In 1847, the western U.S. was a wilderness populated mostly by American Indians and Mexicans. The region changed quickly when word of gold reached the East. Some 200,000 individuals, mostly men, but some women and children, traveled to the untamed lands, primarily to California, during the first three years of the Gold Rush.
As fortunes were made and lost daily, gold seekers also sought out crude entertainment provided by ragtag bands, bear-wrestling and prize-fighting exhibitions, gambling dens, saloons, brothels and dancehalls. After a while, the miners and merchants longed for more refined entertainment. Theatres, backstreet halls and playhouses were built and stayed busy.
The pioneers’ passion for diversion lured brave actors, dancers, singers and daredevils west. Bored miners were willing to pay high sums to these entertainers, especially to the females. In the boomtowns during the mid-and-late 1800s, one of the most celebrated female entertainers was Adah Menken. Critics claimed she had one of the most beautiful figures in the world.

San Francisco was anxious to see Adah star in Prince Ivan in Mazeppa, a role that was making her famous. Rumors circulated that she played the part in the nude. Eastern newspapers reported audiences had found the scantily clad thespian’s act “shocking, scandalous, horrifying and even delightful.”
The storyline of the play was taken from a Lord Byron poem, in which a Tartar prince is condemned to ride forever in the desert, stripped naked and lashed to a fiery, untamed steed. Adah insisted on playing the part as true to life as possible.
The audience could hardly wait for the actress to walk out onto the stage. When she did, a hush fell over the crowd. The stunning actress with her curly, dark hair and big, dark eyes wore a flesh-colored body nylon and tight-fitting underwear. During the play’s climatic scene, supporting characters strapped the star to the back of a black stallion, which then raced up the narrow runway between cardboard mountain crags. The audience responded with thunderous applause. Adah had captured the heart of another city in the West.
Adah was born Adois Dolores McCordon June 15, 1835, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to her French Creole mother and her highly respected, free black father. Prejudice against Adah’s ethnicity plagued her early career. Theatre owners familiar with her heritage refused to hire her. She created stories about her upbringing, apparently to secure work. The truth about her roots was not uncovered until the early 1900’s.
