Waco madam's life recalled

Before her life came to a violent end somewhere between Temple and Belton in August 1890, Cora McMahan had developed a salacious reputation everywhere she lived.

She was found by a passer-by who reported that McMahan was locked in an embrace with her love interest, notorious outlaw Pick Wiseman. She had been shot once with a shotgun at close range. Wiseman was shot 27 times.

Days earlier he was found not guilty in a murder case in which he was accused of gunning down a lawman.

The man who found the couple said their bodies were in a buggy, its horses tied to a fencepost.

Stories of the killings, which went unsolved, were printed in newspapers throughout the nation. In those accounts, McMahan was identified as a prostitute.

A new book, "The Oldest Profession in Texas: Waco's Legal Red Light District," written by James Plyant and Sherri Knight, reveals that McMahan was much more than a simple prostitute: she was a woman of influence in the brothel community.

By the time McMahan was 18 she was a madam in Brenham. She was illiterate. Tax records indicate her real name was Cora McGreal, Plyant said.