Donald Trump's Immigrant Grandpa Built his empire of brothels Became Fred Trump

Friedrich Drumpf was 16 when he moved to New York from Germany in 1885 to join his older sister and find work. 
After 6 years as a barber, he went west to set up brothels near the mines
Fred Drumpf changed his name to the more catchy 'Fred Trump'

Photo: Getty Images

Friedrich Drumpf made his wealth from a chain of  brothels and restaurants in the l Wild West during the Gold Rush of the 1890s. His businesses ultimately led to the fortune that made Donald Trump

It made him a fortune offering round-the-clock women, liquor and food. He stayed in the US until 1901, tried to take his Gold Rush-era fortune home, was refused repatriation because he dodged taxes and army service.
 So he and his new wife were sent back to New York to start their family


Photo: WireImage
Donald Trump in the 1980s with his father Fred Jr - the son of Fred Sr, who came to New York as an immigrant

Straight off the boat he met a German-speaking barber who took him on as an apprentice, toiling away for six hapless years while he lived in a tiny box apartment.

At the turn of the decade, however, he heard news of the Klondike gold rush set to hit the North West and Canada.

The shrewd 22-year-old changed his name to a more catchy 'Fred Trump' and headed to Seattle, Washington, in 1891.

He launched a saloon-cum-brothel called The Poodle Dog in the bustling district of opium parlors and liquor stores, where he got a flavor for the industry.

After a few years, Trump shifted his business up a few miles to the mining town of Monte Cristo to be closer to the workers - who showed their gratitude in cash, and plenty of it. 

By the time the gold rush hit, he was ready. 

Photo: Ancestry.com

Trump, Fred and Mary Trump

Trump followed the miners up towards with a friend, Ernest Levin. 

Together, they started their business in a tent on the perilous and lawless route that all travelers had to take to reach the mine: White Pass, which was also known as the 'Dead Horse Trail'.

Putting the heaps of dead animals to use, and offering some respite for the exhausted travelers, Trump and Levin cooked horse meat for passing businessmen as they came to survey the mines.

Eventually, they moved the business to a two-story building in Bennett Town and named it New Arctic Restaurant and Hotel. 

With round-the-clock food, liquor and even women for their clientele, it was a raging success.

'Customers depended on him for food, liquor and women,' Gwenda Blair, the Trumps' biographer, writes - describing Friedrich as 'hard living and hard drinking'. 

'In the larder was salmon and an extraordinary variety of meats, including duck, ptarmigan, grouse, goose, and swan, as well as caribou, moose, goat, sheep, rabbit, and squirrel,' Blair writes in her book The Trumps.

Photo: Sonia Moskowitz/REX/Shutterstock

Trump, Ivana and his parents

Courtesy: dailymail