Chapter 16

May 15, 1845

We spent a big part of the day climbing onto a plateau. I was scouting ahead and Millie and Lettie decided they were going with me today. We went ahead to the steep downgrade Ab had told me about. It had to be the steepest I had ever even heard of a wagon going down.

Fortunately, the hill wasn't as long as I imagined it would be. Ab had mentioned wagons putting poles through all four wheels, but he said that even then the wagons sometimes pushed the oxen or mules pulling it to the point the animals would lose their footing and the animals, wagon and all would go tumbling to the bottom.

We looked it over for a long while and we rode to the bottom to see if we could see any way to make it easier from that angle. There were trees along one side of the slope that I thought might do us some good. We also found the remains of three wagons that hadn't made it.

When we got back to the wagons, we talked to Ab about what we'd seen. "I was thinking we might be able to make use of the trees down the right side of the slope," I told him. "If we tied two ropes to the rear axle of a wagon, we could take two or three passes around a tree with one rope and do the same to another tree further down the slope with another. When we'd let the wagon down as far as we could with the rope closest to the top of the hill, we'd move it down to a tree below the one the other rope was snubbed off to."

"That might be a big help," Ab said thoughtfully. "It's worth a try anyway."

Millie said they wanted to talk to Tess, so her and Lettie took off.

"Ab, it was Phil Lewis that drove Becky's wagon for her before she married Sam, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, he's a nice young man and was really good with his driving."

"I'm thinking about seeing if I could hire him to drive our wagon for us after we leave Ash Hollow. Do you think he'd be interested?"

"Yeah, he probably would. Don't offer him more than fifteen dollars a month. He might even do it for ten."

"Okay, I'll remember that."

"Isn't John going to be driving your wagon from now on?"

"No, he's buying some cattle and he's going to be helping with the herding after we leave Ash Hollow. Since Tess was already a partner in our ranch, that brings John in when they get married."

"Ah, I see. I don't mean to be nosey, but are you guys looking for a permanent place for Mrs. Calvin?"

"No, Lettie and Millie get along just fine, so she's going to be staying with us. She may even become a partner in our ranch."

I left shortly after that. Ab has a tendency to get very personal with his questions and I didn't want to have to explain our relationship to him or anyone else right now.

The five of us had dinner together again. As we were eating, I said, "Tess, when you guys are married, I hope you still plan on eating with us. I really enjoy having both of you around."

"We've talked about that some. I think we're gonna have to for at least a while since we don't have any dishes or anything of our own. We both enjoy being around you guys too, so it isn't a problem."

"Have you thought about what I suggested about getting a tent from pap?"

"Yeah, I think we will. Sleeping under a wagon is okay if you aren't a young married couple. Then, it's a little exposed for some of us."

"Ab tells me there are a couple of trading posts we'll be passing. Maybe we can pick up a few things there," I said.

"If we're all going to be living on a ranch together, how are we going to work things?" Tess asked. "Are we going to have separate houses, or are we going to have one big house for all of us?"

"Lettie and I have been talking about that," Millie said. "We'd just as soon have one big house if everyone was comfortable with that."

"What would you think about that, John?" Tess asked.

"I think I could live with that," John said. "As long as there were enough bedrooms for some privacy."

"The first winter may be a little cozy," I told them. "There's no way we're going to be able to find the land for a ranch and build a house before the snow flies. We may all of us end up in a one room soddy for the first winter."

John nodded. "Yeah, I was thinking about that. Maybe we could at least make it a two room soddy."

Millie laughed. "What's the matter, John? Are you shy?"

"Yep," he said.

After supper, John and I went around to talk with Albert Samuels about the cattle they had that they wanted to sell. Neither Albert or his wife, Nellie looked like farmers. Albert was short and slight of build. Nellie was even smaller.

Albert showed us their cattle and I liked the way they looked. "Why are you wanting to sell them?" I asked.

"We hired Matt Goodson to drive them for us, but they're ending up costing us more than they're worth. Ben Jacobs said he'd buy the bull, but he's not interested in the cows."

"Ben's a good man. They lost their bull before they even got to St Louis. Is twenty dollars a head the least you'd take for them?"

"Well, I don't know. I'd have to give it some thought."

"We'd offer you fifteen dollars a head paid in gold tonight if you're interested. I just don't think we'd be able to go any higher than that. There's too much of a chance of losing some of them before we get to Oregon."

"I just don't know. I'd like to think on it a day or two."

"Think all you'd like, Albert. If one of them breaks a leg going down that big hill tomorrow, you're the one who loses. You'll also be paying Matt for every day you think about it."

"I guess you've got a point there, Jase. Okay, we'll take fifteen dollars a head."

"If there's twelve head, that would be $180.00. Do you have that much on you, John?"

"I sure do," John said as he started counting it out.

"I think we'll leave them where they are for the night, Albert. We'll mix them in with our herd in the morning."

Albert said that would be fine. His eyes were glowing as he took the money from John.

As we were walking back to the wagon, John said, "You just saved me sixty dollars, Jase. That is really appreciated."

I decided to put off talking to Phil Lewis until we were in Ash Hollow. Millie, Lettie and I went to bed not long after John and I got back.

May 16, 1845

Well, getting down the hill was as bad as Ab said it was going to be and as bad as I feared it was going to be. It took us until late in the afternoon to get all of the wagons down. We didn't lose any, but we did have a couple that were damaged. All in all, I thought we did a good job.

Our biggest surprise came when we got to Ash Hollow. This is a beautiful place. It has a creek that is fed by a natural spring. There is a nice grove of ash trees surrounding the spring and the creek. There is also plenty of firewood in the area, which had been becoming a big problem for all of us. Some of us had even been using dried buffalo dung for cooking. The problem with that is that it burns so fast you need a ton of it to cook a meal.

Millie, Lettie and I had ridden on ahead when we got the last wagon down. There was a wagon sitting in the clearing close to the spring when we got there. It wasn't one of ours.

There was a man and a little girl, who had to be about three or four years old, sitting outside the wagon. They didn't seem nearly as surprised to see us as we were to see them.

"Howdy," I said as we reined in.

"Howdy, folks. I'm Clem Cardhill and this here's my daughter Elsie."

We introduced ourselves then I asked, "Did you get left behind?"

"You might say that. My wife died right after we got here with the train that's about four days ahead of you. I don't think Oregon is a place for me to bring up Elsie by myself. I tried to sell my wagon and oxen to anyone on the other train, but no one was interested. I need to get my daughter back east so I have my family to help take care of her."

"We might have someone who'd be interested," I said. "What are you asking for it?"

"Mister, if I could get fifty dollars and a good horse and saddle, I'd be tickled to death."

"That's for the wagon, the oxen, and everything in the wagon?"

"Yeah, I just have to get my little girl back to civilization. I know it's worth a lot more than that, but if we can't sell it, I'll have to abandon it and try to ride one of the oxen back."

"You've got yourself a deal, Mr. Cardhill. My sister is getting married tomorrow. They were going to live in a tent for the rest of the trip, but I'm sure they'd rather have your wagon. My brother-in-law has a good horse and saddle I'm sure he'd be willing to trade."

"If that's the case, we'll take off in the morning, Sir. And I'll thank you all kindly before I go."

"You said the train you were on is four or five days ahead of us. They must be pushing pretty hard. They left St Jo the day before we did."

"Yeah, I think the wagon master is crazy. He says they should be able to average twenty miles a day and he's determined to do that even if it kills every animal they have."

"What's his hurry?"

"He won't say and he gets real vexed if someone asks him. I've heard him talking about how far ahead of you guys he is though. It's almost like he thinks it's a race."

"Well, I'm glad we're not with him. Our wagon master is a real nice guy and he knows the trail really well."

We saw the first wagons approaching about then and when Ab saw the wagon, he came riding on ahead. I introduced him and Clem and then said I needed to go and talk with my sister.

We got to our wagon when it was still about a half a mile out. Of course, Tess was riding beside our wagon. "How would you guys like your own wagon?" I asked as we pulled in beside them.

"I'd like that just fine," Tess said. "Why? Are you thinking of giving us this one?"

We got a laugh out of that, then we told them about the guy waiting at Ash Hollow. Before they could say anything, Lettie said, "We'll put in the fifty dollars as our wedding present to you guys, if you can come up with a horse and saddle."

Millie scooted Princess in beside Lettie and gave her a big hug.

"Well, I do have an extra horse," John said. "I don't have an extra saddle though."

"We can give him Jase's old saddle. Lettie can ride behind Jase or me until we get somewhere we can buy a saddle," Millie said.

"Lettie, I'm going to buy you the best horse and the best saddle west of the Mississippi River for this. There's only one problem though. If I'm driving a wagon, I'm not going to be able to help with the livestock."

"Well, if Matt Goodson is out of a job, maybe he'd be willing to drive the wagon," I said.

"The only problem is, I can't afford to hire him," John said.