Chapter 26

June 30, 1845

Today we made 18 miles and camped on the Snake River. Ab says we can't be more than ten or fifteen miles from Fort Hall. I rode with Ab for a while when I rejoined the wagons after scouting out our route. The first thing I did was apologize for all of the trouble we had been causing him.

"Jase, just shut that up," he said. "There isn't a thing that's happened that's your fault."

"If I didn't have two wives, Mrs. Wattley wouldn't have had anything to get onto Abby about," I said.

"We're not in the United States any more, Jase. We're not even in a territory. There are no marriage laws here, so it is perfectly legal for you to have as many wives as you want. In a way it's kind of funny. Pris says Mrs. Wattley is just jealous."

"Jealous," I laughed. "What's she got to be jealous about?"

"Have you met her?"

"Yeah."

"How old would you say she is?"

"I don't know. Maybe forty-five or so?"

"From her looks I'd say that was a pretty good guess. She's actually in her early thirties. Millie and Lettie are two of the most beautiful young women I've ever met. Mrs. Wattley has nine kids and she looks like a worn out old wreck."

"Okay, I guess she could be jealous of Millie and Lettie's good looks."

"Pris says that's only part of it. She says these two beautiful young women want you and have you so she wants you too."

"Oh shit. I don't believe that for a minute."

"Pris is a pretty sharp woman, Jase. I admire her a lot."

"Well, yeah. I admire her too. So, when are you going to ask her to marry you?"

"I already did. I asked her last night as I was walking her back to her camp. She said yes."

I know I had to be grinning from ear to ear when I stuck out my hand to shake his.

"So, when is the big day?"

"We're not sure. We want to make sure the kids are all okay with it."

"You said you might need to trap a couple of more years before you had enough of a stake to start your ranch. I'd have to talk it over with the rest of our group, but we might be able to loan you what you need."

"I appreciate the offer, Jase, but I don't think we're going to need it. I have some money and Pris has some. I think we may have enough for what we need. I am thinking of something weird though. I'm thinking about going back east next spring or the one after that and getting a herd of cattle together."

"That might be interesting, Ab. It shouldn't be nearly as hard as being wagon master."

"Think about it, Jase. It might be a good way for you to increase your herd as well."

"I will, Ab. Can I tell the girls about you and Pris?"

"Pris wants to come around after supper and tell them herself. Is that okay with you?"

"Sure. Women are funny about things like that. We're gonna see a bunch of hugging and crying," I laughed.

"You can laugh now, but you'd better not laugh at them."

"Amen," I said.

When the wagons stopped for the day, Abby asked if she could go and play with her friends. "Honey, I don't think it's a good idea tonight. Tomorrow we'll be at Fort Hall and from then on you can play every night with them. Tonight, I'm afraid you might run into Mrs. Wattley again."

Mrs. Wattley must have scared Abby pretty badly because she didn't put up much of a fuss.

Ab was true to his word. He and Pris showed up right after we finished eating. Tess offered them some coffee and they both accepted.

After they had taken their first sips, Pris said, "Ab and I are getting married."

Millie, Tess and Lettie shrieked and ran to hug Pris. Ab and I just smiled and stood back to watch the show. After a while, Millie looked around at me and asked, "Why aren't you excited about this, Jase?"

I looked over at Ab and winked. "Oh, I am excited about it, Honey. I've been excited about it all afternoon."

"You've known about this and didn't tell us?"

"Of course. I didn't think you'd be interested."

Three women tackled me and I ended up on my back on the ground, trying to fight them off. Ab and Pris just stood back and laughed.

Our fun was cut short when Mrs. Wattley showed up. She marched over in front of Ab and said, "George Kent told us this evening that you are going to throw us off the train at Fort Hall. I'm not going to allow you to do that, Mr. Smith. We paid our money to be taken to Oregon and that's where you're going to take us."

"Paying your money didn't give you the right to say bad things about my future wife or about the Tacketts. It certainly didn't give you the right to terrorize a little girl."

"I'm just spreading God's word."

"Did God call my future wife a slut?"

"God told us of the behavior of a slut. God told us about what is to be done in a marriage. If you behave like a slut, then you are a slut. If you live with two women then you are a womanizer and an adulterer. If two women are living with one man then they are both whores."

I put my arms around both of my wives and held on to them. I saw John doing the same with Tess. "Mrs. Wattley, didn't King David have a lot of wives? Didn't Solomon? Can you show me anywhere in the Bible where it says a man can have only one wife or that a woman can have only one husband?" I asked.

"I will not discuss the bible with you Mr. Tackett. The Righteous do not discuss the holy word with heathens. By your own birth you are damned to hell. By the way you choose to live, you are double damned. God will punish you for your birth and for your actions."

"Mrs. Wattley, you will leave this wagon train at Fort Hall. I will not have you disrupting the entire train."

"We'll see about that, Mr. Smith. A lot of the people on this wagon train will support me. How many do you think will support Mr. Tackett?"

"When it comes right down to it, Mrs. Wattley, Jase only needs the support of one person, me."

"You know, Ab," I said after we had all calmed down a little after Mrs. Wattley had left. "Maybe it should be us that's leaving the wagon train. Obviously the way we've chosen to live is definitely causing you problems."

"I couldn't afford to have you leave the train, Jase. Number one, you are my scout. There's no one else I'd trust to do that. Number two, how many people do you think would be left with the train if you decided to leave?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you have two wagons yourself. I'm sure John and Tess would go with you. Then there are your parents and Millie's parents. Silas Johnson and Sam Stuart would almost for sure be going with you. You and Jacobs have a deal on cattle, so I'm pretty sure he'd follow you. You saved John Simpson's little girl, so I'll bet they'd be going with you. You have three young men working for you. I'll bet they'd follow you."

"Don't forget me," Pris said. "If Jase leaves, so do I. I'll just meet you in Oregon, Ab."

"You see, Jase. There's no way I could let you leave."

My heart felt as big as Kentucky as I sat there and thought about all of my friends and family.

July 1, 1845

It was only ten miles until we came to Fort Hall. The trading post had been here for six or seven years, so it was well established. We went straight on through to Fort Hall and took our nooning there.

It wasn't long after we had finished eating when Ab came by and asked all of us to come by his tent. He said Mrs. Wattley had called for a general meeting of the wagon train.

After everyone was gathered at Ab's tent, he got up and spoke. "The Wattley family has been asked to leave the wagon train at this point due to behavior that is upsetting several people. The Reverend Nathaniel Green has asked to speak to all of you in defense of the Wattleys."

The Reverend Green got up and walked up in front of the group. He was dressed in his parson's robes, which I thought was inappropriate. "Folks, I think we should start this gathering off with a prayer," he said and then he went into one of his long winded prayers.

He asked God to give everyone here the ability to see God's will and the courage to stand against authority to do what needed to be done. He asked God to show everyone what a fine, upstanding woman Mrs. Wattley was and to guide them in their judgement.

He asked God to bring down his wrath on the murderers and whoremongers and adulterers. He asked Got to smite the wicked heathens who disgraced this group of people. When he finally wound down, I think everyone there knew just exactly where he stood.

"Folks, there is an adulterer among us who I was unfortunate enough to join in matrimony. This person has disgraced himself and his wife by taking on a second wife. On top of that, he has driven one poor unfortunate soul insane with his stories of Indian attacks. He murdered another man over a dispute over the man calling him a heathen, which he most definitely is. He is half Indian and I am told that he and his family mock the bible and Gods word."

The Reverend paused to let all of this sink in. "This sinner is now causing the Wattleys, who are a good, God fearing family, to be expelled from this wagon train. Why is he doing this? Because Mrs. Wattley tried to teach a little girl God's word. This little girl is a ward of this evil man. She came to be his ward under very suspicious circumstances."

He paused again and Sam Stuart spoke up, "Reverend, who are you talking about here?" I know Sam knew exactly who the Reverend was talking about but he wanted it out in the open.

"I'm talking about Jase Tackett. He has done all of these things and more. It is my belief and I believe it is the will of God that Jase Tackett should be the one expelled from this wagon train. Before he goes, I believe his ward should be taken from them so she can be raised in God's way."

Before he could go any further, Sam broke in. "Just a damned minute here, Reverend. I'd like to address a couple of the things you're accusing him of. First off, my wife was married to Abe Wilkes when he went insane. She says he had been insane for some time before they even joined the wagon train, but he just didn't show it. It was Abe who accused Jase's family of making fun of the bible. My wife says this stemmed from him listening outside their wagon one morning and hearing Jase's wife and sister teasing each other over who had to get up and make breakfast."

"It is of no importance whether Mr. Wilkes had problems before he came on the wagon train. Jase Tackett is the one who drove him over the edge."

"Reverend," Pris said. "It was my husband who you are accusing Jase of murdering. I assume it was Mrs. Wattley who told you Jase did it because my husband called him a heathen. Just for your information, she accused me of giving Jase sexual favors so Jase would kill him. I think she should at least get her stories straight, don't you? Jase killed my husband only after Sam had damaged his water barrel, shot at him and killed one of his cattle. Jase was guarding his cattle when Sam came at him with a loaded gun and was preparing to blow Jase's head off. That's not murder. That's just defending yourself."