A novel of murder, mystery and the lives of women yet untold

For area author Robin Flinchum, history holds a great fascination and one of the subjects she most enjoys exploring is pioneer women who led non-traditional lives.

In her newest book, “The Redemption of Julia Bulette: Murder, Myth and the Hunt for a Serial Killer in Early Virginia City”, her focus shifts from her home area of Death Valley to Northern Nevada, where the story of the murder of a prostitute and her accused killer, John Millain, has become something of a legend.

Flinchum is well-known for her first book, “Red Light Women of Death Valley”, which detailed the lives of prostitutes working at the mining camps in Death Valley and it was this book that acted as a springboard for Flinchum’s next.

“One of the women who worked in the Death Valley mining camps was named Martha Camp. She worked up in Panamint City in the 1870s. As I was looking into the life of Martha Camp, I discovered that she was involved in solving the murder of Julia Bulette in Virginia City and I thought, that’s really intriguing,” Flinchum told the Pahrump Valley Times in an April interview, not long after her new book was released.

When she first delved into the subject of Julia Bulette, Flinchum said she wasn’t sure there would be much she could add to her tale.

“There have been so many books written about Julia Bulette,” Flinchum remarked. “And it’s not really my neighborhood. Death Valley is – that’s my home, that’s where I focus, that’s where I know what I’m talking about. But as I was researching, there were two things that drew me in.

“One is that after Julia Bulette was murdered, a man was captured, accused of her murder, convicted and executed in front of thousands of people. Martha Camp helped to make that happen,” she continued. “As I was reading the available materials, I kept wondering if that man was really guilty. And I also kept coming across these references to the fact that people believed he had committed other murders. I thought, what about that? Who were these other women? Did he kill before? Is that some indication that he really was guilty of murdering Julia? What happened there?”

The research intensified at this point, with Flinchum searching for months to find documentation on the other murders potentially committed by the same man who was executed for killing Julia. “It took me probably a year to find these other murders that were being referenced and once I learned about those, and I had those women’s names and lives and thoughts on my mind, I wanted to write about them too,” she said. “They’ve never been written about and the history was just lost. I wanted in some way to just bring forward their names, bring forward their stories, the fact that they lived once upon a time, and not just that they died.”

The research process was a definite learning experience for Flinchum, as well, giving her the chance to delve into the journey of a small mining camp to a thriving town through the eyes of Virginia City and her main character.

“Because Virginia City had such an impact on the nation as a whole and at one time had four successful daily newspapers, there is so much history there. But there is very little about the women who worked as prostitutes. And the only reason we know anything about Julia Bulette is because she was murdered. But she was more than just a sex worker,” she noted.

In fact, Flinchum, who has been volunteering with the Southern Inyo County Volunteer Fire Dept. for nearly 20 years and sits on the board of directors for the area’s fire protection district, feels a deep connection with Julia Bulette through their shared philanthropic work.

“She was, at the time of her death, an honorary member of Virginia Engine Company No. 1 and she would show up when there were fires to help work the equipment,” Flinchum explained. “She also embroidered emblems for them and donated money. That told me she was a member of her community. She was a citizen first. She earned her living as a prostitute but first and foremost, she participated in her community. She had friends, people she cared about, people who cared about her.”

It was a lengthy process putting together her second book, with Flinchum noting that it was roughly 10 years in the making but it was never a burden, rather, always a journey of interest and discovery.

“It was difficult to put together. Part of the reason it took that long is, well, life. I was still homeschooling my son and doing many other things,” she detailed. “But the other reason was, indeed, that there was a lot to find and there were a lot of things I hoped to find – I dug and I dug and I dug – and I never could find them. So then, there had to come a moment where you decide, ‘OK, I’m done researching and I have to write.’ And I had to sit with that for quite a while to figure out what the narrative arch was going to be and how to synthesize all that information to make it seem worth reading. And I hope I came up with something worthwhile.”

“The Redemption of Julia Bulette: Murder, Myth and the Hunt for a Serial Killer in Early Virginia City” is available to purchase online but Flinchum encouraged anyone in the Pahrump or Shoshone areas to visit the local museums to purchase a copy.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com