Hutchison, a variety performer, originally intended to present respectable family shows like he'd seen in San Francisco that were thronged by large crowds.

They soon canceled the Ladies Night and began offering baser entertainment that appealed to the rough mining crowd.

[2] The walls of the Bird Cage were riddled with gunshot holes from shooting by gunfighters of the American frontier.

[3] One of the first acts at the Bird Cage was Mademoiselle De Granville (Alma Hayes), also known as the "Female Hercules" and "the woman with the iron jaw".

[2] One of the prime entertainments at the Bird Cage theatre was Cornish wrestling competitions, with the results being regularly published in the UK.

Bignon had managed the Theatre Comique in San Francisco and performed as a blackface minstrel and clog dancer.

[5] When the price of silver slid to 90 cents an ounce a few months later, the remaining mines laid off workers.