Chapter 12

July 31, 1847

We departed from Fort Boise today after crossing the Snake River again. We have been warned to be careful as we are going through the area claimed by the Bannock tribe. They will shoot at men who are separated from the main party or steal any livestock they can get. We are beginning run into problems with forage for the cattle. After leaving Fort Boise we have started to enter an arid landscape again. The only forage available was along the banks of the many small streams that flowed through the area. Game is beginning to disappear from our lane of travel and the wagon captain has forbidden anyone from hunting out of rifle shot of the wagon train.

We are still in a valley covered with sage and bunch grass with occasional juniper trees. We will be following the Snake River for today then enter the mountains following the Burnt River until we get to the Grande Ronde Valley. We must have gone 15 miles today and I have seen no game other than large rabbits. We have been reduced to boiling dried meat and flour for dinner tonight. We camped a little early today to allow the cattle to graze before dark as we plan to keep them inside the circle of the wagon train. We will be setting a double night guard until we get out of the valley.

Louise seems a lot happier today. She has begun to smile and asked me to feel her stomach to see if I could tell she's pregnant. I have to say she doesn't look pregnant to me, but only time will tell. Claire has discovered that pregnancy has it's own pitfalls. She suffers from morning sickness and is unable to keep anything down until she has thrown up at least once. Elizabeth still hasn't had her period and I'm beginning to be sure she's pregnant too. I'm glad we only have about 400 miles to go to get to Oregon City.

Today was Louise's turn for sex but she asked if she could have Claire and Elizabeth make love to her while I only watched. I felt rejected until I realized that she would not want any man to touch her sexually for a while. I watched as they made love to each other. First Elizabeth took the top half and began messaging Louise around the neck and shoulders while Claire began at her feet massaging her legs. Moving slowly they met in the middle and continued to the opposite end of her body. I was watching to get ideas and noticed that they avoided any sexual foreplay until Louise turned over on her back. Clair then began kissing Louise starting at her ears and lingering around her neck until she gave her a full contact kiss on the lips. At the same time Elizabeth was kissing Louise on the inner thighs avoiding the mons. Glancing at each other, they began to kiss Louise's breasts and her labia while using a free hand to touch each other's clits. Using the side of her tongue, Elizabeth went sideways in Louise's lips hitting the clit on each swing, while Claire began to kiss Louise using her tongue to try and touch her tonsils while massaging her breasts. It didn't take long before Louise began to stiffen and she began emitting soft grunts every time Elizabeth hit her clit. Elizabeth started to push her tongue into Louise and she began orgasming. By this time I was so hard that you could have used my dick to drive nails. After Louise started coming down, Elizabeth sucked in her clit and Louise had another orgasm. I lost count after a while but there were a lot. Finally Louise dropped off to sleep with a well-fucked look on her face. Claire and Elizabeth then turned their attention on me and Elizabeth gave me perhaps the best blowjob I ever had, while I ate out Claire. Altogether, we didn't get a lot of sleep that night but I never regretted it.

August 1, 1847

We began going into the mountains today following the Burnt River toward the Grande Ronde Valley. I can see how it got the name. Frequent fires blacken the entire area and the hillsides consist mostly of dark rock. I don't think I have ever seen such a bad trail in my life. We are either in the streambed or on slopes so steep that Louise and I had to hold on to the upslope side to keep the wagon from sliding down. We did have one wagon slide down and end up half in the river. It took most of the men and two teams of oxen to drag it back up to the trail. I think that all together we may have made 6 miles today. I'm beginning to wonder if I was so smart to buy the cattle now after all, as they have been a great problem to keep gathered. Unless we manage to find game soon we will have to butcher a beef for provisions.

I have already treated three men for sprains and one boy for a broken arm today. One of the horses was also shot with an arrow. The guide told us we should just shoot it because the arrow was probably poisoned. The owner refused and is trying to treat the animal. He wanted me to do it and I had to tell him I had no idea how to treat a poisoned horse. I told him, if he wanted to try it, to cut the wound and cauterize it, but I wouldn't guarantee success. I tried something new today for a cast on the boy's arm. I used a flour water glue to soak the cloths I used and then wrapped it in a wooden covering. I hope this will last long enough for the arm to heal.

We have looked for a wide enough place to form our circle for tonight and we finally found one in a little side valley. There is no forage for the cattle so we have sent off a party of 15 men and older boys to herd the cattle to feed around the streambeds. We are going to need to get either some game or kill a beef tomorrow. We are down to only beans and bread today. That is not enough to live on with the physical labor that we are doing every day. I just hope tomorrow is better.

I'm just too tired to do anything tonight and the women are equally tired. I hope we have a better trail tomorrow or we may not make it through these hills.

August 2, 1847

We just slept last night and got up this morning to find one of the horses down. When we looked it was the horse that had been shot with the arrow yesterday. His heartbeat was rapid and he was having trouble breathing. I asked to see the arrow and the owner told me he had burnt it. I hoped that would be the last of it but I was afraid it wouldn't be. I just hope no person gets shot. After we gathered for our morning meeting at the central fire, it was decided that a beef would have to be butchered. I offered one of the beef animals I had bought at Fort Boise. It was decided that one animal every two days would be butchered until we were able to find game safely. After we got to Oregon City the ones donating the animals would be paid for them if possible.

We got off to a late start today and rapidly began to run into much of the same trail as yesterday. As we began to go past the entrance of the valley, an arrow flew from the hillside above and hit the wagon next to Elizabeth. I ran up the hill and saw a movement. Drawing my pistol, I shot and saw the figure fall. Looking around I reached it and found a young boy about 12 years old crumpled around a bow. Looking around I noticed a quiver of arrows nearby. I touched the boy and felt a heartbeat. I didn't know what to do. The other men came around and advised me to kill the boy. I was tempted but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

Cursing to myself, I picked the boy up and took him to the wagon. Time to cure another stray. "Damn it! When will I learn?" I muttered to myself.

I entered the wagon and picked up the sterilized scalpels I had made at Fort Bridger. Using an iron probe I searched for the ball. After finding it I reached in with a long nose pair of pliers and tried to grasp it. It took a half hour but I finally managed to pull it out. Reaching in again I felt around and found a small piece of buckskin in the wound. Cutting the ragged skin around the wound, I got the "whiskey" out and poured a generous amount into the wound. I bandaged it and told Louise to watch him and let me know if he moved. I gave her my pistol and told her to use if she needed to.

We traveled a mile over trails similar to the ones we were on yesterday and finally reached a small valley that ran beside the Burnt River. We began to move at a better speed and managed to make 15 miles by the end of the day. We found a wide spot and managed to form our circle. Again there wasn't enough forage at the place we stopped at so the cattle were herded to graze in nearby streambeds. One of the beef heifers was butchered and we shared the meat with the entire wagon train. I checked my patient and found him to be breathing, but running a slight fever. I got out my concentrated willow bark tea and gave him some.

He choked when he swallowed and woke up. He kept still and the only thing I saw that moved was his eyes. I gave him some more and he drank it reluctantly. Pulling his hand I led him out of the wagon and brought him to the main fire. I offered him a piece of steak He sniffed it but wouldn't touch it until I cut a piece and ate it. He rapidly ate the rest and continued to stuff himself until his stomach started to bulge. While he was eating the guide tried to talk to him using all the languages that he knew. Finally he tried sign language and for the first time the boy showed signs of understanding.

We learned that he was a member of the Bannock tribe and he was out hunting when he saw us. Since we were not members of his tribe, he felt perfectly within his rights to kill us for trespassing. The guide tried to get him to agree to let us pay a bribe to pass through without any further problems, but the boy acted like he didn't understand. He seemed to feel contempt for me because I treated him. When asked what would happen when he was released he said that he would tell his tribe about us.

We moved away from him and talked about what to do. The guide warned us that his grasp of sign language was not that good and he may have misinterpreted what the boy meant. Several of the men wanted to kill him, while others wanted to take him with us until we reached the Grande Ronde Valley. I asked who wanted the job of killing him and was met by silence. I offered to keep him for the night but told them that if they wanted to keep him longer they needed to make other arrangements because I wasn't going to do it. After further arguments it was decided that no one wanted the responsibility for him. We would keep him for the next day and release him before we stopped for the night.

Several people were upset that I had bothered to treat the boy and I was told that if I wanted to heal the Indians that I could do so without them. I told them I followed the Golden Rule. I promised however, that I would not pick up any more strays for the rest of the journey.

Later that night the boy developed a fever and lost consciousness. I checked his wound. It had become red and inflamed and pus was oozing out. I feared that I had left something inside. Reluctantly I asked Louise to hold up a lantern and began to probe for anything in the wound. I no sooner broke the scab when I saw the edge of something. Using the long nose pliers I grabbed the edge of the wound and pulled out another piece of rawhide. Using a probe I felt inside, but found nothing else. I rewashed the wound with whiskey and rebound it.

We spent the rest of the night taking turns bathing him to keep his fever down. By dawn his fever broke and he fell into a natural sleep.

August 2, 1847

We lost several cattle today from arrow shots. The outriders never did see anything but every so often an arrow would come from the hillside and strike something. The wagon captain has denied permission by several men to go further than rifle shot to scout. They have argued that they can protect themselves, but he remained unmoved. We delayed long enough to butcher the fallen animals then left.

Luckily, the trail has remained fairly level and we have managed to make good progress on our journey. It is uphill most of the way with a good trail except for some spots where rock requires us to go around the stream bed and up on the steep hillside. I am worried about some of the wagons. They are having a great deal of trouble on these steep hillsides and we may have to change a wheel on two of them after we stop. That is a real chore! It requires that we unload the wagon completely and jack up one side until a new wheel is put on. It takes a group of men at least an hour to do it. After a hard day on the trail that is something no one looks forward to.

We seem to be finally nearing the crest and should reaching it soon. After that the trip should be easier on everyone. The tribes of the Grande Ronde are friendly and we should be able to trade with them. The guide says there is plenty of forage and water available after we reach the valley.