Maggie McDermott peered into the grimy windows of the Mascott Saloon and eyed the faces huddled around the bar. When she didn’t see who she was looking for, she removed the note tucked in her pocket, tilted it toward the lit oil lamp hanging outside the door, and studied the message. It read, “Frank and I are at the Mascott. Come on. Austie” Maggie exchanged a knowing glance with her friend Hattie Rice as she wadded the note in her hand. Hattie nodded to her, and the women proceeded inside.
The pair weaved through the rowdy patrons in search of Frank and the author of the invitation. The business was crowded. Men and women on a congested dance floor flitted about to a lively song a piano player was pounding out on an instrument badly in need of tuning. Occasionally, the women were stopped and propositioned by men who recognized them as prostitutes from the Gem Variety Theater. After inviting the potential customers to visit them later, Maggie and Hattie continued with their hunt. They asked a busboy for help, and he directed them to a room in the back of the busy tavern.
A gambler named Frank DeBelloy and his date Austie Trevyr a sixteen-year-old soiled dove employed at Madam Belle Haskell’s house of ill repute, were waiting on the other side of the door when Maggie and Hattie entered. The couple was seated at a table, drinking whiskey. Frank offered Maggie a smile, and, before he opened his mouth to speak, a bartender carrying a tray of glasses and a bottle of wine pushed past the two women. When the bartender left the room, Austie set a glass in front of Maggie and poured her a drink. “You have your nerve to ask me to drink with you and Frank when I have more claim on him than you,” Maggie barked at the teenager, “We having been together for the past three years.” Maggie then removed the note Austie wrote that she had wadded up and shoved in her pocket and tore it into pieces.
Austie glared at her rival, cursed at her under her breath, and drank down the last of wine she had poured for Maggie. She then pushed her chair back and stood up, her eyes fixed on Maggie. She reached into the top of her dress and removed a gun. Frightened, Hattie grabbed Maggie’s arm and tried to pull her out of the room. Maggie watched as Austie leveled the .32 caliber Smith and Wesson revolver at her and cocked the weapon. “Well, if I can’t have him you can’t,” she spat. The report of the gun was loud. Hattie screamed, and Maggie grabbed her chest and staggered backwards. Austie was about to shoot Maggie a second time when Frank grabbed her arm and hand. In the scuffle, the gun went off again.
Maggie sank into a chair, crying, “she shot me.” Hattie rushed to her side and tried to help Maggie get to her feet and escorted her to an adjoining room. She barely made it across the doorsill when she fell to the floor screaming, “Oh! Hattie! Oh! Hattie! I’m gone.” Frank quickly picked the injured woman up and laid her on a sofa. Moments later, Maggie was gone. She died on December 17, 1893.
Austie raced out the room and asked one of the owners of the saloon to get the police. She was gone by the time the authorities arrived. She ran to Belle Haskell’s house to grab her hat and shawl. After letting her employer know she’d shot a woman, she returned to the Mascott and confessed her crime to the investigating officer at the scene. When asked where she got the gun, she bragged that Frank had given it to her as a present. On her way to jail, Austie told the police she had intended shooting Maggie, her friend Hattie, and Frank, and that the second shot she fired was meant for Frank. The arresting officer noted in his report later that day that when he placed Austie in the cell she didn’t break down or exhibit any remorse. In his estimation, Austie seemed almost happy she’d killed Maggie McDermott.
To learn more about Maggie McDermott and the woman who murdered her read An Open Secret: The Story of Deadwood’s Most Notorious Bordellos.
Join me at the Brothel Deadwood Museum on Sunday, September 24 from 11 A.M. to 6 P.M. for a tour of the brothel and stories of the many raids on the houses of ill repute in the Black Hills. Visit DeadwoodHistory.com for more information.
