Pearl de Vere (October 1859 – June 5, 1897), known as the "soiled dove of Cripple Creek", was a 19th-century prostitute and brothel owning madam of the American Old West. Early years DeVere was born Eliza Martin in October 1859 in Evansville, Indiana. Her father was John Marshall Marshall, a veteran of the American Civil War. He and his wife Nancy had five children, three sons and two daughters. DeVere arrived in Denver, Colorado in 1877 at age 15 where she worked as a prostitute. She told her sister she was working as a milliner, a respectable occupation for a single woman. By 1887 she had moved to El Paso County, Colorado, where she married Albert Young, but the couple lived apart. DeVere gave birth to a daughter and it is thought that the child was given up for adoption. During this period, DeVere dyed her hair red, wore fine clothes and jewellery and used the names Isabelle Martin and Mrs. E.A. Martin. Life in Cripple Creek Cripple Creek would be the last great Colorado gold rush. Almost overnight, a city sprang up from a small community. The demand for prostitutes in a land where men far outnumbered women was great. "Mrs. Martin", as she had been known previously, changed her name to Pearl de Vere, and began working as a prostitute in Cripple Creek in 1893. Within months, she had started her own brothel, with several girls in her employ. De Vere had purchased a small frame house on Myers Avenue, from which her business would operate. She was described as being an attractive 31-year-old woman with red hair and a slender build. She was also said to have been a good businesswoman, strong willed, and smart. Her girls were instructed to practice good hygiene, dress well, and have monthly medical examinations. She also chose only the most attractive girls for employment. In return, her girls were well paid for their services. De Vere catered to the most prosperous men in Cripple Creek, and her brothel soon became the most successful in town. She was well known for wearing lavish clothing in public, and for never being seen twice in the same clothes. In 1895, she met and married businessman C. B. Flynn, a wealthy mill owner. The two had been married only a matter of months before a fire raged through Cripple Creek's business district, destroying most of