Wagons Ho The Early YearsChapter 16
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We found the place where we'd been looking at the stuff for Millie and went in. The proprietor remembered us from the day before and he helped us stack up our purchases on the counter.
Millie and Tess did most of the selecting but did ask my opinion on a few things. They bought a coffee grinder and coffee pot, two iron skillets, a Dutch oven, two sizes of kettles, a couple of butcher knives, tin table settings, eating utensils, things like big spoons and flap jack turners, two buckets, a wash tub and a washboard, some bread pans, and five dozen candles.
While they were gathering all of this up, I asked the store keeper if he had the china dishes ready and he told me he did. He put them in the bottom of the washtub and we set some other things in on top of them.
Everything ended up costing a lot more than what Millie had originally estimated, but I didn't mind at all. Getting everything packed on Jughead was another problem. We were all pretty good at packing mules though, so we finally got everything fixed so Jughead could carry them and so that nothing would spook him.
When we got back to camp I told Millie she should get her mother so she could show her what she'd bought. Of course Tess ran off with her. I pulled the china dishes out and took them over to mom. "Mom, would you hide these in our wagon for me?" I asked.
"Present?" she asked.
"Yep."
She smiled and took the dishes away. The girls brought Sally over and started excitedly showing her everything we'd gotten. "You need a butter churn, Girl," Sally said. She came up with a few other things before she was through. I told Millie we'd go back and get them tomorrow, after I made a hunt.
Pap, Caleb, and Si were talking to a young man over by Caleb's wagon, so I wandered over to see what was going on. They introduced me to Jonathan Ware. Jonathan looked to be around twenty years old. He said he was wanting to go to Oregon, but all he had were a few traps, his rifle and single shot pistol, and a couple of horses.
"I'd be willing to work for anyone, or drive a wagon or anything else. All I'd want in return is my board."
We all talked for a few minutes and I found myself really liking this guy. He had a way about him that just said he was honest and a hard worker. He wanted to go to Oregon to do some trapping and build himself up a stake.
I motioned for Caleb to follow me and we went over toward the farm wagon. "He seems like a nice guy, Caleb," I said.
"Yeah, I'm thinking about asking him to drive our wagon. I think we have enough extra to feed him on the trip and he would be a big help. Besides, it'd get me off that damned wagon seat."
I had to laugh at that. Even sitting on a cushion, Caleb hated riding on the wagon. "He'd be a big help if we have any Indian problems too."
"I'm gonna talk to Sally about it right now," Caleb said.
"If there's any supplies you need, just let me know, Caleb. Millie and I will buy them for you."
"Thank you, Jase. I might have to take you up on that. If I do, you'll be paid back when we get to Oregon."
I just nodded.
Tess and Millie decided they'd like to start cooking for the three of us, using our new things. I asked them how that was going to be fair, since there were two of us from one family and one from the other.
"We talked it over with our moms," Millie told me. "We'll get the food to cook from my mom one night and from yours the next two. That makes it fair and it makes us more like a family."
I knew Tess was a good cook and now I found out that Millie is just as good. I really kind of enjoyed sitting around our own campfire, eating our own meal. Somehow, it made us feel closer.
March 18, 1845
I got up before daylight the next morning and got ready to go hunting. John (Jonathan) had told me the night before that he'd had some luck about five miles north of where we were camping, so I decided to head in that direction.
I was a little surprised when Millie and Tess saddled their horses to go with me. I didn't even try to argue them out of it. We came out on top of a little hill near where John said he'd hunted, and I saw some wooded areas and some meadows below us. I told the girls to wait there with the horses and to bring them down when they heard a shot.
I went down the hill, then stayed in the edge of the wooded areas as I worked my way around the meadows. I was probably a quarter mile away from the girls when I saw a big buck about a hundred yards ahead of me. I'd have liked to have worked my way closer, but with the wind the way it was and being in unfamiliar territory, I decided to take the shot from where I was standing.
The buck was standing sideways to me and was cropping on some grass. I took a rest against a tree and lined up on him. I gently squeezed the trigger. He went down and never even moved.
I reloaded my rifle and walked over to where he laid. He was a fine big buck and I knew he was going to be some good eating. I bled him then gutted him and removed his scent glands, then I sat back and waited for the girls.
With Millie and Tess helping to lift the buck onto Jughead, it wasn't long before we were headed back toward camp. When we got there we turned him over to mom for butchering.
We decided to wait until after our nooning to go into town and I'm glad we did. Captain Abner Smith showed up just as we were starting to eat. Caleb asked him to join us and he did.
Smith told us he wanted to get rolling west within the next few days because he wanted to spend the winter trapping in the Columbia River area. "We have 27 families right now, which would make the cost at just over seven dollars per family," he said. "Everyone I've talked to says they can come up with that much."
We agreed we could too. "It's March 19th now. Would you folks be ready if we left on the 22nd?"
Pap told him we were ready today and he said some of the other families needed to pick up some stuff before they'd be ready. He seemed to know what he was doing and he knew the route. I was sure we were going to be satisfied with him as our guide.
Smith left right after we finished eating, so I told Caleb I'd like to take his farm wagon into town and pick up a few things. He agreed, so we hitched up the wagon and headed into town.
We ended up buying the butter churn and the other things Sally said we needed, and then bought a barrel of pickles and a hundred pounds of onions. We added to that a couple of guidebooks that told of the route to Oregon and the rivers we'd have to cross.
We also spent a little time just going through the shops in the area. We didn't buy anything, but we knew this was the last big city we'd be in for years to come. We didn't get back to camp until just before supper time.
March 19, 1845
The next two days went by quickly. We were busy making sure everything was just right with the wagons and with the animals. Si had been a blacksmith, and he checked the shoes of the horses and the oxen. Caleb and I greased all of the axles of the wagons and touched them up with tar where they needed it.
We were to leave on Wednesday, so I went hunting again the day before we left. I brought back another deer.
March 22, 1845
Captain Smith wanted to get an early start on Wednesday, March 22, 1845, but it wasn't to be. Our wagons and animals were ready to go when Captain Smith was, but I don't think some of the people going with us had ever seen a team of mules or oxen before, let alone harnessed them. It looked like a bunch of kids chasing a litter of half growed hogs.
It was after nine before Captain Smith had all of the wagons lined up and ready to roll out. Our wagons started six places back from the front of the train. After they were all rolling, things went smoothly for a while.
Captain Smith was dressed in buckskins much like Millie, Tess and I were. After a while he came back and pulled up beside me as we were moving our livestock along.
"You look like you know what you're doing," he said.
"Well, we've come a ways already," I told him.
"Where'd you start out from?"
"We're from Lawrence County, Kentucky," I said. "It's over on the eastern end. We came down the river on a flatboat to Evansville, Indiana, and we've come overland since then."
"I figured you'd been at it for a while. There's one wagon a ways back where the woman is driving the wagon and the man and his two growed sons are chasing a bunch of hogs all over the state of Missouri."
"Yeah, hogs are the worst. We lost two the first night we were on the trail. They just wandered away in the night. Since then we've been lucky."
"Those are some fine looking beef cattle you have there. Are your parents gonna start a ranch in Oregon?"
"No, them are mine and Millie's and Tess' cattle. We're gonna be starting the ranch. Millie and I are gonna get married when we get to Oregon. Tess is my sister."
"Well, you may have a chance to add to your herd before you even get to Oregon. There are several people on this train who have good beef stock, but don't know one thing about herding them. The last time I took out a train, several people sold their cattle for nearly nothing."
"Thanks, Captain Smith. I'll keep that in mind."
"Just call me Ab. I'm not a Captain any more. I couldn't take the buffalo dung they kept trying to make us swallow in the army."
"Okay, Ab. I'm Jase." We shook hands and he said he'd better check to see that the lead wagon wasn't headed for Boston.
Millie rode over after Smith left and asked, "What did Smith want?"
"He just wanted me to tell you he thinks you have a cute butt," I said with a straight face.
Millie gasped, then she realized I was funning her so she hit me on the shoulder. "You'd better watch out or you won't get to snuggle up to that butt tonight."
"Oh, I've been watching alright," I said.
Millie shook her head and rode back to the herd.
We ended up with 31 wagons in the train. Ab wanted us to practice circling the wagons for our nooning, so he gave the order. I'd never seen the like in all of my born days. He had spent a lot of time yesterday going over just how to do things, but some people just don't listen.
The first ten wagons went just fine, then the yahoo behind us couldn't figure out what to do so he went straight instead of turning. The guy after him knew he was supposed to follow the wagon in front of him, so he followed the yahoo. The guy behind him did the same, then the wagoner behind him realized what was going on, so he made the turn and started following us. The jughead behind him couldn't make up his mind and ended up making a bigger circle than the rest of us.
Millie, Tess and me just sat there on our horses with our mouths open watching. Ab came riding up and said, "Ain't that a sight to see? I sure am glad we weren't being attacked by hostile Indians."
"I don't know, Ab. They might have all fallen off their horses from laughing. We could have just walked around and shot them all in our own good time."
Ab's belly laugh scared the hogs and Millie and Tess had to ride off and round them up.
We watched them work the hogs, then Ab asked, "Most folks get buckskin outfits like you all are wearing by trading with the Indians. Is that where you got yours?"
"No, mom is a Cherokee Indian. She's always made mine and Tess' clothes. Millie liked the way they felt when she was riding a horse, so mom made her a couple of outfits too."
"I didn't want to be nosey. It's just that most people out west who wear buckskins are savvy people who know what they're doing. That's why I started watching you guys. I wondered if you were savvy or if you were just some worthless easterners who had bought some decent clothes. I decided you're all savvy."
Madison
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