Chapter 4

We finished the Roundup on a Thursday two weeks after the start. It had been a wet, muddy time because it had rained intermittently the two weeks. We had Friday to get ready for the weddings.

The preacher came down from Casper to perform the ceremonies. There were two men that John knew from the Stockman’s Association, the Sheriff, the General Store owner and his wife, and everyone who lived here in the valley. We even included the Indians. Joe said they would be pleased to be included. Sam and I wanted to have everyone used to seeing Indians around the ranch.

It was to be a fair and lovely weather day. Every one contributed something. The beef was what Ron brought to the pit. Tim and his family brought vegetables. Naomi and Ma baked the cake. Rita and Nancy were so excited they were useless and Naomi told them to go welcome everyone. They would be told when it was time to dress. John was used to handling a large group of people, having managed large mining crews in the past, so he made sure things were orderly as people arrived.

I asked Joe if he could control the Indians because there was going to be some liquor being passed around. “Sure, I’ll make sure they behave. They won’t stay long after the ceremony and we eat. If you, who are getting married, will have a drink with them after they eat, I’ll give them some booze to take with them and they’ll head back to drink it by themselves.”

Finally, Ma said for everyone to get dressed. The Preacher had brought a man who set up a picture taking machine, declaring he was the only one in the area who owned one and he was adept in producing images.

Sam and I got dressed in the bunkhouse. I was nervous. Sam laughed at me. “I’ve been through it before. Nothing to it.”

“Maybe, but why are you sweating and pale white?”

“Chance, I don’t know Nancy hardly at all. What if she doesn’t like me, or I do something wrong and she hates me? I’ve only known her for a month.”

“Hey, Sam, I’m only a few months ahead of you in knowing Rita. She has put her life in my hands and I can only do my best.”

“You think they love us?”

“I’d almost guarantee it. Let’s go. We’re supposed to go stand under the tree facing away from the house. It’s bad luck to see your bride or something.” We walked up toward the house and under the huge shade tree. John was already there waiting. He appeared just as nervous as Sam and I felt.

Before I was aware, Rita was at my side. John and Naomi were on our left and Sam and Nancy on my right. We stood facing the Preacher. I could hear Joe marshalling the Indians in behind us. The crew was together on our right and the other of those present were on John’s side.

The Preacher didn’t hesitate. “I’m going to read this only once. I will say your name as I come to that part of the passage. To tell the truth I have never married three couple all at the same time before. I understand you couples haven’t known each other for any extended length of time, either. This isn’t at all unusual. Living and working together to make a home for your chosen mate is difficult and trying.

“If you are confident you have chosen well then there is nothing more to say. If you should happen to be near my church some Sunday, I’d be pleased to have you enter through the doors and thank the Lord. I’ll begin now.”

The ceremony began and when it came to the part to question the bride and groom, the preacher asked, “Naomi Drucker, will you take, John Owen for your lawful wedded husband?”

“I do.”

“And do you John Owen take, Naomi Drucker as your lawful wedded wife?”

“I will”

“Rita Drucker, will you take, Chancellor Baldwin for your lawful wedded husband?”

“I do.”

“And will you Chancellor Baldwin take Rita Drucker for your lawful wedded wife?”

“I will.”

“Nancy Owen, will you take, Samuel Baldwin for your lawful wedded husband?”

“I do.”

“And will you, Samuel Baldwin take, Nancy Owen for your lawful wedded wife?”

“I will.”

“I now pronounce each couple husband and wife. You may kiss. Congratulations!”

I did take considerable time kissing Rita. Ma was the first to come kiss my bride and then kiss me. She then turned to Nancy, “I feel so good about my sons being married to such lovely brides. I know you will both have long and fruitful lives. And Naomi you make a lovely bride. You and John make a lovely couple.”

The preacher got our attention, “If you would stay right where you are, John wants to have your pictures for posterity. This will take a bit of time. I’ll show you next week how they come out.”

Soon Ron Pickwell was cutting joints of beef onto plates and filling the Indian’s bowls to overflowing. I spoke to the store owner, “These are the Indians I was telling you about. Also, I haven’t told you yet that there is one more brand they will be bringing in to barter. It is the Circle HCS. My mother, brother and myself bought out Barkley and we’ve already rebranded them. John and I haven’t rebranded the cows I bought off him yet. We’re waiting on the spring roundup for that.”

John interrupted me, “Chance, I think this all calls for a drink?”

“Sure, it’s time. Joe would you take something to the Indians?” I had seen the sheriff leave, so there was no one to object. The store owner was a little fearful and looked sour about giving the Indians liquor. He watched as Joe handed the Indians a bottle. They all lined up as they did the day I first met them and the bottle lasted through them all.

They came to me with the remainder to finish it off. There was a generous drink remaining. I took most of it and then passed the bottle to Rita. She bravely took the bottle and then tipped it up to show that it was empty. The Indians went to their horses and mounted up. The squaws with two young papooses followed closely with the rest strung out behind, heading toward the hill country.

Rita spoke, “They have a long way to go to get to their camp. I feel sorry for them.”

“Rita, they probably aren’t planning on getting there today. Time doesn’t mean much to Indians. Their bellies are full, Give it no thought.” The next morning John and Naomi planned to saddle up and head for Cheyenne. Ma left soon for the Barkley ranch, taking the crew with her. She decided to leave shortly, but it would be best if John and Naomi traveled alone.

Rita asked me if it was okay if we spent our first night as husband and wife at the Barkley ranch. I was a little puzzled over this because the ranch was to be Nancy and Sam’s home. I thought I would be moving from the bunkhouse into Rita’s room here at the Owen ranch. Her explanation was, “Nancy hasn’t really had a home for years and I think it would be nice if she stayed in the same place where he father and step-mother live. Sam doesn’t care as long as he is with her.”

I laughed, “I don’t mind being in the same house with Ma as long as I can go to bed with you and wake up in the morning next to you. Sure, we can stay at the Barkley ranch. Ma will be taking the big wagon and two of the hands to Cheyenne within a day or two. She will be hiring another wagon to bring home two wagons filled with the goods we need. We have a ranch to build and to fix up a comfortable home for Ma to live in.

“She wants to fix up her home and Sam wants to bring Nancy to a home that is good as the one at John’s. The Barkley house is rough, no doubt, but it will be comparable when Ma gets done with it.”

Rita said, “I wouldn’t mind living with Hetty just the way it is if you were there.” She paused, “Chance, is Sam a good rancher? I mean as good as you are?”

“He is as good as I am. He managed the home ranch all through the war and it was almost as good when I got home as when I left. Why are you asking?”

“I mean, Nancy is John’s daughter. The place for her husband is with her when the ranch comes to her someday.”

“Rita, I’ve thought that, already. That was one of the reasons I wondered about putting the valley into shares. When Nancy ended up with her father’s ranch, and if I was still his manager, then we could just exchange shares.”

“We do think alike, don’t we, but wouldn’t it be better if Sam was there already?”

“You know, we all have full third of the Barkley ranch. The only part of the Owen ranch I’m involved in is as manager. John and I will separate the cows I bought from him at the spring roundup. Sam could do just as well as me in the manager’s position. Then I could concentrate on building up our own ranch.”

I looked at Rita and she wasn’t looking at me. Something was on her mind. “Rita, what’s on your mind?”

“Chance, I was thrilled when you took me on a tour of the hill country. I was looking at it through your eyes. I want so much to help you build our ranch with me at your side. You already own some cows, not nearly enough, but some. You know how many cattle John’s ranch will support and we know how many the Barkley ranch will support. John will be at the right number of cattle on it in the spring like it was before he hired Portman. John lost all his profit for two and maybe three years. You can be proud for saving him for not losing more.”

“Rita, the only reason I did all that was so it would give me a chance to come see you more than if I had ignored John’s problem.”

“Chance, you were so easy to read. I almost died when you got into that shootout with Portman’s brother. I still have bad dreams of that night. Oh, what would I have done if you had been killed? We do need to talk about the ranch you and I are going to build. We need more cows for the ranch unless you buy all the heifer increase from John’s and the Barkley ranch when those are ready to sell.”

“Rita, I’ll have to get with Ma and Sam to see how much money we have together. Maybe I can use what we have to increase my herd and pay Sam and Ma back when I have steers to sell. Ma has been ranching all her life and she can make an educated guess better than Sam or me on how to figure it so we all come out the way we should.”

Ma was surprised to see us. “Where are Sam and Nancy?”

“We left them the house, thinking it would be more comfortable for Nancy. Rita doesn’t know how Nancy would feel about roughing it here with you.”

“She had better learn fast. You’re the manager of John’s ranch and she and Sam have decided to live here with me. That was one of the reasons I was glad to see Sam get rid of his first wife. And you should think of your wife, Rita, because she deserves the best and it is up to you to see she gets it.”

Rita wasn’t going to let me take the blame for her decision, “Hetty, it was my idea. There is something else I want to talk to you about. Chance is John’s ranch manager, but don’t you think it would be better if Sam had the job? Nancy is John’s daughter and the ranch will eventually come to her. It will save complications later if her husband is already there in the position.”

“What about you? Just because it is convenient for them, it doesn’t mean you should give up your home and its comforts.”

“Hetty, Chance has a piece of land that will feed more cattle than both this ranch and John’s. I want to help my husband make it into a great ranch. I want to be at his side every step of the way. Sam and Chance will manage this ranch under your direction because they both own a share. John didn’t want to put the ranches all together, but since your sons own some of this one anyway, and you are their mother, it will work.”

“Rita, I’ll give it a lot of thought while I’m gone. It sounds as if it has merit. Now let’s go over the list of what we need. What are you building your line camps out of?”

“Logs. There are several pine groves and the trees are of the right size. I’m using John’s adz. I spotted more than one in the tool shed the other day. Joe has built some log cabins before and I worked building shelters during the war during the winter. He will be up there this winter and I’m putting one up for him. The first one will be for Rita and me. I’ll expect in the dead of winter we’ll be staying either here with you and just making the rounds once every week.”

“How many are you putting up?”

“Not sure. The cattle shouldn’t be too much trouble. If we don’t get a lion hunting in here we’ll be fine. The Indians claim they have never had one in this area. We’ll need more camps as we get more cattle so we’ll build all we have time for. You had better buy three or four cast iron camp stoves if you can find them. Order them if you can’t find them in stock. John said I could use all the hands that weren’t used day to day on the ranches. I’ll do the same here. That should give me at least five men and a bunch of Indians unless something comes up I don’t know about now.”

Ma and Rita got their heads together to see what they would need to make the ranch here more comfortable. Rita and I decided to spend the night here. I sent one of the hands over to the Owen ranch to have Rod Granger ride over. “Make sure he brings his blanket and utensils. He can stay in the bunkhouse with you when you get back tonight.”

I wanted Rod to go to Cheyenne with Ma. Rod, in effect, was going to school, Ma, being the teacher. That’s the way she taught Sam and me by telling us about life on a million different subjects. I had a feeling Rod would soak up most of what Ma talked about. He looked up to me and I suspected he wanted to be like me.

Ma and Rita made up Sam’s bed with fresh blankets and we turned in early. “Chance, I think your ma likes me.”

“She does and that’s because she thinks you are the perfect mate for me. I do too. I knew it from the beginning.”

“Even though I shot you?”

“Even then.” We snuggled together and I started planning the day tomorrow.

“We’ll back that big wagon out of the shed first thing and I’ll check it over to make sure it will make the trip to Cheyenne. If the seat is solid, I’ll take that spring seat from the surrey and put that on it. Ma needs to be as comfortable as I can make it for her.”

“That’s what I like about you. You are always thinking of the other person. Kiss, me, I need thinking of.”

The first thing after we ate in the morning, I gathered the crew to push the big wagon out of the shed. I was chagrinned to see that both front wheels were rotted where they rested on the ground. Lord knows when it had been used last. Water had come in through the back of the shed and softened the ground enough to let the wheels sink into the dirt. Barkley hadn’t noticed and neither had we.

Ma, said, “I didn’t want to ride that thing anyway. Send Rod over to the Owen ranch and come back with the gig. Rod and I will take that and two men on horses to ride with us. I’ll hire a freight outfit to transport what we buy.”

“Are you sure you need the two extra men?”

“I do, Chance. I’ll be carrying too much money to lose in some holdup. Not much chance of it, but you never know.”

“I want you safe, Ma, so that’s a good idea.”

“I’ll have quite a bit with me on the trip home, too. I’ll be getting some out of the bank in Cheyenne to buy cows with if we can find some. The quicker you get your cattle herd up to strength the faster you’ll be making money.”

“That’s not just for me, it’s for Sam and you too, Ma. You two are a big part of this. One other thing, I’m going to buy what I can of Ron’s cattle when he decides to sell. He can use the money for buying horses.”

“That’s understood. Anyway, with two outriders, Rod here handling the reins and me with my rifle we should be fine.”

“Are you taking old Betsy.”

“Yeah, I’ll have Rod know how to handle it before we get too far down the road. He’ll be my secret weapon if I need one.”

Rita looked askance at me. I shook my head for her not to ask. The two punchers were following Ma and Rod in the gig, they starting middle of the afternoon. It was a late start, but Ma figured she could get some distance behind her.

“Chance, what or who is old Betsy?”

I grinned while replying, “The real name for it is Indian Killer. That’s what Pa called it anyway. It’s a sawed off ten gage shotgun. He came onto it in a burned out settler’s cabin. Most of the stock and the tip of the barrels were burned off and he smoothed what was left of the stock so it could be grasped with your hand. Dad sawed the barrel back to about sixteen inches. It’s only been used once. He loaded it with number 4s and it brought down two mounted Indians, their horses and blinded another horse. There was six in the bunch he was facing at the time. Those remaining Indians took out right sudden like.”

“That’s awful.”

“Yeah, and I’m going to keep it out of your hands, just in case you ever feel like shootin’ me again.”

“You’re never going to let me forget what happened, are you?”

“Nope. I’m wearing that scar like a bad of honor, proving I survived my terrible vicious neighbor.”

“I’ll rub the scar tonight, and I know that will make you forget all about it.”

“That’s the plan.” We decided not to head up into the hills today, but would take one of the two remaining hands and head out early in the morning. It was a good thing we didn’t go because Sam and Nancy rode in to see if Ma got off. They thought she might have waited one more day.

We ate early. The two hands ate in the house with us. We had all been on roundup just recently so we knew them quite well. They soon went outside to smoke, leaving us to talk.

Sam broached of why Rita and I were staying here instead of back at the Owen ranch. “Rita, tell them your thoughts.”

Rita answered, “Nancy, I know that someday your father’s ranch will come to you and Sam. You should be living there. You need to get reacquainted with your father and should know all about my Mom and her life.

“Hetty loves both her sons about equally so it might as well be Chance who is living in her home as Sam being here. Hetty says Sam is almost as good as Chance about managing a ranch, so Sam might just as well have that job. When Chance and I get our own buildings up, we won’t be too far from Hetty and will take over the care of her when she needs it. Chance and Sam both will be watching out for her.”

Sam and I were grinning, thinking it would be Ma doing the watching out for us and not the other way around. I took over, “Sam, Joe tells me it will be easier getting a road built into the up country from here than from the Owen ranch. That’s another reason I went along with what Rita was saying.”

“You sure you’re okay if I go to managing the ranch for John? Seems like I’ve fallen into a pretty damned good situation. Rita, I can’t believe you’d give up the home you’ve had for so many years.”

“No, I got my man even though I had to shoot him to get him. I’m sticking right close to him for the rest of my life. I’m right where I want to be.”

“Well, okay then, all we have to do is get John’s okay. I’ll make sure Nancy puts it up to him.”

I spoke again, looking at Nancy, “I’ll feel a lot better about how your brother died and John hasn’t said much, but I’m sure he hasn’t forgotten. I don’t want to be around to remind him.”

“Don’t think that, Chance. Dad was never around and if there is any guilt, it is on him. Dad told me he forgave you. You’ve done a lot for him, so please be at ease.”

Sam and Nancy had a two hour ride so they didn’t stay long. I had planned to take one of the two hands with us tomorrow, but decided I would have them check the herd and we would be together and alone for one more day. I gave them my orders about the cattle and then returned to the house. Rita had packed food for our trip so we could leave when we felt like it.

We crossed the ranch early after having coffee and a couple of hunks of bread. During roundup, Joe had pointed out where I could assess the hill country from this ranch the easiest. The ridge that surrounded the valley was nowhere near as high as it was above the Owen and the Pickwell ranches. Rita and I examined the entrance and we marked out where I could build a road. At first it wouldn’t be much more than a trail, but as it was used more it would naturally become wide enough so I could put wagons over it.

We didn’t see any cattle this far west. There weren’t that many for the amount of land they had to browse on. Feed had been good for them so they hadn’t gone far from where we had driven them up from the Owen ranch. Now we began to look where to build our first line camp. I also wanted to find a suitable place to build a home for Rita. We moved north away from the valley ranches. Rita kept in sight of me and disappeared occasionally.

It was eleven by the clock, when I heard, “Chance, Chance come here. I think I have found just the place where I would love to have our home.”

I came up beside her to find her pointing to a high spot, with a fairly flat area of about fifty acres that was partially open. There was some low brush, but even so there was grass on the open land. I could see a few burned snags that hadn’t tipped over where fire had likely burned through here years ago.

“Perfect, there is water here. Not much in the creek-bed now, but some and we can dam that up to conserve it. The fall rains will be here in another three weeks. We’ll ride up the creek and see if it is spring fed. I think it must be. This is only about five miles from the Barkley ranch where Ma is living and it can’t be more than fifteen or eighteen miles from the Owen spread and Sam.

“Chance, why don’t you go see about the water, while I put together a lunch. Breakfast was a long time ago.”

“Bread and coffee isn’t much of a first meal, but I wanted to get started,”

“Go.”

I traveled about a quarter mile when I came up to the creek head waters. This was a swamp of about an acre. This wasn’t the only creek the springs fed. There was another smaller one going east that was nearly dry. I was satisfied that this would be enough water to maintain our home and ranch buildings adequately. I looked around and could see with a little work redirecting the water flow, I should have water even in the driest of times.

I heard Rita shout, saying it was time to eat. We ate and I laid back half asleep. I could hear Rita stirring around. “What’cha doin’? I was almost asleep.”

“Planning my house. We’ll have a nice little bungalow to begin with. I want a two story for the second section in about three years for the kids. Right here is where our front door will be. I’ll be satisfied with one big room to cook, eat and lounge in. For now behind that they’ll be two bedrooms, and when we build on, we can take the roof off the bedrooms and build up another story. If we need more, we’ll go back one more big room downstairs with another two bedrooms above that. That’s nine rooms all together.”

“Whatever you want, Rita. I think we will build the first line camp right here. The men and I can build that. I’ll see if I can’t get someone to frame our house this fall and winter. There are two outfits that operate pit sawmills and over on the Platte River there is a water driven mill. By spring we’ll have enough lumber to put us into our own house.”

“Why do you want a line camp here?”

“We’ll use it for the men building the big house. That way they will be right here and the builders can put in longer days and get done sooner. Later it will be used for a bunkhouse

“Can we afford it?”

“Rita, we can if you are willing to use what John Owen gave us for a wedding present. I think the money he gave Sam and me was money I paid him for his cattle. Anyway, he was generous.

“I’m willing. What better use for it?”

“Okay, I guess we better get moving. I want to look for another site for the second line camp before dark. We’ll go east another mile. We should run onto some of our cattle by that time. One more camp after that, and then we’ll build one that we can put a couple Indians into. I suspect the Indians will like the cabin so much they will all want one. The tipi up here where they have been living will be gone forever.”

“Yes, and I’m not the only one that makes plans.” We tightened our bedrolls and made our way east. It was more than a mile later when we ran onto a spring that trickled down into a swampy bowl. I studied it. “Ron has a scoop. I’ll hire him to make the cattle a water hole to drink from.”

“Chance, I’m not drinking from it after the cattle.”

“Won’t have to. We’ll put a fence around the spring. It should be clear enough to swim in, though.”

Rita looked disgusted at me. “I knew that, dummy.”

I wasn’t listening to Rita. “Look, Sweetheart, there are some cattle feeding over there in the brush. I knew we would spot some soon.” There were three cows with this year’s calves by their side. Soon several more made their way to the swamp where there was a spot where they could suck up water from between some bushes close enough to the edge where the ground was still fairly solid. My heart swelled with pride. These same animals three months ago were just skin and bones.

“Rita, you know we should stay over and not go back until tomorrow. We have our blankets.”

“Where are we going to camp?”

“We are going to see the Indians anyway, we’ll stay with them. We’ll look for one more place for a line camp. It just came to me that we should have one higher up where a hand can see more of the ranch when the leaves come off.”

“You’re always thinking aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I guess. I wonder how far Ma got. She should be near Laramie by nightfall tomorrow. Maybe they will have boarding house she can sleep in rather than her tent.”

“Chance, your Ma amazes me. Everything about her is so together. I mean she headed out to do something with two men and another boy that is half man grown. I already know she doesn’t hesitate to kill to protect a loved one. She gave up her home and traveled halfway across the country to find her son and saved his life before she even had a chance to say hello. She wants land and makes an offer to the person she had trouble with years ago. The house is more of cave than a home and two months later, she takes off to buy stuff to make it comfortable.”

“Yeah, you should have known my Dad. He taught her everything and I don’t know but what she is better at getting along than he was. Me and Sam turned out pretty well and it was all because of them. You know you turned out damned well, yourself. That says a lot about your mother.”

“Yeah, I think so. Dad wasn’t much, but he loved Mom. He just couldn’t find anything where he could get ahead. Things got better after he died when Mom went to work here for John. She was in love with John soon after we moved here. She never let John know she was interested until Nancy’s Mom died. That brings me to Nancy. I like her a lot and she thinks the world of Mom. I’m surprised she fits in as well as she has.”

“How come you are willing to give up the home with your mother?”

“Chance, I love you and want to be with you. I think I’ll be happier living closer to your ma than with my own. I don’t want Nancy to get discouraged with the rough life out here. She tells me how refined her own mother and her aunt were, so I’m giving her every chance to be happy here where her dad and my mother are a little more genteel.”

I burst out laughing, “Ma has never shown you the pictures of her coming out party has she? I tell you there is no one more genteel than my mother was when young. Pa stole her heart down in Mississippi when she was sixteen at some Christmas Ball on a neighboring plantation. Pa began to court Ma and did for about three months. Her brother and father weren’t happy and they and almost fought a duel with Dad over the situation.

“My grandmother talked to Ma and Pa to find out how much they loved each other. Threats were made by both Ma’s father and brother. My grandmother didn’t want to have blood spilled and made the lovers promise to never return if she could arrange for them to get away. The next morning at three, she had a packed coach standing at the door.”

I paused, remembering what I had never shared ... even with Ma. I shared it now with Rita. “I went by there when I headed for the fighting. I searched for Ma’s home place where she grew up.” I paused again “And, I found it. Some Missouri guerrillas had robbed and burned the plantation.

“I found my grandmother living in a small hovel with her Mammy who was taking care of her. She appeared to have lost her mind. It was the shock of losing her people and her beloved home. After the war on my way home I found the Mammy still alive when I inquired for her whereabouts. She said my grandmother died within the week of my leaving years before.

“Two days before she died, she said to Mammy, ‘I saw Chancellor yesterday. I’m going to him now. He needs me.’ I was named for my grandfather. His name was Chancellor.”

Rita was crying, “She must have thought you were her husband instead of you being an unknown grandson.”

“Who’s to know? I never met my grandfather.”

We rode on in silence until I looked down and saw Hey Pete running at my stirrup.

“Joe, said you come soon.”

“I didn’t tell him I was coming.” Hey Pete shrugged his shoulders and laughed.

All the Indians were out to greet us when we stepped down from our horses. “Joe, Rita and I were up here looking where to build a home and some line camps. We have found most of where we want to build except for one. We decided to camp out tonight and finish up in the morning before going back to the ranch. Sorry to show up without bringing anything.”