Author’s Note: This story is a complete work of fiction from the get go and is intended solely for the readers to enjoy. My thanks to EasySpeak for the work of editing this story so that it makes sense and makes it easier to read and understand.

Author’s Note: This is a FICTIONAL story of how a man and his wife homesteaded land in Central Texas after the Civil War and raised their family. Since the story begins nearly 160 years ago, efforts were made to adhere to historical facts as much as possible as far as this author knows and as far as the story requires.

The Story:

After the end of the Civil War, my Dad, Ezekiel, was mustered out of the Union Army and he returned to his parents’ home in South Central Ohio. When Dad returned home to his parents’ farm, Grandma hugged him and cried for minutes on his shoulder. She was so happy to have him safely back there with her and Grandpa on their farm.

She was so happy to have her only son come safely back home to them it was difficult for Grandma to quit crying. Grandpa shook his hand and told him how proud he was of my Dad and he was happy to have him safely back home, too. Grandpa was especially happy to have my Dad back to help him with the work on the farm. Grandpa said, “It’s good to have you back home, Son. You know your ole Dad isn’t getting any younger.”

Dad stayed with my Grandma and Grandpa for a few months and helped them around their farm. He later found the girl, Eloise, with whom he had fallen in love before he went to fight with the Union Army. Dad and Eloise, my Mother, were married within a couple of months. With some of his back pay from the Union Army, Dad and Mom were able to buy a team of four stout draft horses and a very sturdy farm wagon in good traveling condition.

They gathered up as many household furnishings as they could from Grandma and Grandpa and other family and friends to take with them on their trip west. They also stocked the wagon with as much food staples as they could which included salt pork, beans, flour, corn meal, lard, salt, sugar, coffee, tea, spices and other food items. They also acquired as many household items that they could, too.

Dad told Grandma and Grandpa that he and Mom wanted to join a wagon train to go up the Oregon Trail and settle in Oregon. When they told them they wanted to find land there to homestead, my Grandma cried on Dad’s shoulder again. She knew she was not likely to see him or Eloise again. Of course, she knew she would not likely ever see any of her Grandbabies either.

Grandma really wanted to see, hold and be a part of her Grandbabies’’ lives. After a lot of hugging, kissing and tears with their families and friends Mom and Dad hitched their team up to their wagon and they set out on their journey west. They knew that the journey out to the western edge of Missouri was pretty far and it would be many days before they could ever start up the Oregon Trail.

Their original intention was to head pretty much due west to cross the Mississippi River at St. Louis and eventually join a wagon train. They wanted to join a wagon train at Independence and head on up the Oregon Trail and settle in Oregon. They had been told there was plenty of good farm land to homestead there in Oregon. They had been told wagon trains to Oregon left from Independence each spring.

Mom and Dad made it to the Mississippi and crossed the river at St. Louis as they had originally intended. They continued on west along the Missouri River to Independence, Missouri where they expected to join a wagon train. When they got there they were told that the last wagon train had already left Independence and headed on up the Oregon Trail.

There would be no more wagon trains leaving for Oregon that season. That was because the wagon trains could not get there before the snow began to fly in the Rocky Mountains and the harsh Rocky Mountain winter set in. Mountains they would have to cross to get to Oregon.

After they heard the last wagon train had already left, they were trying to decide what their next step should be. That evening after they had cooked and eaten their supper they were sitting beside their wagon. Dad had the Sharps 0.50/70 caliber army carbine he had picked up on the battlefield sitting beside him. He also had his Colt Army revolver strapped to his hip.

A horseback rider slowly approached their campsite and reined up his mount to talk to them. The rider introduced himself but, he did not stepdown from his mount. He remained sitting in the saddle of his mount to talk with Dad and Mom. The rider greeted Dad and Mom and he said, “Hello, folks, were you folks intending on joining the Oregon Trail wagon train?”

“Yes, sir, we were but, we were told that the last train has already left Independence and there will not be another one this season. We were told that’s because if a wagon train started out now since it is past the first of June, it would not likely get across the Rocky Mountains before the Rocky Mountain winter sets in.”

He nodded his agreement and said, “Yes sir. That’s true. What are your plans now?”

“Well, sir, we don’t rightly know. We really don’t want to head back east because we were hoping to find some suitable farm land to homestead in Oregon.”

“By the looks of the firearms you have with you sir, you appear to be not long out of the Union Army. While you were in the Union Army I’m sure that you have heard of the new state of Texas.”

“Yes, sir, I have. Texas was a Johnny Reb state and they fought against the Union for the Confederacy.”

“That’s true but, the war is over now, sir, and there’s lots of land in Texas that can be homesteaded. Texas is much larger than Oregon and there is a whole lot more land to homestead in Texas than there is in Oregon. It’s only about 500 miles south and somewhat west of here.

Whereas, the Oregon Trail is about four times that far and it takes about four times as long to get to Oregon. In addition the country between here and Oregon is a whole lot rougher than it is between here and Texas.”

“There ain’t likely to be any problem with snow and the winter setting in before a wagon train can make that journey from here to Texas. In fact, at the end of our trip the weather will still likely be pretty much summer weather for about another month. That should give you plenty of time to prepare for the coming Texas winter.”

“I’m the wagon master fixing to put together a wagon train to take a group of homesteaders to Texas. Our wagon train is mostly made up of settlers like you who wanted to make the trip to Oregon but, they, like you, missed the last wagon train. There are a few other settlers, too, who just want to go to Texas and homestead new land there. And if you’d like to go with us you’re welcome to join our train, sir.”

“Thank you for your invitation, sir, but, my Missus and I’ll have to talk about it and make a decision on what we want to do.”

“Well, sir, you and your Missus think about it and talk it over and if you choose to join us, our encampment and staging area is just south of town. All you have to do is hitch up your team and trail south of town to join us.

Even if you don’t choose to join our wagon train you’ll be a lot safer setting up your camp site near us. And you can always turn your team around and head back east if you choose not to join our train. But, you need to decide pretty quickly before the end of the week when we plan to leave for Texas with our train.”

Mom and Dad talked it over that evening and they decided to hitch up the team and visit the wagon train campsite come the next morning. In the morning they hitched up their team to their wagon and went south of town to the wagon train campsite. After; arriving at the campsite Dad and Mom had the opportunity to meet and talk with a number of the people headed to Texas.

After seeing and meeting some of the other people who had joined the wagon train, they decided to join the train. Over three and a half months later after many long hard days on the trail they arrived in Central Texas. They found a 320 acre tract of good land that they could homestead under the Homestead Act of 1862 passed by the United States Congress.

It was late summer when they arrived and Dad and Mom had to become accustomed to the remaining heat of the Texas summer. Unlike Ohio the Texas summer heat hung on until early to mid October before the summer heat began to moderate.

Even when the heat of the Texas summer broke the weather didn’t generally get all that cold until mid to late December. That gave Mom and Dad the time to begin to make preparations for the cold weather that was certain to come to the Central Texas area where they found good land to homestead.

Mom and Dad worked hard to improve their land as required by the Homestead Act. After five years of hard work and severe hardship they were able to take permanent legal possession of their homestead land. The winters were cold, the springs were stormy and the summers were hot.

The Homestead Act allowed homesteaders to take full legal possession of their land after five years. They were able to build a cabin to live in and start a new life in Texas. They were also able to buy the start of a longhorn cattle herd with a breeding bull, a couple of heifers and a cow which they added to as time went on.

During that time the three of us kids were born. I’m the oldest of the three. My name is Rowdy Connell and my little brother’s name was Jake. My little Sister died just after she was born and Mom couldn’t have any more kids after that. I don’t think my Mom ever got over the loss of my little Sister.

Dad was always too busy to think much about it. The survival and well-being of Mom and Dad and us two boys was his most important concern. After us kids were born Dad had to build another room onto the cabin to take care of all of us and give us the extra living area we needed.

As Jake and I grew older we were expected to help Dad and Mom with the work around the cabin and then the farm work of tending our small herd of cattle. Jake and I were told we had to help our Mom tend her vegetable garden as soon as we were big enough to help her.

Of course, by the time I could sit a saddle and my legs were long enough to reach the stirrups I worked our herd along with Dad. We were still told we had to help our Mom around the cabin and help her in her garden. There was always work that had to be done around the cabin and on the farm and ranch.

Our cattle herd grew and expanded and we needed additional acreage of grazing land for our herd. Dad bought one more quarter section of land for our herd of longhorn cattle. And he later bought another quarter section of land for our growing and expanding herd. With the additional two quarter sections of land Dad had bought, our farm/ranch had grown to a full section, 640 acres, of land.

The work on our small ranch was long and hard. Our work day lasted from daylight to dusk each day, summer, spring, fall and winter. At the end of each day I along with Jake was always very tired even as a teenager. I know that the work took an even greater toll on Dad and Mom, too, because they were so much older than Jake and I were.

Even though I started helping Dad when I got to about the age of 12, Dad needed more help than what I was able to give him at my age. Dad hired a hand to help him on the ranch. Dad and the ranch hand built a small bunkhouse for the hired hand with what help I could give them.

Of course, little Jake was there, too, but, we were both just small kids and we were really not that much help looking back on it. Most of what we could do was to carry drinking water out to them and fetch tools for their work for them.

Mom cooked all of our meals for us and that required her to get up before daylight each day to get our breakfast and her day did not end until well after dark. I think that Mom had to work harder than the men did, though.

And it probably took as much or a greater toll on her than the hard work took on the men. The big difference was that Mom’s work was mostly done inside the cabin except when she was working in our garden with us two boys helping her.

At least little Jake and I helped a lot in tending the garden, carrying water and chopping wood for our cooking in the summer and also heating the cabin in the winter. Dad wanted us to chop as much wood in the summer to lay by for the winter. He really didn’t like to be out in that cold weather chopping wood in the winter if he could help it.

Tragedy struck our family when Jake was about 12 years old. He was carrying water out to the men on foot when a breeding bull charged him and trampled him to death. Jake’s death hit Mom very hard. It was bad enough for her to have lost her third baby just after she was born but, to lose Jake was just as bad or maybe even worse. I don’t know that Mom ever really recovered from having lost Jake either.

Dad knew that both he and Mom were getting older and they were less able to do the work that needed to be done. Dad found a young Mexican woman by the name of Luna Lopez and he brought her on to help Mom with her work. I don’t think Luna was all that much older than I was.

Luna’s husband and only daughter had been killed by outlaws and she had no way to support herself. Rather than see her starve to death Dad and Mom brought her into our cabin. Luna worked for Mom and Dad in exchange for her keep. Luna pretty much became a part of our family and that is the way we thought of her. At least that’s the way we treated her.

Luna was a very sweet and loving young woman and she treated all of us very well and very lovingly. She was happy to have a home, food to eat and clothes to wear in exchange for all the help she gave us.

Having Luna in our house was like having another mother with us and taking care of us. Of course, as a teenager I couldn’t get over how pretty and how shapely she was. I certainly had no problem in imagining myself laying between her thighs and making her moan with both our pleasure.

But, I knew that Mom and Dad would have never put up with me laying with Luna. They sure wouldn’t put up with Luna’s baby had I been the father of her baby. If they thought I was laying with Luna they would probably have run her off and Luna knew that, too. She sure didn’t want to be run off from our farm for laying with me and she wouldn’t have had anything to do with me even though she may have wanted to.

When I was 21 years old and Mom and Dad had been on the homestead for nearly 25 years, Dad took ill with the fever and died. That left Mom in shock and the management and operation of the ranch was totally up to me with Mom’s supervision.

I had my hands full with all of the work that had to be done. Since I knew that there was more work on the ranch than I and one ranch hand could do, I hired another hand to help us out on the ranch.

Our longhorn herd continued to grow and expand past the ability of our land to support them. In order to reduce the size of the herd I and the two ranch hands rounded up the herd and cut out the steers that we wanted to sell and we drove them to the nearest rail head about 100 miles away and sold them to a cattle buyer.

Three years after Dad died, Mom also took ill and she died. I think they both had worked themselves to death with all of the hard work they had to do on the ranch and around the cabin.

I think that Mom may have died of a broken heart at the loss of Dad, Jake and her infant baby girl. That left me as the sole owner of the ranch. I was responsible for Luna, the two ranch hands, the livestock and the homestead.

Life on the ranch continued on in the manner as it always had. After Mom’s death Luna stepped into her role and did all of the work that Mom had always done. She knew that we still needed to keep our home together and to make sure all of us got our regular daily meals. Luna took over all of the work that Mom had done for all of the years we had lived here on our homestead.

The nearest town of any size was over 30 miles away which was nearly a full two day trip by team and wagon and a two day trip back to the ranch. I decided to hitch up the team and go to the town to buy supplies. We needed supplies for the ranch and we also needed food supplies such as salt pork, beans, flour, corn meal, coffee, salt, sugar and other staples. I had Luna make out a list of the supplies she needed for the coming winter for me to get in town.

I told the ranch hands and Luna that I was going to go to town. I laid out work for the ranch hands to do while I was gone from the ranch, the most important of which was to chop wood for winter as well as tending to the livestock.

We desperately needed to lay in a good supply of cooking and heating firewood. Luna asked if she could go with me as she wanted to get some dry goods material to make herself some new clothes. I told Luna that I could use a new shirt or two and the ranch hands each said their shirts were getting pretty well worn, too.

I told Luna she could go to town with me but, she would have to either sleep in the bed of the wagon or under it during the trip there and back. I planned to buy two new pairs of readymade work pants for me and an additional pair for each of the ranch hands. I also bought a pair for Luna to use in the winter for extra warmth during the really cold weather.

I left the ranch with Luna just after sunup and we drove the first day. With an empty wagon the team was able to keep up a good pace and we made good time. We stopped at sundown to make camp and make our supper. Luna and I both bedded down in the bed of the wagon after supper. We had pulled a tarp up over us in case it started to rain in the night.

Then we continued our travel after sunup the next morning. With an empty wagon we arrived in town in the early afternoon and began to get our supplies. We went to the dry goods store and I was going to help Luna pick out material to make our shirts and her dress with.

Luna found some readymade work shirts for me and for each of the ranch hands. Rather than having to make the shirts for me and the ranch hands I bought one for me and one for each of them. I told Luna to put them with the other dry goods she wanted to buy. I left her in the dry goods store to finish getting the dry goods she wanted and I went over to the ranch supply to get some of the other supplies we needed for the ranch.

Later, I returned to the dry goods store with the wagon loaded with the ranch supplies. There I picked up Luna and the dry goods she had chosen and I paid for them. From there we went to the general store.

We bought the food staples we needed for the ranch. The wagon was pretty well loaded and I strapped the tarp over it before we started out on our return trip to the ranch. The weight of the load in the wagon was enough to make the team work harder during our return trip and our trip back would not be as fast as it was coming to town.

The sun was still high and we started out on our return trip to the ranch until just before sundown when we stopped to make camp for the night. Since the bed of the wagon was pretty well loaded with all of our supplies it was a whole lot more of a load for the team to pull. That meant our return trip to the ranch would take somewhat longer.

We made our camp and fixed our supper and at dark we were ready to bed down for the night. Since the wagon was loaded with the supplies we had bought, Luna and I had to sleep on the ground underneath the wagon that night. The next morning just after sunup, we continued on our trip back to the ranch after we had eaten our breakfast.

As we rode with Luna sitting beside me, she asked me, “Señor Rowdy, have you heard the hands talking about the wild mujer (woman) they have seen in the woods out at the edge of the ranch?”

“No, Luna, I haven’t heard them say anything about it.”

“One morning at grub, I overheard them talking about them having seen a person at the edge of the woods when they were working cattle near the edge and in the woods. They said when they went to where the mujer was, she disappeared deeper into the woods.”

There is an area on the ranch of a few acres that is heavily wooded and sometimes the cattle drift in there to escape the hot sun and the heat of the day in the summer as it is shaded and it is somewhat cooler in there in the shade.

“Well, Luna, when we get back to the ranch I’ll have a talk with the hands and find out what they have seen.”

When we got back to the ranch we were busy unloading the wagon, storing the food supplies, taking care of the horses and the wagon and taking care of ranch business. I didn’t have time to talk to the hands about the single wild woman in the woods.

The next evening after nightfall and supper was over I walked out to the bunkhouse to talk to the hands. I asked the hands, “Men, Luna tells me that she overheard you two talking about seeing a woman at the edge of the woods while you were wrangling the cattle out there. What have you seen and what can you tell me about it?”

They both told me that several times they each had seen what appeared to be a woman in buckskins in the late afternoon at the edge of the woods. They were maybe 100 to 200 yards away from her and by the time they got there on horseback the woman had disappeared into the woods.

They told me about where they had seen her each time and I decided the next time some of the cattle were out grazing in that area I would ride out there and see if I could spot her near the edge of the woods.

A week or so later when some of the cattle were grazing in that area of the ranch, I rode out there making sure that I stayed at least 200 yards away from the edge of the woods. I dismounted and walked among the cattle alongside my mount on the far side away from the woods. I took my hat off and kept looking just over my saddle along the edge of the woods for a woman in buckskins.

When I got to the area of the woods the hands had described to me I did see what appeared to be a woman in buckskins. I continued on past among the cattle until she was clear out of sight. At that time I led my mount several hundred yards into the woods and led him through to the backside of the woods.

I doubled back to the point where I reckoned I had seen the woman and as quietly as I could. I led my mount back through the woods to where I thought the woman would be. When I got to where I could see the edge of the woods again I saw the woman in buckskins again. She was looking away from me out towards the grazing cattle and she failed to notice me.

I got up to within about 50 yards of her and she must have heard me or she heard my mount coming through the woods. She turned and looked around at me and my mount and then turned back and started running out through the grass toward where the cattle were grazing. I immediately mounted my horse with my lariat in my hand and I started after her.

When my mount and I got within a few feet of her, I threw my lariat over her and it settled around her body at about her elbows pinning her arms next to her body. My mount was a cutting and roping horse and he had been trained to keep the rope taut. I pulled her off of her feet as she was screaming and struggling against the rope.

She was screaming at me but, I didn’t know what she was saying because it sounded like it was some Indian language that I wasn’t familiar with and I couldn’t understand. I walked the rope back to her with my mount continuing to keep the rope taut. All the time she was struggling against the rope I kept talking softly to her telling her I wouldn’t hurt her.

I told her, “It’s alright girl. I’m not going to hurt you so just calm down. Do you speak any English?” She continued to scream at me in her native language and struggle against the rope. She tried to get to her feet and I pulled on the rope and pulled her back off of her feet again.

I told her, “Ok, girl, you continue to struggle and wear yourself out. And when you are dog tired maybe we can talk to each other.” She finally settled down and I asked her again, “Do you speak any English. And what’s your name, girl.”

She kicked out at me but, I had stayed out of her range expecting that and she just kicked at the air. Then she finally looked at me with fear and venom in her eyes. When she finally figured that I was not going to harm her she said in very sketchy English, “You let Aso go, Hombre Blanco (White Man).”

All the while my horse kept the rope taut on her like she was a roped steer. I responded to her very slowly and very plainly, “I won’t hurt you but, I won’t let you go until you tell me your name and what you are doing here.

Or, if you won’t talk to me I can hogtie you and take you back to the ranch house slung over my saddle. I really don’t want to do that and I don’t think you want me to do that either.” The way she was struggling I knew she wouldn’t do well draped over my saddle.

Finally, she looked at me and said in a very tired voice, “I called, Aso. You let Aso go.”

“What are you doing here, Aso?” She didn’t respond. I got a short length of rope out of my saddle bags that I used for bulldogging steers during roundup and branding season. I tied her hands and put her in the saddle and tied the other end of the rope to the saddle horn. She didn’t weigh very much, maybe less than 100 pounds at the most if even that.

She was pretty thin probably because she hadn’t been eating very much. I coiled up my lariat and mounted my horse behind her in the saddle since I had put her in the saddle. I then headed back to the ranch house holding her in my arms so she wouldn’t fall out of the saddle as we rode. She was so light my mount probably couldn’t even tell she was there.

When I got back to the ranch house the hands were just coming back to the ranch house because it was getting near sundown and Luna would have grub ready for us very shortly. The hands both looked at me and asked, “What you got there, Rowdy?”

“I’ve got your disappearing woman. Her name is Aso and she is pretty wild. I want Luna to talk to her and maybe she can calm her down some more and we’re going to get her something to eat. I’ll bet she hasn’t had very much to eat in a good while. When I get my saddle bags off my mount and get her down one of you hands take care of my mount for me.”

About that time Luna had heard us talking and came out of the cabin door and said, “So there was a mujer out there after all, huh, Señor Rowdy?”

“Yeah, Luna, and here she is. She says her name is Aso and I think she speaks some Spanish. She doesn’t appear to speak a lot of English. We are going to clean her up a little and get her something to eat. I’m sure she hasn’t had a decent meal in a long time. You can see she is pretty thin. Let’s get her inside the cabin, get some warm water and wash her face and hands. And then we can slowly start giving her something to eat, Luna.”

Luna got a small pan of warm water and a cloth and washed her face while I tied her waist in a chair and her thighs to the seat. I really didn’t like tying her in the chair like that but, I really didn’t have any other choice.

I sure didn’t want her running out of the cabin back to the woods before we could clean her up a little and give her something to eat. I really thought it was necessary for her to have something to eat but, I didn’t want her to eat too much and flounder on it.

Aso wasn’t happy when I tied her in the chair but she calmed down some when Luna washed her face, neck and ears and she calmed down even more when Luna washed her hands and forearms with the warm water. Luna calmly and softly spoke to her in Spanish as she washed her like she was a small child. Aso seemed to speak and understand Spanish much better than what little English she had spoken to me.

She told Luna she was from the Tonkawa tribe. She ran away from the tribe after her mother had died or was killed. Luna said she was half Tonkawa and half Anglo and the tribe had treated her very poorly. She told Luna she never saw or knew who her father was.

By that time dark had fallen and the hands wanted to eat their supper so I told Luna to get her something to eat and then get the hands their grub, too. Luna put a sourdough biscuit on a small tin plate and handed it to me. I untied her hands and offered her the plate with the biscuit. Aso quickly took the biscuit and devoured it like she had not had anything to eat in days.

Then she looked at me with a hungry, longing look still in her eyes. I asked Luna to get her another biscuit to eat. And Aso devoured the second biscuit like the first. Knowing that biscuits can be rather dry I got her a cup of water and she drank it all immediately and asked for more.

She then turned to me and looked like she was still hungry. I handed the plate to Luna and told her to, “Dip up a couple of spoons full of your stew and let’s feed that to her, Luna. But not too much I don’t want her to flounder by eating too much this first time.”

Luna sat the plate in front of her and she started to pick it up with her fingers. I shook my head and stopped her and I said, “Huh uh, in this cabin you don’t eat with your fingers. I got a spoon and she wanted to take the food out of the spoon with her fingers. I then fed her with the spoon.