Chapter 1

Jasper Samuelson was looking for a wagon train to guide to California. The war was pushing more people into making the trip west, but most were going to Oregon. Jasper had to hunt to find enough people for a train to California, but he knew he could find one if he just looked. Jasper's "problem" with finding a train was that he was picky. If Jasper didn't think you could make the whole trip, he wouldn't let you start. This cut into the list of possible clients.

Other than that, Jasper had only a few rules, but he literally lived by them. His first rule was that you had to be willing to travel on Sunday. His second rule was that horses could not be used as draft animals; oxen were best, but mules were barely acceptable. His third rule was that every wagon had to have a shotgun; at least one person with that wagon had to know how to use it and be willing to do so against attackers, be they animal or human. His last rule was no hard liquor, except for medicinal use by a doctor. If you couldn't abide by those rules, you had no place on his train.

Jasper was walking along the main street of Independence one morning when a man came up to him. "Mr. Samuelson? My name's Abe Grant. Me an' my friends are lookin' fer a guide to California. We hear ya're the man to lead us. Are ya available?"

"I don't have a commitment, yet. How many in yer group?"

"We've got 22 wagons here, already, an' we're expectin' 13 more to join us afore the end of the week. Kin ya come out ta our camp today?"

Jasper agreed and got directions to Grant's camp. He showed up after lunch and was introduced to the 61 men and older boys already in the camp. There were 67 women and girls he did not meet at that time, but he didn't expect to. All of these people were from southern Ohio and Indiana, and the people coming in were from Illinois. They were all running from the devastation and turmoil of the civil war, not because they believed in slavery or were pacifists, but because they just wanted to be left alone!

Jasper told them his rules and how much he charged for the trip. They agreed to his price and conditions and shook hands on the deal. Jasper had his train! Jasper started the men on converting from horse-drawn wagons to ox teams and learning to drive them. Driving oxen was not difficult, but it did take some practice.

Andrew Jones, the guard captain, made sure that everybody had the requisite shotgun and knew how to use it. The Indians and outlaws were becoming a real problem now that the Army had left for the battles in the east. He also found those few who were very good shots with a rifle and organized them into a special force to protect key points in the train.

The remaining wagons showed up over the next 3 days and were integrated into the train. The final complement was 39 wagons, when the 4 used by Jasper and his people were counted in. They had a problem, there was no doctor! Jasper refused to move until they found a doctor to make the trip; he insisted that the trek was too dangerous to attempt without a doctor. A doctor was found at the last minute, but he didn't have a wagon or a family. He was just out of medical school in Vienna, Austria, and wanted to try his fortune in California. His thick accent made him hard to understand, but he appeared competent. He was taken on and shared the wagons with Jasper's people.

Once the train was full and everybody had learned enough to work his oxen, Jasper started training them on forming the defensive circle It was Jasper's practice to form two circles, an inner one of 8 to 10 wagons which was used to shelter the women and children and formed the last line of defense, and an outer circle of the remaining wagons which he hoped would never be breached.

The first effort at circling the wagons was the expected chaos. It was relatively easy to form the inner circle of 8 wagons because Jasper could talk to all of the teamsters at the same time while they were trying to form the circle.

The outer circle of 31 wagons was a different story. Jasper's assistants, Jeb Warren and Nickolas Holden, were reduced to trying to coordinate a fire drill in the monkey house! Finally, with the help of the guards and Seth Lawson, the scout, the wagons were finally circled, wheel to wheel, and Jasper pronounced success in achieving what he had in mind.

Everybody breathed a sigh of relief, that is, until Jasper told them to do it again! It had taken all morning to form the circle the first time and it was such a comic show that they had drawn quite a crowd of onlookers. They broke for lunch and practiced twice more that afternoon.

The next day, they formed up four more times and Jasper told them that the next time they did it, it would be for real! Tomorrow would be a day for last minute changes and rest, and they would leave Independence the following day.

Jasper told the doctor, "Be sure to have enough laudanum, because we will need it if an injured person had to ride in a wagon. Bouncing around with a broken leg can be the worst sort of torture, so I want to be prepared."

"Ja, I haf plenty of laudanum und splints. Ve vill be OK. Ja?"

This was a day for a different kind of chaos as the women repacked and rearranged the wagons to be sure that they had everything they needed for the trip arranged so that they could reach it with a minimum of difficulty. Husbands were dispatched to purchase last minute items that had been overlooked in the initial packing. Overall, the children were the only ones who had any fun this day!

Jasper had explained to the people of the train that their route would follow the Oregon Trail to eastern Idaho and then cut southwest across Nevada to California. So, when they found out that they were starting out on the Oregon Trail, they shouldn't panic, he knew what he was doing.

There were no very old people in this train, so everybody would be walking, to start. Only the injured, the sick, and women very late in pregnancy would ever ride in the wagons. Besides, with the way the wagons bounced, it was no treat to ride. They should hope for a walk every day for 6 months, ten miles a day for the first half of the trip and five miles a day for the last half!

They started out that morning in high spirits, there was even some singing. None of the pros were concerned, they knew that wouldn't last long. Seth Lawson rode out ahead of the train to be sure that the way was clear and to reserve a campsite for them for that night. They easily made 5 miles before they stopped for lunch. Jasper didn't know if it was important this close to Independence, but he had the train pull into the defensive circles because he wanted the people to get into that habit before they reached the more dangerous parts of the journey.

They were almost finished with forming the outer circle when Seth came pounding up to the train with the news that a bunch of guerrillas were right behind him. Andrew Jones quickly stationed his guards and sent the women and children scurrying to the inner circle of wagons. All the men and older boys grabbed up their weapons and rushed to their assigned defensive stations with a gratifyingly small show of confusion.

Moments later, a sizable force rode up and began shooting at the wagons. They must have been trying to intimidate the "civilians," because there was nothing in the wagons worth shooting at. They were surprised by the mass of fire that came from under the wagons. A few in the front of the hoard were wounded; they turned and raced away. None of the attackers were killed, but they didn't come back.

There was a lot of macho pride exhibited by the men of the train at their easy victory. Jasper and Andrew tried to let them down easy by explaining that this must have been a very inexperienced bunch of raiders and they couldn't expect this to be the usual way things happened. Jasper pointed out, "Y'all should see from this experience the advantage of always forming the defensive ring every time we stop."

After lunch, the column reformed and the set out to reach their overnight campsite. That night, Jasper warned the men to keep their weapons handy, because the never knew when they would need them. He warned the women to keep close watch on their children and not to let them wander. "These woods are full of bears and lions (cougars), as well as evil bandits, so ya never know what might grab one of the kids."

They were out of Missouri and into Kansas by mid morning the next day. They expected to meet Jayhawkers any time from now on. Jayhawkers had been trying to collect tolls from wagon trains for years. Some trains paid up, but those that didn't could expect a vicious attack at any time. Jasper had no intention of paying!

It was shortly after lunch when trouble showed up. A delegation of 8 men wearing red gaiters showed up and demanded to see the wagon master. Jasper said, "I'm the wagon master. What do ya want?"

"We're here to collect the toll for crossing Kansas. We want $12 per wagon. How many wagons y'all got?"

Jasper laughed. "Ifen ya think ya're gona git $468 from this train, ya gota 'nother think comin'! Now, git outa the way afore ya git hurt!"

"This is the only warning ya'll git. Ya better pay up. Ya won't like the consequences of not payin'."

Jasper spat on the ground and roared, "I SAID TO GIT OUTA THE WAY!"

The leader in the red gaiters scowled at Jasper and rode away with his guard of 7 men. Jasper turned to Andrew and said, "We better keep a close eye out fer the next couple of days. It's easy ta tell that we kin expect trouble from that bastard."