Chapter Text
We have all heard the legends of the Western Era: Cowboys, Train Robbers, Gold Miners, Card Sharks, Sharp Shooters... and Soiled Doves. Some think there were town brothels that commanded most of the earnings of the town whether it was a welcomed establishment or not.
Recently I've been looking into the town of New Jorvik- a quiet little village, populated mainly with immigrants from Jorvik Island, a desolate rock located somewhere in Scandinavia, I'm told, famous for its horses and its superstitions. Like many before them, they braved the voyage across the Atlantic, then the vast Frontier, landing smack in the middle of the “Wild West”. The rest of the town, what we can muster from the remaining archives, was a combination of Easterners, Native Americans, and Mexican-Americans (displaced Californios, we believe). It's important to note, that the events in the timeline varies, depending on the writer. It's apparent there were several townsfolk (or curious outsiders) chronicling the lives of the people of New Jorvik. We have detailed notes on the goings-on of the farmers and horsemen (and women) living there, and a few of the gang of (mostly female) criminals living somewhere in the outskirts. Thanks in part to these writings (which we saved from the ashes of a long burned establishment in a forest just East of the town), we have an almost complete timeline of New Jorvik, from its humble beginnings, to the events that brought the town together to face a threat that sounds almost … supernatural, to its decline as a mining town, before it finally succumbed to its eventual current state: Ghost town.
Though the brothel, the Calico, stood towering over most of New Jorvik, and though it was purported to have housed over a thousand women (and some men) in its hey day, there is very little written on the Madams or Madam in charge. It was originally built as a posh hotel, records have traced it to being ordered built by a “Baroness” Annabelle Silverglade (whom, we believe, would not have had any part in the ownership of a brothel), before being turned into a very large, very prosperous 'house of ill repute', run by a “Madame Miranda”. Our records also indicate that after her death, the house was taken over by some of her “charges”, and turned into a boarding house, or rather a hostile, for women and girls.
Side Note: We have seen and have on record many MANY indications that the town of New Jorvik, its neighbor Little Hillcrest, and a town further South – New Dundell- were often regarded as safe havens for young women and girls. All over the West, instances of forced marriage, misogyny, and other such atrocities were rampant, almost everywhere but these towns, founded by the Jorvigians. It is theorized that because they brought a female-centric religion with them (we call it “the Cult of Aideen”), girls felt protected under the shelter of the Jorvigians, and that most who lived within the towns boundaries followed these unspoken rules, perhaps due in part to their worship of a female deity. Again, theories, however I've found in my research that most, if not all of the written records were done by female scholars. In fact, most of Jorvik seemed to be owned or run by women. Even the brothel, we are finding, was considered a “safe zone”, as the madame in question (judging from our notes) was exceedingly protective of her employees. (Almost to the point where we wondered if it was actually a brothel at all? But I digress...)
The Calico's Madame was somewhat of a Mystery. For starters, up until recently there was no mention, anywhere, of a surname. There were stories and journal entries (most sounded like fiction) about “the madame living a double life”, and that “she owned a prosperous ranch nearby and made most of her money in cattle and horse breeding rather than 'whoreing'”, and “should she walk through town without her satin finery not a soul would recognize her”. Its doubtful that a woman of her stature (and occupation) would not be recognized by townsfolk whom- by all accounts- were a relatively bright and educated bunch. She seemed almost a made-up character in some Western Novella. And this is where I began my research in earnest, thanks in part to the documents and journals that our dear friend Nevada Jones (A supposed descendant of one of the Jorvigians), has unearthed in one of her many digs in the area around where New Jorvik once stood.
Madame Miranda, as she was best known, was NOT a native Jorvigian or Native American. She WAS in fact a real life person. And her life was as eventful as one might imagine. In this essay I will
Incomplete (I expected more out of you- see me after class)