Julia Bulette (1832 – January 19/20, 1867), was an English-born American prostitute in

Virginia City, Nevada Virginia City is a census-designated place (CDP) that is the county seat of Storey County, Nevada, and the largest community in the county. The city is a part of the Reno– Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. Virginia City developed as a boom ...

, a boomtown serving the

Comstock Lode The Comstock Lode is a lode of silver ore located under the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, a peak in the Virginia Range in Virginia City, Nevada (then western Utah Territory), which was the first major discovery of silver ore in the United ...

silver mine. She was murdered in 1867, and French drifter John Millain was quickly convicted and hanged for the crime. Subsequent legends surrounding Julia's life and status as a

sex worker A sex worker is a person who provides sex work, either on a regular or occasional basis. The term is used in reference to those who work in all areas of the sex industry.Oxford English Dictionary, "sex worker" According to one view, sex work is d ...

and

madam Madam (), or madame ( or ), is a polite and formal form of address for Woman, women in the English language, often contracted to ma'am (pronounced in American English and this way but also in British English). The term derives from the French ...

have grown over time and become a part of Virginia City folklore.

Origins

Juliette “Julie” Bulette was born in London and moved to New Orleans with her family in the late 1830s. In about 1852 or 1853, she moved to California, where she lived in various places until her arrival in 1859 in

, a mining boomtown since the Comstock Lode silver strike that same year. As she was the only woman in the area, she became greatly sought after by the miners. She quickly took up prostitution. Jule, or Julia (as she became known), was described as a beautiful, tall, and slim brunette with dark eyes, and refined in manner with a humorous, witty personality. "Jule" Bulette lived and worked out of a small rented cottage near the corner of D and Union streets in Virginia City's entertainment district. An independent operator, she competed with the fancy brothels, streetwalkers, and hurdy-gurdy girls for meager earnings. Contemporary newspaper accounts of her gruesome murder captured popular imagination. With few details of her life, twentieth-century chroniclers elevated the courtesan to the status of

folk hero A folk hero or national hero is a type of hero – real, fictional or mythological – with their name, personality and deeds embedded in the popular consciousness of a people, mentioned frequently in folk songs, folk tales and other folklore; an ...

ine, ascribing to her the questionable attributes of wealth, beauty, and social standing. In reality, Bulette was ill and in debt at the time of her death.

Murder

On the morning of January 20, 1867, Bulette's partially naked body was found by her maid in her bedroom. She had been strangled and bludgeoned to death. Bulette was buried in Pioneer Cemetery. A little over a year later, John Millain, a French drifter, was arrested and charged with the crime. On April 24, 1868, he went to the gallows, swearing he was not guilty of having killed Bulette, but had been only an accomplice in the theft of her meager belongings.Brown, p.68. Millain's hanging was witnessed by author

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

Legacy

Bulette's legend continued after her death. The

Virginia and Truckee Railroad The Virginia and Truckee Railroad is a privately owned heritage railroad, headquartered in Virginia City, Nevada. Its private and publicly owned route is long. When first constructed in the 19th century, it was a commercial freight railroad ...

honored her memory by naming one of its richly furnished club coaches after her. Her portrait hung in many Virginia City saloons, and author

Rex Beach Rex Ellingwood Beach (September 1, 1877 – December 7, 1949) was an American novelist, playwright, and Olympic water polo player. Early life Rex Beach was born in Atwood, Michigan, but moved to Tampa, Florida, with his family where his father ...

immortalized her as ''Cherry Malotte'' in his novel, ''The Spoilers''. Oscar Lewis in his book ''Silver Kings'' reported that Bulette was written about more than any other woman of the Comstock Lode bonanza. Only two authentic portraits exist of Bulette; one is a photograph which shows her standing beside an ''Engine Number 1'' fireman's hat. A third photograph, previously identified as her, was most likely that of her maid, who was also named Julia.Note:This photograph shows a dark-skinned young woman, possibly of mixed race, in modest attire without cosmetics and little jewelry, which does not correspond to contemporary descriptions of the richly-dressed madam, nor does it resemble the other two authenticated pictures of Julia. The television show ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on U ...

'' aired an episode called "The Julia Bulette Story" (Season 1, Episode 6, October 17, 1959) in which Julia is portrayed by actress

Jane Greer Jane Greer (born Bettejane Greer; September 9, 1924 – August 24, 2001) was an American film and television actress best known for her role as ''femme fatale'' Kathie Moffat in the 1947 film noir ''Out of the Past''. In 2009, ''The Guardian'' n ...

. The Virginia City chapter of

E Clampus Vitus The Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus (ECV) is a fraternal organization dedicated to the preservation of the heritage of Western United States, the American West, especially the history of the Mother Lode#California Mother Lode, Mother ...

, a men's historical society, is named #1864
Julia C Bulette
in her honor. Also named in her honor is Bulette Drive in Carson City, Nevada.

Notes

References

External links

Court transcript, NC608
Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Reno. Nevadan brought to trial for the murder of Julia Bulette in 1867. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bulette, Julia 1832 births 1867 deaths 19th-century American women 1867 murders in the United States American prostitutes American brothel owners and madams Sex workers murdered in the United States American murder victims People from Virginia City, Nevada English emigrants to the United States People from London People of the American Old West People murdered in Nevada Deaths by strangulation in the United States Deaths by beating in the United States 19th-century American businesspeople Female murder victims