Chapter 15

August 19, 1847

As I lay there looking at Elizabeth's smoking pistol, I wondered what was going on. Until then I must have been in shock because I was only thinking about the shot. I heard a low noise behind me and turned around. There was a wolf laying not 5 feet behind me. He must have thought I was another animal about to steal his meal. At the same time I heard Elizabeth cry out, "Alex! Are you all right?" I started to shake in reaction.

For just a second, my mind had run wild, half believing that I was going to be executed to hide any knowledge of what I was teaching the women. I was glad that this was just that; a fantasy. It illustrated to me that I still had reservations about teaching the "group" unarmed combat. Troubled in my mind about my reaction I was slow in answering. Elizabeth gave a wail and the next thing I knew I had her clinging to me looking for some injury. She was bewildered when she didn't find any blood and started talking to me, "Alex, answer me! Are you all right"?

I managed to finally talk and after assuring her that I was still in one piece and uninjured, I got up and we field dressed the antelopes and put them behind the saddles to take back to the wagon train. I began to talk to her as we rode back, "Elizabeth, what exactly is the "group" planning to do with this knowledge of unarmed combat? Is it just going to be self-defense or are you planning something else?"

She gave me a strange look, "As far as I know we're only planning how to protect women from abuse."

"I guess I'm still rattled at how easily Louise killed that Indian this morning. It bothers me that the first use of what I am teaching led to a killing."

Elizabeth became annoyed at me, "Would you have rather had the Indian live and Louise die? You're just being silly now! Like you said she's just doing as she was trained, and by you, to do when she was attacked."

When she spoke like that I felt that I was overreacting to the events. It was just, I didn't know. Something about this whole thing bothered me at some level. I guess it was a matter of trust. I trusted my wives to use this training wisely, but I didn't even know what the "group" had as goals. I realized that equality might mean something different to them than it did to me.

Suddenly it hit me. That was it! I had been surprised by the different meaning that the people from this period gave to words before when I heard them talking to each other. I needed to know exactly what Corrie meant when she said equality. I wanted to know more members of this group so that I could judge their intentions. I didn't know if Corrie could do this but I was determined that come what may, I would learn more about the "group".

We returned to the wagon train where our hunting prowess was praised and the antelope was quickly cut up and prepared for dinner. I came near Corrie and spoke to her about my concerns. She agreed that we needed to talk and told me that she would ride in our wagon tomorrow and talk to me then.

I lay awake late that night with wild thoughts running through my mind. I imagined all sorts of possible events that became more and more outlandish as I lay there. Finally I realized that I was just being ridiculous and fell asleep, hoping that I would learn exactly what I needed.

August 20, 1847

After we got going the next morning Corrie began questioning me about what rights I thought women had. I had to admit that I didn't know.

Corrie asked, "What would you do if you couldn't own anything?"

"What do you mean?"

"What would you do if you couldn't own anything? If you couldn't buy property or own livestock or anything except the clothes on your back? When you die, everything you own goes to any son or if you had none, to some other male relative, regardless if your wife was living or how many daughters you had. If you had a son, he could be 5 years old and still inherit everything."

"I wouldn't stand for it."

"Then why should we?" she bluntly answered.

She then became more agitated; "We can't work in many jobs because they are reserved for men. We can't ask to divorce abusive husbands but they can get a divorce from us because we can't bear children. The law doesn't require that we receive an education and when we do get one, we're often taught to barely read, sign our name and simple arithmetic. That's what we want. The same things you would want in our circumstances."

"Settle down! I wasn't aware of half of this. But that's it? Nothing else?"

"Many other groups would argue for the abolition of slavery or of strong drink, since it causes so many problems, but everyone agrees about those."

I continued to walk by the wagon, thinking. I could agree to these goals but I worried about the other groups: how would they use the training? I decided that I needed to add some of the philosophy my sensei gave us before he would teach us anything. Still I wanted to meet some more of the women.

"Corrie, could you arrange to have me meet some of the other women so that we could talk?"

Corrie hesitated, "I don't know how their menfolk would react to that."

I forgot that doctors of this era never saw women except in the company of someone else, usually a male. I had to think about something they could do without causing outrage in the male population that would allow me to talk to them. "Do you think that any of the women would like to start doing Tai Chi with us?"

She gave me a questioning look, "Tai Chi?"

"You've seen us standing around moving slowly after dinner?"

"Yes, everyone's been wondering about that. We thought it was some kind of strange dancing."

"It's called Tai Chi and is a form of exercise that is also a basis for unarmed combat. It's the motions of the moves slowed down. By learning the movements in slow motion you start programming the moves into your reflexes."

She game me another look of puzzlement, "Programming?"

"That means that you learn it so that you react without thinking when you face a situation that your body recognizes."

Corrie just shook her head, " I don't understand and it doesn't really matter. If one of your wives would teach it, maybe. But with you teaching it?" She shook her head.

Then Louise spoke up, "How about a quilting bee?"

This time it was me who gave the questioning look.

"That's when a group of women get together to make a quilt. Most men wouldn't be caught dead around a quilting circle. You could pretend to be under the weather and stay in the wagon and talk to the women as they quilted outside."

I looked at Corrie and she nodded as she thought, "That could work. It'll have to wait until we have more time though. There's no time with us traveling every day."

I acquiesced to the superior female logic, "How about when we get to Oregon City, while we're waiting to file our claims?"

Corrie hesitated and then agreed, "That should be possible. We'll tell the men that we're making a quilt for Louise and her baby. Then she looked at Louise, "Since we were going to do that anyway, this is just a good excuse for the women to talk to Alex."

Then they began to talk about babies and raising children and other items about which I had little interest. That was fine with me since Corrie had given me a lot to think about. I had no idea that women had so few legal rights in this period. They were almost as badly off as slaves, who were regarded as property. I had wondered why their uncle had encouraged Claire and Elizabeth to go west by themselves. Now I realized that they hadn't owned their farm. By law it belonged to their uncle. He had been incredibly generous for a man of this period in outfitting them for their trip to Oregon.

As I was walking I realized that if I died there was nothing my wives could do by themselves. If I died the property would go to any son that was born or to the state if there were only girls. No matter how much work they put in to improve the property it would never belong to them. "That sucks!" I thought to myself.

We pulled into the circle that night and I walked around noticing how much work the women were doing. We men were busy taking care of the animals and repairing items that had broken on the trip or needed repair to avoid breaking. The women were preparing the meals for everyone, taking care of the children, getting water for the oxen and men, and setting up the meals for tomorrow. Some were cutting wood and others were preparing game that had been brought in by the men. Some men had only minor chores and some had a bit more, but the women were always busy even after walking the same distance as the men. Tonight when I go to bed I intend to show my wives how much I appreciate their help.

We have gone about 35 miles the last two days and should arrive at the Umatilla River tomorrow. Everybody is looking forward to having a ready source of water available. We will be following the foothills west until we hit the Columbia River.

August 21, 1847

We spent last night cuddling and kissing. Elizabeth wanted to cuddle tonight after we went to bed. After that we simply slept.

We began by crossing the Umatilla River today without any problems. The river is about 30 feet wide and perhaps knee deep at the midpoint. The landscape is a desolate one with nothing to distinguish one spot from another. We have made good time today, traveling about 20 miles altogether.

We made a dry camp tonight but expect to reach another crossing at Butter Creek by the time we camp tomorrow. We tried the trick with the red bandanna again today but it didn't work. I hope someone has better luck than we did.

Made love to Louise tonight. She had me feel her stomach and I think I felt a flutter. She got so excited that she had the other women try to feel it as well. I ended up giving her a lashing with my tongue and fingers while Claire gave me a blowjob. Elizabeth was tired and just watched tonight.

August 22-23, 1847

We have been going through some of the most uninteresting country I have seen since the desert. Literally nothing to write about! We crossed several streams and have continued our journey. The guide has promised us a sight tomorrow, though. We are supposed to reach Emigrant Hill where we are promised a sight of Mount Hood, our last obstacle before we reach Oregon City.

I have continued the lessons in Krav Magen and Tai Chi for my wives and have added the idea that unarmed combat skills should only be used for self-protection, never for an aggressive purpose. I hope this attitude becomes part of the training. It will reduce the uneasiness I still feel at times about doing this.

August 24, 1847

We took a short time to gaze at the snow-covered peak of Mount Hood. It is an awesome sight. The last crossing over Butter Creek is visible and we should be arriving at the Columbia River in two days. Then we will follow a slow but good road to The Dalles. Everyone will be glad to get out of this depressing landscape.

I am worried about Elizabeth. She doesn't seem to be enjoying herself for the last couple of days. She has stopped throwing up and is showing no signs of discomfort, but seems to be a little depressed. She is showing less interest in things and is taking less care of her appearance. Claire also agrees that she is not acting like the 'old' Elizabeth. I will attempt to talk to her tonight.

After we stopped for the night I asked Elizabeth to walk with me.

"Elizabeth, is something bothering you?"

"Nothing is bothering me! Leave me alone!"

We walked a bit longer and I found a rock and pulling Elizabeth toward me sat her in my lap. I just held her and after a while she began to speak, "I wish we could do this more often. We seem to be busy all the time and never have time to just hold each other except in bed."

"It won't be long before we get to our claim. Then we'll have more time to just relax together."

"Will we? Or will we get involved in something else? We can't save the world by ourselves!"

I continued to hold her, "I don't want to save the world. Just Oregon." I paused and hugged her tighter. "Most of all, I want to save us as a family."