An Act of Congress, March 16, 1802, officially established the position of laundress. This act stipulated four laundresses per company.  The ratio varied over the years until eventually one laundress was allowed for every 19.5 men at Fort Concho.  The laundress was the only position in the military filled by a woman and laundresses were the only women on post officially recognized by the military during the 19th century.  Not only were laundresses entitled to benefits and pay but they were subject to military law. 

Laundresses at Fort Concho would have received one ration per day, quarters, fuel, bedding straw, and services of the post surgeon in addition to their pay.  The expense of maintaining laundresses was seen by some as excessive.  Enlisted men and officers paid for their laundry at a rate determined by the Post Council of Administration.  In general, laundry rates reflected the average wage scale for unskilled civilian labor at military posts.  Fort Concho laundresses received $2.00 per month from enlisted men and $4.00-$5.00 per month from officers for their services. 

Laundresses’ quarters consisted of poorly built houses, tents, crude stone buildings, or sod structures.  At some forts laundresses lived in dugouts along the river banks.  The area where they resided was often referred to as Sudsville or Suds Row.     

As if washing and mending weren’t challenging enough, additional duties included, but most likely were not limited to, caring for the sick, dressing the dead, and delivering babies.  Her duties left little time for leisure.  There is little first hand information about laundresses due to their lack of education and the demands of the job. 

There are varying accounts regarding the nature of the laundress.  Some saw them as lacking in morals with a brood of rowdy kids and guilty of spreading disease, while those on the opposite side of the discussion saw them as having a civilizing influence.  For some soldiers, visiting Suds Row was a break in their monotonous routine. Some laundresses were respected by the enlisted men more than the “China Dolls” who were married to the officers.

Official recognition of laundresses was discontinued on June 18, 1878, but many continued to work on an unofficial basis.  Congress halted the issuance of rations to laundresses in 1883, and after that time the position was phased out completely.

Ellen Beck, Laundress, Company D, 10th U. S. Cavalry

Ellen Beck was born February 10, 1859, in the Delaware District of the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory (Oklahoma).   Her parents had been slaves once owned by Jeffery Beck, a Cherokee.  Ellen Beck and First Sergeant George Goldsby, 10th Cavalry, married on July 4, 1874 at Fort Sill, Indian Territory.  They eventually had four children:  Georgia, Crawford, Clarence, and Luther.  Ellen worked as one of four official laundresses for Company D, 10th Cavalry alongside Mrs. Murray, Mrs. Parker, and Mrs. Johnson.  On May 27, 1875 Company D was officially transferred to Fort Concho.  At Concho, the Goldsby family lived in the married enlistedmen’s quarters which were crude shacks constructed on the north side of the fort grounds near the stables and barracks.  The family received money from both her position as a laundress and his military pay.  In February 1878, turmoil stuck the family after Sergeant Goldsby and a small group of his men shot up Morris’ saloon in Saint Angela in retaliation to a black sergeant having been accosted by some cowboys and buffalo hunters.  Before the trial for his part in the riot, George Goldsby deserted on May 18, 1879 and abandoned his wife and family at Fort Concho.  Sometime after being abandoned, Ellen moved her family to Fort Gibson, Indian Territory.  She continued to serve as a laundress with the 10th Cavalry, transferring from post to post, until the official position of laundress was removed.  On June 27, 1889, Ellen married Private William Lynch of Troop K, 9th Cavalry in Kansas City, Missouri.  The couple moved back to Fort Gibson.  Turmoil continued for Ellen’s family after her son Crawford turned to a life of crime and became the notorious outlaw, “Cherokee Bill.”  He was tried and hung by Judge Isaac Parker on March 17, 1896 in Fort Smith, Arkansas.  Ellen attended the trials and hanging.  Supposedly in preparation for filing for his military pension, George Goldsby tracked down Ellen in 1912 and unsuccessfully requested an official divorce.  This was the first meeting between the two since he abandoned her in 1879.  After a long and eventful life, Ellen died December 17, 1932 and was buried at Fort Gibson.