Chapter 47

Sam:

Ed and I held on to each other until I saw the jury coming back. "They're coming back already," I whispered.

Ed hugged me tightly, then went back over to where he had been sitting. When the jury was seated again, he asked, "Have you gentlemen reached a decision?"

"Yes, we have, Ed," Jacob Caldwell said. "We all think the bastard is guilty."

"Do you all agree with that?" Ed asked.

Every man on the jury nodded his head. I could see Ed let out a big sigh, then he said, "Mose Harter, you have been found guilty of murdering your son and beating your wife and kids. I hereby sentence you to death by hanging. Sentence will be carried out immediately."

Harter started screaming curses at everyone and jumped to his feet. Andy and two other guys forced him back down. "Mr. Harter," I heard Andy say, "If you believe in God, I'd suggest you pray for forgiveness right now."

The men tied Harter's hands behind his back and got him on a horse. Andy and the six men from the jury took off back the way we had come, leading the horse Harter was on.

Andy told us later that they had found a cottonwood tree with a limb the right height for hanging. Someone had fashioned a hangman's knot in one end of a rope. They threw the rope up over the limb and put the noose around Harter's neck. They tied the other end of the rope off and then one of the men slapped the horse on the rump and Mose Harter came to his end. Andy said that Harter was cursing at them until the rope broke his neck. They just left him hanging there.

Ed was having a hard time of it from having to condemn a man to death. All of his wives, along with Sally and Tina and even Su Li tried to help him through it that afternoon. One or more of us were close to him at all times and we did a lot of hugging and cuddling.

Sunday, May 14, 1848

Ed: Day 12 - On the Oregon Trail

It felt good to be moving again after two days in one place and all that had gone on. We got Effie and Grace into the coach this morning. They seemed to be grateful. Effie was very subdued, but Grace seemed to shake off the fact that her father had been hanged.

Sam and Delia did a lot of talking with Effie and Grace during the day and toward evening, I noticed that Effie seemed to be doing a little better.

We reached the Big Blue River in the afternoon and started following it to the west. We only made about ten miles for the day, but that was a lot better than we made the two previous days.

Mina and Maddie insisted that the Harter family eat with us until Effie was back on her feet. That made five more people they had to cook for, but they didn't seem to mind that. Thelma Harter was fourteen and Corrine was twelve. Grace tried to do what she could to help, one handed and the two younger girls pitched in with enthusiasm.

I sat and talked with Effie for a few minutes while the women fixed dinner. "Effie, I am very sorry for what we had to do to Mose," I said. "We just didn't see that we had any choice."

"I've been thinking about it a lot," Effie said. She was a lot more composed than she had been this morning. "We couldn't have stayed with him anyway after what he did to us. Bobby was a fine young man. He was a hard worker and as honest as the day is long. We're all going to miss him."

"I know it has to be hard to lose a child and it has to be even worse to lose your first born."

"That it is, Ed. I hope you never have to find out."

Mrs. Hankins came around that evening, followed by her ever faithful Clell. I wondered what she had to complain about this time, but she kind of surprised me. "Mr. Hill," she said, "I don't suppose there's any way I could get you to consider not traveling on Sundays, is there?"

It wasn't her question so much as her tone when she asked it that was different. Before, she had been demanding, now she was asking as if it would be a favor to her. "Ma'am, I don't think we have a choice this week but to keep moving. We lost two days this week because of Mose Harter. We need to make some of that time up. If we do well this week, I'll talk to Mark Lester about laying over next Sunday though."

The woman actually smiled. "We would appreciate that, Mr. Hill."

They left as abruptly as they had showed up.

Tuesday, May 16, 1848

Ed: Day 13 - On the Oregon Trail

I watched Effie and Grace at breakfast and I could tell they were still grieving for Bobby and maybe even for Mose. I knew it was going to be rough on them for a while, so I vowed we'd do all we could for them without intruding.

Katie and Cassie took a break from working the cattle today and they rode with me for most of the day. It was almost like our trips to Boston and St Jo. I had definitely been missing them.

"So, how is the cattle herding coming?" I asked them.

"We've got a lot more people than we need to do the job," Cassie said.

"Sure and it's almost like just riding beside the wagons," Katie informed me. "We probably don't need half of the men we've got working for us."

"I was thinking about that myself," I grinned. "It seems to me like we only need a couple of men in the front, a couple in the back, and a couple on each side."

"Yeah, that'd be eight men. We've got Billy, Zeb, Jeb, Jud, Stu, and Rawhide who are with the cattle every day. That only leaves two places to cover. Then we have eleven wagons to be driven. Jason should learn to drive one of them so he's of some use to us."

"Okay, that still leaves ten men plus a cook. What if we had trouble with the herd? We'd need more people helping then."

"Well, there's me, Cassie, you, Andy, Angie, Sarah Beth, Delia, and Dalia," Katie said. "That should be plenty even if we were having trouble with the herd," Kate said.

"Yeah, but we can't just let these men go out here in the middle of nowhere," I said.

"Well, we've heard four or five of the men talking that they'd like to do some trapping up in the Dakota country," Cassie said. "Maybe we should tell them they can take off if they'd like when they get to a good place for them."

"That makes sense. We'll talk it over with Andy, Stu, and Rawhide."

Tina joined us for a while right after lunch. She is a very interesting and a very competent young lady. Today, Cassie and Kate started teasing her almost as soon as she joined us. The main thrust of their teasing had to do with her either joining our family or finding herself a boyfriend. It is interesting to see Tina blush.

I talked with Andy, Rawhide, Stu and Mark Lester after dinner. All of them agreed that we had far too many men. "So, where would be the best place we could let them go?" I asked Mark.

"Well, just about anywhere they want to do it," Mark said. "Fort Kearney would probably be the best for them though."

"Well, we're not going to force anyone to leave," I said. "Rawhide, you and Stu should talk with the men and let them know we wouldn't hold it against them if any of them want to leave at Fort Kearney. Tell them we'd just like to know which ones are leaving as soon as possible, so we can make plans."

I actually felt better after the meeting, knowing we were going to get our group down to a more manageable size. This would also give us more provisions for the trip and for our first winter in Oregon.

Wednesday, May 17, 1848

Ed: Day 14 - On the Oregon Trail

Mark says we made almost eighteen miles yesterday and that sometime today we'll start heading more west than north. I know we just got started on this leg of our trip, but it seems like we've been traveling forever. To be honest, I'm getting tired of travel and tired of the problems everyone seems to have.

We're still following along the Big Blue River and the weather is getting warmer, so I wasn't surprised when Sam decided this evening that it was time for a communal bath. First, I saw her talking with our wives, then she talked with Sally and Tina. Cassie went over to talk to Andy, Sarah Beth and Dalia, while Sam talked to Stu and Angie. I saw Cassie talking with Rawhide and Maddie, then Sam went to Effie and Grace.

Finally they came over to where I was sitting and pulled me to my feet. "What's going on?" I asked.

"Bath time," Sam said.

I gave them a grin and asked, "All of the people you were talking to?"

Sam giggled and said, "Effie says she won't come with us, but Grace is coming. I talked to Wanda Caldwell a while ago and she said she and Jake and their four kids will be joining us."

"My God! We'll fill up the whole river."

"That's the idea," Sam grinned.

Okay, so it was fun. We went back downstream from the camp about a quarter of a mile. Rawhide and Stu laid down the law to the men about spying on us, so I didn't figure we had any worries from that.

Sam found us a nice spot with a shallow pool and a grassy bank. The kids were fun to watch, especially Tommy. His eyes were as big as silver dollars as he watched the women get undressed.

Maddie is a lot of fun at any time. She had us cracking up as she undressed. "You know, I don't mind swimming in the buff," she said. "The problem is that my old buff has been buffeted so much over the years that it looks like thirty miles of bad road."

"It sure looks fine to me," Rawhide grinned. "Now, Sam, over there, could stand to put on a little weight."

"Why you old fart," Sam said in mock anger. "You're one to talk with that shriveled up old body of yours. It's no wonder they call you Rawhide."

"Now, listen here, youngun. You can't go talking to my husband like that," Maddie teased. She had long been aware of the affection Sam and Rawhide felt for each other.

"Awh, honey, she just doesn't know handsome when she sees it," Rawhide said. Of course all of us cracked up at that too.

Wanda and Jake seemed to fit right in with the rest of our group. They teased and played as much as the rest of us did. Their kids were well behaved and the boys were a lot less impressed by all of the naked female flesh than Tommy was.