Kitty Leroy lived fast and hard as we have seen in the last two posts. She was dancing by age 10, on her own by age 14 and a business owner in her early 20s. She will not make 30.
After leaving Dallas, Kitty landed in California and then Deadwood, South Dakota. She owned her own casino/bar/brothel (?) in Deadwood. After getting established, Kitty married a man named Sam Curley. Curley ultimately left her and Deadwood, headed for Colorado (he would end up in Cheyenne, though). Why he left is open for debate, but what is not open for debate is the fact that Kitty turned bitter and was no longer her charming self.
Lonely, Kitty reignited a relationship with the saloon-keep/lover she moved to California with years before. Curley, who did not take it well that his wife (they were still legally married) was cavorting with other men, heard about her exploits all the way out in Cheyenne. Curley returned to Deadwood, found Kitty at the Lone Star Saloon, and promptly shot her to death before turning the gun on himself. As this played out in 1877, Kitty was a few years shy of her 30th birthday.
Researching Kitty, it is often cited that she married at least five times (with one source claiming 27!). Kitty herself did not deny these rumors which swirled during her own lifetime. She cultivated an air of a woman who did not play by society’s rules.
Pictured: the Gem Theater in Deadwood, South Dakota. It was owned by Al Swearengen (yep, *that* guy from the Deadwood series) when Kitty started out in Deadwood – it was one of the first places she worked before opening her own business.
Enss, Chris. Wicked women: notorious, mischievous, and wayward ladies from the Old West. Guilford, CT: TwoDot, 2015.
Gard, Wayne. “Rampaging Era of Kitty Leroy .” Dallas Morning News, July 05, 1960. Accessed July 17, 2017.
