'Diamond Dolly' and the brothels of early Calgary

It's the evening of July 26, 1910, and a red light district in the small prairie city of Calgary is coming to life.

The sound of music and drunken laughter drifts in the air around a notorious collection of houses on the edge of town.

The brothels here draw male customers from near and far.

Men make the trip from the rowdy saloons across the Bow River, from ranches in the foothills, and even from the police barracks.

One bordello is a particular favourite.

It's run by a madam notorious as the "Queen of the Fleshpots."

Around town, she's known as Diamond Dolly.

She's built a booming business but, on this night, the Mounties are about to end all that.

At least, that's their plan.

This is Episode 2ofHeroes, Hustlers and Horsemen, a five-partpodcastseriesfrom CBC Calgary about real people who lived in southern Alberta around the time of confederation and a few decades beyond.

The storiesaren't of the Heritage Minute variety. Theseare the whisky-soaked, down and dusty, gun-slinging kinds of stories they leave out in school.

We'll meet rogues and rebels, bold visionaries with big blind spots, the notorious and the opportunistic, thepeople who gave rein to their ambitions and passions and those whochose to buck the herd.