand dollars. Before the Oasis closed in 1988, Madam Ginger employed anywhere from five to eight women. Each woman worked for two weeks and had two weeks off, completing shifts from two in the afternoon to six in the morning and averaged anywhere from thirty-five to forty customers a night. The turnover rate of women was high. Most of the workers traveled across the Northwest and would not stay for more than a few weeks in Wallace. Competition for a spot at Madam Ginger’s was tough because she paid her women a 60/40 cut, unlike most madams who paid 50/50 of the profits. Madam Ginger took good care of her employees. Each woman was subject to weekly doctors’ visits to screen for pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Ginger employed “maids” who not only kept house but watched out for the women’s safety. They would set the timer for the clients, drop profits into each woman’s lock box, and use the reverse peephole in each room to check on the women in case they heard anything out of the ordinary. Until 1988 this was the norm for the women employed.

In Wallace, the FBI investigated the town and its questionable operations often. On June 23, 1988, an informant tipped off Madam Ginger and her eight employees to an FBI raid. As this was a common occurrence, the women packed a bag and left the brothel with most of their possessions left behind. They expected to be back to their temporary homes within a few weeks but the FBI had ongoing investigations that lasted longer than normal. Madam Ginger abandoned the building until local Jack Mayfield bought it years later and discovered the rooms were left just as they had been the day the women left.

Today, The Oasis Bordello Museum provides an inside look to the women’s abandoned bedrooms and personal items including lingerie, eight-track tapes, and various toiletries. The museum gives the visitor an inside look into the lives of these women and a glimpse of what it was like as a sex worker.

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In the period between the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, silver mining in Wallace, Idaho was in full swing. During this era, many brothels were established. Prostitution contributed a great deal to the economic prosperity of Wallace by meeting miner's desires, contributing to local industry, and providing economic opportunities for women.

Prostitution was central to the economic system of many small mining towns. Wallace recognized this fact and decriminalizing prostitution while remaining illegal at the state level. Prostitution in Wallace was highly regulated to appease the consciousness of some citizens. Houses of prostitution operated with a strict code of conduct, paid taxes, and workers submitted to frequent health examinations. These regulations pacified critics without eliminating the practice of prostitution.

The main argument for the need of prostitution was that it kept other “respectable” women safer from the rugged miners. According to the mayor of Wallace in 1905, prostitution was a “necessary evil” to keep refined women from being raped by uncontrollable male sexuality. Ultimately, by allowing women to participate in sex work, Wallace officials ensured a strong economy. Another major factor that led to community acceptance was the income and tax revenue made by prostitutes. In 1913 “tax revenues form prostitution, gambling and the sale of liquor enabled Wallace to pave its streets and fund a general infrastructure upgrade” making the town better for everyone. Because of regulations put on brothels at the turn of the century, Wallace generated considerable revenue.

Prostitution in this period gave women economic opportunity and even political influence in a society where the same were sometimes limited. The struggles and the risk of disease and pregnancy, however, made it a difficult way to earn a living. At the Oasis brothel, for example, women could have up to sixty customers a night and worked long, unrelenting shifts. The women would also be seen by a doctor weekly to check for diseases and pregnancy. If a prostitute contracted an STD or fell pregnant she could be out of a job. For some, these risks outweighed the economic incentives of sex work while for others, it did not.

Prostitution was not officially criminalized in Wallace until the early 1990s.

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