Wild Woman of The West

On Mill Street in Grass Valley, CA. is a modest house that was once the home of Lola Montez. She billed herself during the early years of the California Gold Rush as a Spanish dancer, but that was a false claim.

The fiery colorful Lola was actually Irish. She learned to dance in Madrid, Spain and perfected a sensual dance known as the Tarantula, where she pretended to get away from plastic spiders with her writhing moves during which she shed her clothes to tantalize her largely male audience.

Lola was a handful.

She married and scandalized the King of Prussia, causing him to lose his crown.

After drinking, she would sometimes run naked in the streets, laughing at the world and blowing kisses to the public.

She gambled, had numerous lovers, and loved animals and children whom she would fiercely defend. She was a dead shot with a pistol and would not hesitate to use it if the occasion demanded.

Grass Valley was a boom town after gold was discovered in California in the mid 18th century. Lola was popular with the miners, including the Spanish settlers to California in those years.

She somehow acquired a bear that she christened Lola Montez and would feature the bear in fights with bulls and panthers. The bloody battles were held in amphitheaters, saloons and open areas where people would bet on the animals. Montez handled the money and made out like a bandit.

Her house on Mill Street was often filled with animals. She had rabbits, birds and fighting roosters that she would not hesitate to feature in fights.

Lola traveled throughout the West dancing the tarantula and luring male suitors with her fluttering eyelids and promises of passion. There were many battles for her companionship. A born flirt, Lola would pretend to be interested in a suitor while making eyes at his rival. The men knew this and didn't care. They only had eyes for Lola and the fantasies they hoped their relationship would provide.

She was married a minimum of four times. When she lived in Bavaria, a mob tried to run her out of town because of her scandalous behavior. She sent the crowd scattering by firing her pistol into the crowd. Her husband, the king, came to her rescue and even agreed to give up his crown and the throne for her hand.

His new found poverty didn't appeal to Lola. She left him for the greener pastures of Grass Valley.

After her death at age 39, her house was purchased by the Episcopal church and later was owned by the California Historical Society which charged an admission for people to tour it.

Her celebrated fighting bear reportedly never lost a fight. Once it even bit Lola on the hand. She forgave the bear for the bite and always treated it affectionately in public, saying she trusted her bear more than she did some of her male friends.

A poster from the era had the following graphic words:

'GREAT ATTRACTION at the Iowa Hill Amphitheatre. PANTHER AND BEAR FIGHT. The proprietors have procured a LARGE AND FEROCIOUS PANTHER caught near the summit of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and purchased THE CELEBRATED GRIZZLY BEAR LOLA MONTEZ which they will fight on Sunday, Nov. 5.'

The poster added that a number of fighting game chickens would be available for wagering. The event would conclude with a match fight between two fighting dogs, Union and Star.

Another fight featured a dog named Major with $500 attached to its neck challenging any dog of its weight, with the winner to claim the prize.

Lola Montez -- the dancer, not the bear -- is buried in a small cemetery in Brooklyn, N.Y.