By Fred Veil

It is not unusual for bits and pieces of Western lore to find their way into the historical record of the Old West. The story of Kissin’ Jenny, a Prescott prostitute, and the role she purportedly played in influencing the decision of the Fifteenth Legislature of the Arizona Territory to relocate the territorial capital from Prescott to Phoenix in 1889 is a case in point.

When the Fifteenth Legislature convened in Prescott in January, 1889 the first order of business taken up by the Assembly was a bill to permanently relocate the territorial capital from Prescott, where it had again resided since 1877, to Phoenix, that burgeoning city to the south that had by then surpassed both Prescott and Tucson in population, commerce and, most importantly, political influence. The location of the capital had for some years been a matter of contention, but in this instance the delegates from Maricopa County had rounded up the necessary votes and the bill was passed in the two houses (the Council and the House of Representatives) that comprised the Legislative Assembly, and immediately signed into law by Governor C. Myer Zulick. Within days, the Legislature reconvened in Phoenix to finish the business of the legislative session.

The legendary Jenny may have worked out of one of the cribs shown to the left of the Union Saloon (Courtesy of the Sharlot Hall Museum Call Number BU-B-8069pa).

The roots of the story of Kissin’ Jenny are unknown, but over time at least two versions have become part of our Western lore. The most popular account is that in anticipation of a close vote on the bill, the delegates from Maricopa County engaged Jenny to help them ensure the absence a certain Yavapai County delegate when the call was made for the vote on the bill. This delegate, a regular customer of Jenny’s, had a glass eye of which he was very proud. As the story goes, the delegate spent the night before the vote was to be taken in Jenny’s boudoir and before retiring removed his glass eye and placed it in a water glass next to the bed. When he awoke the next morning the glass eye was missing, purportedly swallowed by Jenny who, becoming thirsty during the night, picked up the water glass and consumed its contents. Vanity would not permit the delegate to be seen in public without his glass eye and as a consequence he missed the important vote on the capital relocation bill. According to legend, the bill passed by a single vote.

This narration of the story of Kissin’ Jenny has been eloquently captured in verse by Cowboy Poet Dee Strickland (Buckshot Dot). Her poem, entitled, appropriately, Kissin’ Jenny, was republished in the May 2012 edition of the Prescott Corral’s Territorial Times.

A second version of the Kissin’ Jenny story is that the delegate with the glass eye was actually a supporter of the bill, and when his eye turned up missing it was the Maricopa County delegates who rounded up a substitute glass eye, which allowed for him to show up at the very last minute to cast the deciding vote in favor of its passage.

A recent article in this newspaper, after recounting the most popular version of the Kissin’ Jenny story, suggested that historians have long tried but have been unable to disprove its veracity. The fact is, the story, which relies on the representation that the vote was lost (or won, depending on the version recounted) by a single vote, is easily disproved. According to the historical record of the Fifteenth Legislative Assembly, the vote was not even close. The Council voted 9 to 2 in favor of the bill and the House approved it by a vote of 14 to 10. Further, all of the Yavapai County delegates were present at the session and voted against the bill. The only member whose vote was not recorded was a Councilman from Apache County who, according to contemporary reports had remained at home to care for a sick child. In any event, his vote would have made no difference since the Council vote was so overwhelmingly in favor of the bill.

Nevertheless, the legend of Kissin’ Jenny will undoubtedly live on in Western lore––as well it should, because, after all, it does make a great story!

(Days Past is a collaborative project of the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Prescott Corral of Westerners, International. The public is encouraged to submit articles for Days Past consideration. Please contact Assistant Archivist, Scott Anderson, at SHM Archives 928-445-3122 or via email at archivesrequest@sharlothallmuseum.org for information.)