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Pompey, Madame

Businesswoman and saloon entertainer at the Golden Nugget Saloon in Deadwood, Dakota Territory,[1] in 1877. (March 5, 1846 – March 22, 1907)[2]

During her childhood near Pittsburgh, the future Madame Pompey kept a pet skunk she had named Jim Dandy.[1]

In July of 1876, Pompey arrived in Deadwood with a small crew of female entertainers. Looking for an establishment in which to operate. She met Tony Cadiz at his Golden Nugget Saloon and the two entered into a business partnership. Pompey did not trust Cadiz or his less-than-honest dealings but, though the arrangement was contentious, she found it to be very profitable.[2]

In April of 1877,[2] Pompey felt it was time to bring in new blood for her group of girls. She traveled to St. Louis to recruit new entertainers, selecting the prettiest and most talented she could find.[1] While there, she met Bret Maverick who saw potential in traveling to Deadwood with Pompey and plying his own trade at the poker tables in the booming gold rush town.[2] Aboard the Dakota Queen, bound up the Missouri River for the Fort Pierre to Deadwood Trail, Pompey staked Bret $2,000 to cover a poker bet with Cadiz. Pompey was pleased to have helped Bret beat Cadiz.[1]

In May,[2] Bret and Dandy Jim Buckley brought Noah Perkins to Deadwood and introduced him to Pompey. Believing Perkins could beat Cadiz's Battling Kreuger in a boxing match, Pompey and her girls raised $10,000 to bet on Perkins at two-to-one odds. Perkins backed out of the fight when he discovered Bret and Buckley had lied to him about reasons to fight Kreuger, but Bret stepped in to replace him. Bret won the match, resulting in Cadiz losing the Golden Nugget to a group of miners. Pompey could have easily bought the saloon from the miners after the liquor ran out, but decided instead to buy a Black Hills valley with Perkins and settle down with him, leaving show business behind.[1]

See: Stampede