Chapter 37

The man dismounted and started looking at the hoof of one of the mules pulling the wagon. We walked over to where we could hear him mumbling about dad blamed mules anyway.

"Howdy," I said as we walked up. "I'm Ed Hill. Are you having problems?"

"Howdy, I'm Mort Stern. Yeah, this dad blamed mule has messed up his right front leg. I don't know what happened, but I'm afraid he's gonna have to be put out to pasture for a while."

"That's a shame. They probably have mules here you can buy though."

"Yeah, the only problem is I have all of my money tied up in trade goods." The man brightened a little and asked, "Say, I couldn't interest you folks in a rifle or a shotgun, could I?"

I had to smile. We had just been talking about guns. "You might, if they're good quality," I said.

"The best quality you'll ever see," Mort said. "I'm on my way to the fur trappers' rendevous. They won't buy if the guns aren't the best."

"Show us what you've got then," I said and pulled Tina up beside me. "We're interested in a rifle, a shotgun and a revolver."

Mort had a mile wide smile as he started taking the tarpaulin he had over his wagon loose. "Let's look at the rifles first," Mort said. He pulled out three different rifles. The first was a typical woodsman's rifle. It was a .45 caliber and had a walnut stock with iron butt plate. It was a serviceable weapon and was very popular with trappers.

The second rifle he pulled out was shorter and heavier. It was a .56 caliber and would have been excellent for buffalo. The third one caught Tina's eye. A .40 caliber Pennsylvania Rifle, it had a curly maple stock with an inlaid silver patchbox and silver cheek piece. The lock had a scroll design inlaid into the silver.

"You like this one?" I asked Tina.

"I like it, but it's much too fancy. It'd cost a fortune."

"Could we try this one out?" I asked Mort.

"Sure," he said. "Let me get out the fixings."

As Mort was getting out a patch, ball, and powder, I walked off fifty paces and put a mark in the dirt. I looked around for something to shoot at. Nothing was apparent, then I saw some small gourds, about an inch and a half in diameter, sitting along the front of the ordinary. I picked up one and set it on my mark.

"Is that too small?" I asked Tina when I got back to where Mort was loading the rifle.

"Not if it's a good rifle," Tina said.

Mort handed the rifle to Tina and she hefted it. "The weight's not bad," she said. She raised it to a firing position and said, "The balance is good."

She aimed at the gourd and squeezed the trigger. The gourd exploded into a thousand pieces. "Not bad," Tina said. She started to hand the rifle back to Mort, but I stopped her.

"How much?" I asked him.

"Forty dollars. The bullet mold is extra."

"I'll give you forty for the rifle, the mold, and a thousand caps," I said.

"Make it a hundred caps and you have a deal," he said.

I nodded and asked, "How about a revolver and a shotgun?"

"I've got two types of revolver," he said. "I have a Paterson Colt in a .36 caliber and I have the new Colt Walker in a .45 caliber."

"Can we see them both?" I asked. I had a Paterson myself, so I knew what they looked like, but I wanted to make sure the one he was selling wasn't something that had been damaged.

He brought both of them out and I knew immediately we'd want to stick with the Paterson. The Walker was a nice looking weapon, but it weighed about four and a half pounds. Much too heavy for Tina.

We also selected a shotgun. We got a bag of shot, black powder, and caps for all of the weapons. By the time we were finished, I had to pay the man almost eighty dollars. Mort was happy and Tina was ecstatic over her new rifle.

.oO~Oo. Tina thanked me a million times that evening for the rifle and for the shotgun and the revolver. She vowed she'd do all of our hunting until we got to St Jo.

Sam: Day 33 of the Dayton to St Joseph trip

It was still raining when we got up, so we ate some jerky and got moving again. It rained all morning and it was the middle of the afternoon before it quit. Andy came by and said there wasn't any use in stopping yet, because there wasn't any dry wood for a cook fire.

We only made around fifteen miles for the day, but Andy somehow managed to find enough dry wood that we could have a hot meal for supper. I think it was the best I'd ever eaten.

Saturday, April 8, 1848

Ed: Day 20 of the Boston to St Joseph trip

We followed a road for a ways after leaving the ordinary this morning. But after a while it turned northwest and headed back into the hills surrounding the lake, so we set out across country. We hit another east-west road by the middle of the afternoon.

As we were riding along, Tina asked, "So, what are Sam and Delia like?"

Cassie spoke up while I was trying to frame my answer, "Sam is the kindest, most loving person I have ever met. She's also as brave as a mountain lion and as fierce as a mama bear protecting her cub. She and Ed fit together like two peas in a pod."

"Sam is a planner and a doer," Kate said. "She likes to figure out how something should be done, then she goes ahead and does whatever it takes to make it happen. We have some good men who are part of our family, but I'd bet you any amount of money you'd care to wager that Sam is the one in charge while they're waiting for us."

"When I met Sam, I didn't know if she was a boy or a girl. Her step-father had mistreated her and she was afraid he was going to rape her. She was living in a park, eating things other people had thrown away. I was in a bad way myself. I was thinking my life had ended. Although Sam's situation was much worse than mine, she helped me to get back on my feet. I love her with all of my heart," I said.

"But you love Cassie and Kate and Delia too," Tina said. "I can see that from how you treat Cassie and Kate."

"Yes, I do. I had been taught all my life that you can only love one person. I believed that," I said, then I looked at Cassie and smiled. "Then I met Cassie. Cassie was in pretty much the same situation as Sam had been, only with her, it was a stepmother that was the problem. Before we even met Cassie, Sam said we should try to help her."

Cassie giggled and said, "I was a mess. I had been on my own for a couple of months. I was kind of watching Sam and Ed from a distance. I was hoping they'd leave something on the bench they were sitting on, then Ed got up and left. Sam started talking loud enough for me to hear. She was talking about how she had been living in a park, but that things were much better for her now. I just had to come out of the bushes and talk to her."

"What happened then?" Tina asked.

"We talked until Ed came back with a bunch of bags. I started to leave, but Sam said they had bought me a meal. God! What a meal! There was a big steak, a large salad, a baked potato, and cheese cake. When I had finished eating, Sam asked if I'd like to come back to the inn they were staying in and get cleaned up. The next morning, Sam asked me if I'd like to go with them."

"Weren't you afraid of going off with a couple you had just met?" Tina asked.

"Tina, you spent one evening with us, then when your mom and dad were killed, you traveled almost a hundred miles to meet up with us. There's just something about Ed and Sam too that makes people trust them."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. You said Delia had been a slave. How did you come to buy her?"

I explained to her about the auction and what we had seen. I went on to tell her about buying Jud, Mina, Delia and Dalia. "Being a slave is a very hard thing. It takes away a person's self respect. It was much harder on Jud than it was on Mina and the girls. Jud is only around thirty-five years old, but no one at the slave auction thought he'd live more than five more years. He had been worked hard all of his life and if he slowed down, they'd whip him."

"Jud has come a long way," Cassie said. "All four of them have. Delia is our treasure. We're so proud of her we could just burst. When they first came to live with us, none of them would even think of making a decision for themselves. Now, they contribute to the family discussions and help make decisions for all of us."

"None of them could read or write," I said. "Now, Delia and Dalia can read and write as well as any of us. They've also started making their own decisions."

"Delia is a big tease too," Kate said. "These guys tell me she never even smiled when she was a slave. Now, she'll pull some tease on one of us and she'll giggle like the rest of us. We all love her."

"From the way it sounds, you all love each other," Tina said. "I think that is great. That's the way mom and dad were. They were always teasing each other and always touching each other. It might be just a touch on the cheek, but you could just see the love that was there between them."

We found a nice ordinary where we could spend the night and we dined on roast pork with all of the trimmings. We managed to crowd four people into the same bed again.

Sam: Day 34 of the Dayton to St Joseph trip

We had a much nicer day for traveling today. The sun was shining and things were starting to dry out. We didn't have any major creeks to cross today. The little creeks were bank full, but none of then were deeper than the axles on our wagons, so we didn't have any problem with them.

The Wagoner boys say we're only a couple of days from St Joseph. I must admit I'm anxious to get there.

Sunday, April 9, 1848

Ed: Day 21 of the Boston to St Joseph trip

It was a wonderful day for travel, but if it hadn't been for the conversation of the three lovely women with me, it would have been a boring day as well. The land was as flat as a table. The weather was nice and warm enough we didn't even need coats.

Tina asked about the other members of our extended family, so Cassie and Tina spent most of the day telling her about them.

I'd say we traveled thirty-five or thirty-six miles before we pulled in at an ordinary for the night. I know we have to have come at least half way from Boston to St Joseph. I can't wait to get there. I really miss Sam and Delia and I can't wait to get to know my daughter.

Sam: Day 35 of the Dayton to St Joseph trip

Becky was fretful today, so I spent the entire day in the coach. It was trying for Delia and me both.

Monday, April 10, 1848

Ed: Day 22 of the Boston to St Joseph trip

We had a great breakfast before we took off this morning and the serving girl packed us a nice lunch. From there, the day went downhill. Nothing bad happened, it was just boring. I think everyone had talked themselves out over the last few days, so even that was absent.

We had to cross three good sized creeks today, but none of them were flooded, so there wasn't even any excitement there. The only good point of the day was that the tavern keeper where we spent the night said we were only one long day's travel from Fort Wayne.

Sam: Day 36 of the Dayton to St Joseph trip

St Joseph, Missouri! We made it! Nothing ever felt so good. We made a permanent camp on the north side of town, just where the Missouri River makes a swing to the west.

Stu had to take the cattle a couple of miles farther up the river to where he could find enough open range for the cattle to graze for the next few weeks. The Wagoner boys and the Whites and Vencilles stayed with the wagons, but the rest of the men set up another camp close to the cattle.

We didn't get much else done, except getting the camp set up. Mina and Maddy made us a wonderful supper and we all relaxed for the first time in over a month.

Tuesday, April 11, 1848