Chapter 45

Crow Ridge Oil Storage Facility December 21, 1884

The first twenty-five days the Mary Connor Crow was in operation, they didn’t even have a steam pump connected. The oil pressure was so strong that the oil was pushed into storage tanks nearby without the aid of a pump. The Petersen brothers had a man walk the entire pipeline twice each day, making sure all the valves were open on the empty storage tanks, closed on the full ones, and checking to be sure there were no leaks.

Smitty and James Petersen set up one of the steam tractors and began pumping the oil into the huge storage tanks at the loading spur, nearly a mile away. They set up another tractor near the loading pens to pump oil from the storage tanks into the tank cars.

They were ready to start pumping oil into the tanker cars. The first fifty tank cars had arrived and were parked on the side-track loop and down the long loading spur, cleaned out, inspected and ready to be loaded.

At Eli’s request, James and Leon took Otis Cox and Charles Carter over to the loading facility to train them. They were taught how to fire the boiler on the steam tractor with wood, and keep it running. They were taught how to make sure the oil pumps were shut off before closing a loading valve. The two young men were willing to learn and wanted to do the job right. With James and Leon teaching them each little detail, the young men climbed all over the tank cars. They learned about the latches on the man-hole cover where they would load the oil. They practiced swinging the loading spout out over the man-hole on the tankers and how to make sure the tanks were filled to capacity and latched securely, before waving to the engineer to pull up so they could load another one.

At the end of the first day, Eli met with the two young men and told them how important their jobs were to Crow Ridge Oil Company.

“You men have come a long way from that day I almost killed you both out there in the middle of my land. I’ve thought a lot about that day and how I was tempted to just kill you both and leave you laying there in the brush to rot. I reckon me feeling guilty about that is why I wanted to make it up to both of you. I’ve seen the two of you working alongside the others, pulling your load, never whining about it being cold or the work being too hard...

“I want to tell both of you, that if you keep up your good work, you’ll have a chance to make something of yourselves. Jon David is putting money back for all of you hired hands ... I’m talking about some good money too. Any time one of you want to collect that money and leave here, just tell me and I’ll have Jon David pay you off. Just be reminded, if you leave here, I’ll count myself done with you. Stay with us and you’ll have land, a house, a wife and a family, with money in the bank. There’s not many young men your age without even an education, that can say that out here in Indian Territory.”

“Marshal, I speak for myself when I tell you that I think of that day back there too. I think of it every morning when I wake up, and every time I look at you. I feel like you gave my life back to me that day out there, I just knew I was a goner. I’m not gonna let my chance go to waste. I’m here til I die or you get tired of lookin’ at me. I’d work for nothin’, just to get to live here like this, have a chance to get a wife and family with my meals and clothes bought like this. You’ll never be sorry you let me live that day back there,” Otis told him as they sat on the ground out of the wind and talked.

“Marshal, I reckon I feel the same way Otis does. Him and me have talked about what you and your family has done for us, and for all of us that was soldiers in the cavalry up to a few months ago. None of us ever had more’n a dollar in our pockets at a time. Now you’re puttin’ us up, feedin’ us, and tell us you’re puttin’ good money back for us. You tell us we’ll have a wife and kids with a house and land one day if we stay. I go to sleep smiling as I think about all that every night. Like Otis told you, you’ll never be ashamed you let me live that day out there. I’d fight the devil barehanded and kill any man who comes against you or your family. That’s how much this means to me,” Carter told him as he wiped his eyes and sniffed.

“Jon David told me that you men have picked out two sisters from over in Little Rock, who want to come out here and marry you. You both best be mindful of what Jon David told you that first day here, always being respectful of women, kids, and old folks. If you treat them young women good and work hard, I’ll see to it you have all you got coming to you. You mess up and I’ll take you out in the brush myself and finish what I almost let happen before. I’m proud now that I didn’t kill you both, you’ve made some fine hands.”

“Thanks Marshal, the more we learn about this, the more we’ll do to help you,” Otis told him as they stood and shook hands.

“James and Leon are gonna let each of you pick out a man to be your helper. Two of you will have to work days, the other two will work nights. You can swap back and forth or whatever you work out, as long as the oil tankers are kept loaded and the oil trains leave out on time.”

“They told us that already and we thanked them for letting us be the ones to load and ship the tankers. We already know who we want to help us and we’ll make sure they work just as hard as we do, Marshal,” Carter told him.

“When your new brides get here, I’ll get Leon and James to come over and work a day and a night in your place, so you and your brides can get used to each other. Carl and Donald are about to have the new bunkhouses finished and all of you will have more rooms to yourselves by the time they get here. A man and his new wife needs some time alone.”

Crow Ridge Christmas Eve December 24, 1884

Eli ran down the stairs just after sunrise in a hurry to leave, when Miranda stopped him, “Eli, we need to talk to you.”

She was standing in the kitchen with Rose, Clarissa, Amanda, Catt, Eva, Tin Yu, Sissy, and Grandmother. Eli could tell by the looks on their faces, they were concerned about something.

Rose pulled a chair out at the end of the table and pointed to it. Like a young boy who knew he was in trouble, Eli sat in the chair to hear what the womenfolk had to say. He knew he had been all but ignoring them for most of four months and he knew things were about to change real quick.

The women had decorated the family’s house even more elaborately than they had during Christmas’ past in Fort Smith. They had ordered ornaments and garland and ready-made decorations this year, spending some of the money he kept piling on them.

Rose placed a hot mug of coffee in front of him as the others sat down at the table with their coffee. Not a one of them had spoken since he sat down. He thought there may be real trouble, then he saw Tin Yu smile her sly smile, and knew it couldn’t be that bad.

Rose stood beside his chair smiling, then spoke, “Eli, tomorrow is Christmas, whether you’ve taken time to realize it or not. We have loaded cattle from both cattle ranches, we have harvested pecans, and we have now drilled our first oil well. None of us women know how much money we have and we could care less right at this minute. What we want is for all of us to stop for just two days and celebrate Christmas like we used to,” Rose told her brother as he looked up at her.

He looked around the table and saw the looks on the faces of the other women. He felt guilty for being so busy that he had missed their company and the good times they always had together.

Before he could say a word, Clarissa spoke up...

“Eli, each of us here at this table love you in our own special way. We don’t just love you though, we worship you for what you mean to this family and for what you do for our family and friends. Please don’t think we are ungrateful for all that you do. We love having money lavished upon us, making it possible for us to have the finer things that are available only in Kansas City, Fort Smith and even back east. We want something else though, Eli...

...”We want you!” Clarissa said sternly, and then she smiled.

Just as he opened his mouth to speak, Miranda held her hand up to stop him.

“Eli, we’re not mad at you. Just as Rose and Clarissa have told you, though we do want more than just a pat on the butt as you run out the door to the barn, or over to the drilling rigs. We want the rest of YOU and we want the rest of the men and women of the family to have a day or two to enjoy what we have, and give thanks for all we’ve been blessed with. We want the girls and the Young Bucks to slow down and stop following your every footstep long enough for us to have a few minutes with them. Eli, we miss the family meals and the laughter I became accustomed to and loved so much when I first came here,” Miranda told him.

Eli looked around the table, picked up his mug and took a sip of hot coffee. He was about to speak ... when Sissy spoke up.

“Dad, please don’t be mad because all of us want more than money and riches and fine clothes. Just as the others have said, we do love having all those things, but we still love our buckskins too. Some of us are about to have babies in a few days and all of us want our babies to grow up knowing their grandpa, not be told about him later when they are grown, like all of us did.”

Before anyone else could speak, Eli waved his hand.

“I give up! Don’t hammer on me anymore ... I already feel bad enough. I know I’ve been driving all of us hard to get these things done. I’ve missed the good times you spoke of too. I keep telling myself that we’ll slow down soon and have time for the family again. Then something else happens and we start in yet another direction. I’ll tell the men that we’re gonna shut down until the first of the year. We’re about ready to start drilling the next two wells and then we’ll have to shut down until we get more derricks shipped in anyway.”

Grandmother spoke up before Eli could continue and he looked at her smiling face, as he listened to what she had to say.

...”Eli, Miranda told me what you said when we came back from Pecan Ridge. That meant so much to me, that you still thought of me even with all the other things you have going on around you. Since I came here for my granddaughter’s wedding and you asked me to stay, this has been the best part of my life in many a year. I love it here and I love the people we meet and I see the all the friends you’ve made. I love all my grandchildren and I love teaching them and being with them. They have taught me so much too...

“I still want my time with you, I want to learn of the things your mother taught you and the things you’ve learned from your friends in the tribes here in Indian Territory, but I will wait my turn. Don’t hurry to get to me, Eli, because when we have our time, I will demand that I have you to myself and I’ll want your full attention. Now you just do as your wife, your sister, your daughter and all those who love you, have asked of you. We each want a part of you, Eli. Give us the best Christmas any of us have ever had ... give each of us Eli Crow, and that alone will be the best Christmas ever,” Hurit Adsila told him.

“Grandmother, you have become a part of this family and we all love you. You and I will have our time this spring, you can count on that. All of you may think I didn’t even know it was Christmas yet, but I knew. I’ve seen all of you whispering and smiling. I’ve seen the girls and the Bucks smiling and whispering among themselves. Well, Jon David and I have been busy too and since we’re about to take a break, we’ll just do it up right and take this whole next week off to prop our feet up by the fire and be a family.”

“Thank you, Eli, that is the best Christmas gift you could have ever given us,” Rose said.

Eli took another sip of his still steaming coffee and watched as Maryanne held onto a chair and stood up. She had begun learning to walk a few weeks ago. She stumbled over to his chair and grabbed his leg as she held onto her new Indian doll. He reached down and picked her up as she laughed and giggled. He remembered all the times his older kids used to laugh when he played with them. He knew he was missing some good times and some good years. Just yesterday, Maryanne had celebrated her first birthday with the family. Eli knew it was coming up and asked Iron Hammer if his women would make her an Indian Doll, like his other girls had when they first moved up here. Maryanne had yet put it down since she unwrapped her present.

“Go tell Momma to put your warm clothes on, you and me are going for a ride,” he told her and she squealed as if she understood his every word.

“Eli, Maryanne have no warm clothes, just the skins and moccasins Adalee make her, and a coat,” Tin Yu told him.

“Tin Yu, come with me, we still have some of the warm clothes the older boys and girls wore when they were her age. We’ll dress her warm so she can ride her daddy’s horse with him,” Rose told her.

When they left the kitchen, Catt and Eva went with them to find Maryanne some warmer clothes. Clarissa moved over to sit in the chair Catt had been sitting in. She took Eli’s hand and placed it on her belly.

“Eli, I have a Christmas present for you, but we’ll have to wait a few months to open it.”

“I hope we have another pretty little girl, but if we have another boy, we’ll just turn him into a Young Buck with the other wild ones,” Eli told her as they smiled at each other.

“It will be a girl, Eli,” Grandmother told him and he looked at her, shocked that she said that.

“Grandmother uses a needle on a string to tell a boy from a girl. She told us she would never be as good as Little Duck, just looking at a woman’s belly and telling the sex of the baby. But she said the needle on a string method had never been wrong for her, either,” Clarissa told him when she saw the shock on his face.

Maryanne crawled down the stairs backwards, one step at a time and stumbled all the way to Eli’s chair. He reached out to grab her and she squealed with laughter. They had her bundled in some of the warmer clothes the older kids had worn and outgrown, and she could hardly walk. They had stretched two pair of wool socks over her hands to keep them warm and showed her where her pockets were in the long, oversize woolen overcoat she wore.

“Go,” she said, kicking her legs ... already waving at the others.

With Maryanne sitting in front of him in the saddle, Eli rode over to the drilling rigs and met with Albert, James, Leon, and Smitty. He held Maryanne in his arms as they stood by the heater barrel and talked.

“I got raked over good back at the house about it being Christmas and us still working. I’ve decided we need to take a break already. We only have two more derricks and you’ve already got them standing up, ready to start drilling. Our other derricks won’t be here for another week or more, Jon David said. Let’s just shut down until after the first of the year.”

“You’re the boss, Eli. You say the word and we’ll be glad to take a break from this cold wind for a few days. We’ll come over and check it out each day to be sure there are no problems. Are you going to keep loading oil at the railroad? There’ll be enough oil from this one well to keep them busy, or we can shut the valves off and wait,” Leon said.

“I talked to Otis and Carter and their young women won’t be here until the first day of the year. We’ll shut them down for tomorrow, then let them keep loading after that. They can have a week off when their brides get here if I have to load myself.”

“We’ll fill in for them tomorrow, Eli. There’s no need in shutting down for just one day. Leon, Albert, and me aren’t married and we wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves on Christmas day anyway. We’ll work it out too, when their brides come.

“Smitty said him and Corinne are getting married tomorrow, on Christmas day, so he won’t be of no help for a few days anyway,” Albert told him and the men all laughed.

“Jon David can get you three fixed up with some wives in a hurry, if you’ll let him,” Eli said and they all laughed, but Albert.

“Eli, are you joking?” Albert asked.

“I was, but he can do it. Him and Amanda can write to a church and get you a wife. He did it for Willis and his men, and the six white boys too, all of them have women coming here in a few days.”

“I don’t know about you two, but I’m going to find me a wife. I’m tired of being alone. We’re about to start making a good living now and if things work out, we’ll all be landowners and have money to afford a family,” Albert told them.

“James and me were married back east, we both lost our wives when the big money stopped coming in. I don’t know about James, but I’d like to meet a good woman like Smitty did and be as happy as that man. He never even looked at a woman back east ... he worked seven days a week and never had time for one. I may have been better off if I had done the same,” Leon added.

“Eli, I’m going to talk to Jon David too, but I’ll wait until after the first of the year. I’m like Leon and Albert – I’m tired of being alone. You’ve made us partners in the well drilling companies with you and Iron Hammer and we can see the money about to start rolling in. I sure hope I find a good woman this time, one who doesn’t just want me for the money,” James told them.