violent death proved to be the only way out of misery. One prostitute tried to run away from her owner and hide in the Nevada hills. By the time she was found, both her feet had frozen and had to be amputated, and in the end she courted death by refusing to take medicine or food. In another instance, a popular dance hall girl nicknamed The Yellow Doll by her admirers in Deadwood, South Dakota, was found chopped into pieces in 1876. In Virginia City, Nevada, six Chines prostitutes committed suicide to escape enslavement. Most prostitutes did not have the individual or collective means to resist their fate. Refusing to work only brought on beatings and other physical tortures. Cases were reported of prostitutes attempting escape with the help of lovers, but only a few succeeded. Because of the high value placed on prostitutes, owners went to great expense to recover their property. Hiring highbinders to retrieve them and paying legal fees to file writs of habeas corpus or criminal charges against the women for grand larceny. Once the women were arrested, the owners would post the required bail, drop the charges, and repossess the women. During those times, not all prostitutes met these horrible fates, there were a few who escaped the confines of their enslavement. China Annie was an exceptional case. A prostitute belonging to a member of the Yeong Wo Company in Idaho City, she escaped to Boise to marry her lover, Ah Guan. Her owner charged her with grand larceny for stealing herself, and after a four-week search, she was apprehended and taken to court. The judge, sympathetic to her cause, dismissed the case and allowed her to return to her husband. Another prostitute who won her freedom, Polly Bemis, survived the harsh frontier life to become a legendary figure in her community. Born lalu Nathoy in northern China in 1853, she grew up in poverty. At an early age she was sold for two bags of seed to bandits, shipped to Amer...
