Laundress Row:

Laundress Row: . No Hog Ranch Here. , All military posts had laundresses, with some having poor reputations as ladies-of-the-night, or for conducting shady activities. This may not have been the case at Fort Phil Kearny. There were four to five laundresses at this fort, each assigned to a company, and all but one being married to an enlisted man. They did not charge a fixed rate for their work but were paid “fluctuating mountain prices”. They and their husbands were housed in 10 by 24 foot jack-pole built quarters with dirt roofs. These quarters, of which there were twelve, may have been connected in a row or scattered about., The laundress for Company H, a servant who came west with Captain Ten Eyck, may have been the exception. Her name was Susan Fitzgerald and affectionally known as “Colored or Black Susan”. She was apparently a very enterprising woman who was credited with an “excellent ability to make sausage, and good sausage at that, out of almost every kind of meat”. But her enterprise led to trouble. Captain Ten Eyck was reprimanded in a “strong order” from Colonel Carrington for allowing her to sell pies, made from quartermaster stores, to the troops for 50 cents.