The Legend of Eli CrowChapter 47
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Crow Ridge Tulsa, Indian Territory July 5, 1885
“Eli, I’m going to miss you. I know you need to go see your grandparents and I wish I could go too, but Grandmother said we’re not old enough to travel alone together. Please be careful.”
Kit and Eli were sitting in the barn, taking a few minutes alone to say their goodbyes before he left.
“Kit, you know what it’s like when you’re with your grandpa. You and Ruby see him every day and make sure he has everything he needs...
“Not counting Momma’s grandmother and parents, I’ve only got my Grandpa and Grandma Connor as blood kin left and I’ve only seen them once before. Dad tells me I need to go now, and I feel like I need to so I can tell them I love them. Dad says they may not live many more years and if I don’t go now, it may be too late.”
“I know, Eli ... I was just being selfish. I love you so much I hurt being here without you when you’re away. I just feel so empty and alone without you nearby.”
“I miss you when I’m gone from home too, Kit. One day we’ll be able to get married, then we’ll be with each other all the time with our own place.”
“I keep telling myself that too, Eli. I like thinking of us being married and having a son so we can name him after you and Dad.”
“Eli Crow, the Third. I kinda like that,” Eli told her as she snuggled close.
“Eli, I was thinking more like calling him Tré as a nickname, spelled T-r-é with that little thing on top of the ‘e’. Grandmother showed it to me in a book and told me it would be a perfect nickname for our son. She said it was Italian for three and I knew right then that I wanted him to have that special name.”
“Kit, when our son is born, we’ll call him Tré. Now, what will our first daughter be named? I heard you and Ruby making up names.”
“Stormy Rose!” She told him proudly as she pressed her hot young body against his and kissed his cheek.
“WHOA! What a name! Just from her name, I know she’ll be just like her Momma. I wish we were already married, I’d take you back in that stall and start on our family right now!”
“Eli, I don’t want you wearing your gun on the train. You can wear your knife on your belt, and carry your gun in your traveling bag. You better ask Marshal Hopkins when you get there if it’s alright for you to wear your gun while in Boones Crossing. Tell him that I wanted you to be armed and to be aware of where you are, who is around you, and even who is looking at you,” Eli told his son as they waited for the train.
Little Eli had said his goodbyes at home, even to the other Bucks. His dad wanted to have the last few minutes alone with him before he left for a week’s stay in Boones Crossing.
“I’ll be extra careful, Dad. I won’t have my brothers watching my back ... I’ve already though of that.”
“Son, I’ve made a lot of enemies in the past eleven years as a U.S. Marshal and some even before that. There are some men who will stop at nothing to get back at me for doing my job and bringing them to stand before Judge Parker. I don’t want you to get caught up in any revenge that is meant for me. Just use what we’ve taught you and don’t trust anyone. Eli, I mean – ANYONE!”
“I promise I’ll be extra careful, Dad. My brothers tell me all the time that I’m just like you, always looking at everybody to see what they’re doing and trying to figure out what they’re thinking.”
“You just keep it up then. I know you’re a lot like me, Eli and I’m proud of that. But I’ve never let one of my Bucks go off alone before and I can’t help but worry.”
“I’ll be alright, Dad. Kit and I have lots of plans for the future. I’m not going to let that little red-headed, hot-blooded girl of mine down either!”
“Eli Crow, you get more and more like your old man every day!”
They were still laughing when the northbound freight rolled into Tulsa.
Eli walked his son to the steps of the Pullman where Little Eli stopped, turning to face his dad before stepping up to the rear platform of the second Pullman car. There were two Pullman coaches on the long freight with a diner car between them.
They stood looking at each other eye to eye, then shook hands before he turned to walk through the rear door, just as the whistle blew. He walked through the passenger car to where he could sit on the depot side ... he looked out at his dad standing there. He felt tears well up in his eyes, then they waved at each other. Both of them were still waving and smiling as the train slowly pulled out with the whistle screaming, steam hissing, and spraying out around the big iron wheels of the locomotive.
They slowly gained speed heading up the ridge after crossing the Arkansas. Little Eli sat next to the window looking out over Crow Ridge at all the cattle pens and oil storage tanks. He could see huge herds of cattle grazing, no matter which way he looked. He smiled to himself as he looked the place over. This was his home. This is where they’d buried his mother. This is where he lived, played, worked, and spent his life with his brothers and sisters.
His heart swelled with pride at the things his dad had accomplished. His pride grew even stronger as he thought of his dad. The man was like no man he’d ever seen before nor heard tell of. He let his mind drift, thinking of the time when he and his brothers would be old enough to have a place like this of their own. Have a family and raise kids, cows, and horses. He smiled to himself at that thought. He could already see his and Kit’s home, their barns, and corrals laid out before him in his mind. He thought of what it would be like to have a son named Tré and a daughter named Stormy Rose, both riding alongside him and Kit as they rode over their big ranch.
He could see the windmills spinning, the cattle grazing on the slopes of the valley they would one day call home ... their own home – their own place. He smiled and put his hand up to feel the smooth, warm gold of his medicine chain his dad had given him. He loved to feel of it, it made him feel safe knowing how much his dad believed in the one he wore.
They were crossing the creek to the east of Crow Ridge ... and another smile came to his face as he remembered the time he and his brothers had ridden the little railroad hand-car with Jon David and his sisters. A laugh escaped his lips as he sat alone in his thoughts. He looked around to see if anyone nearby may have heard him laughing while sitting alone.
Just as he turned to look toward the front of the Pullman, he saw two young men rush through the door, as if in a hurry. He wondered if they really were in a hurry, and why? They had a long trip yet to Kansas, unless they were only going to Vinita.
There was something about them – something that nagged at him. He couldn’t imagine what he was missing, but there was something about them and the way they had hurriedly left the Pullman that he couldn’t grasp hold of – nor let go.
There was a porter near the door when he looked that way again and Eli waved to get his attention.
“Yes Sir, Little Boss. What can I do for you?” The elderly black man asked with a big friendly smile as he stepped up close to where Eli sat.
“I was wondering if my traveling bag would be alright if I left it here and went to the diner car?”
“Yas’suh, Little Boss. Say, ain’t y’all one of Marshal Crow’s boys? Seems like I done seen you before.”
“Yes, I’m his son. Do you know my dad?”
“Not so much as to call him by name, but I reckon I’d know that man no matter where I saw him. You look just like yo’ daddy, I reckon y’all know that, huh?”
“Thanks, I know I do favor him a lot...
“What about my bag, will you be here or will I need to carry it with me if I go have a bite to eat?”
“If you got valuables in there, I suppose y’all ought take it with you. If y’all just got a few changes of them rawhide britches and shirts, I reckon it’d be alright here.
“You make that choice, cause I may get called up in the other car and have to leave your bag. Most folks sort of watch out for other folks bags on the train, but then some folks would steal your socks off your feet while you slept, if they could.”
“What’s your name? Mine is Eli Crow, Junior.”
“Most folks on the train just call me Hey Porter, but my mammy called me Sammy all my growing up years.”
“Sammy, I’ll be riding this train all the way up to Parsons, Kansas. Then I’ll catch another train over to Boones Crossing, Kansas. I hope we get to visit again on my trip.”
“Yas’suh, Little Marshal, me too. I’ll be y’all’s porter all the way up to Parsons. If y’all need anything, just holler Hey Porter and I’ll come on over soon as I can.”
Eli picked up his bag and walked through the front door of the Pullman, stepping across the connecting platforms to enter the diner car. By the time he’d taken three long, slow strides into the diner, he had looked at each and every person there. He didn’t see the two young men he’d seen leaving the Pullman car earlier and wondered where they’d gone in such a hurry.
Near the middle of the diner car, he spotted a small table near a window and moved over to put his bag on the floor and sit down. Instinctively, he looked at all the people seated in the diner car once more. Most were with others, either a man and woman, or a family, or two men, as they sat, ate and talked.
“Yas’suh, Little Marshal. What can I get y’all?”
Eli turned back to see another black porter standing next to his table.
“Do you know my dad, too?”
“Naw’suh, not to call his name personal, that is. But I reckon by now, ol’ Sammy’s done told all the folks on this train that we got one of Marshal Crow’s sons ridin’ with us. Everyone knows yo’ daddy in these parts. We may not know him to call his name, but we all know who he is. Yo daddy is one hell of a bad man ... What I meant by that was, he’s much of a man and everyone knows what he stands for. I reckon y’all look just like him too.”
“You can call me, Eli. My dad is Marshal Crow and I’m Eli Junior.”
“Yas’suh Little Marshal. Now what can I get y’all to eat?”
“I saw a man eating what looked like beef on thin sliced bread when I came in. I’ll have some of that.”
“Yas’suh, that’s a roast beef sammich, y’all gonna like that. That’s some good eatin’. What y’all want to drink? We got coffee, hot tea, and water that young folks can drink.”
“Bring me coffee with my roast beef, and thanks. Say, what is your name?”
“They call me Brownie. Cause my last name is Brown.”
“Thanks Brownie. How long will it take us to get to Parsons?”
“Bout one more hour to Vinita, then two more hours over to Parsons. Sammy said y’all was goin’ on to Boones Crossing, too. That’s gonna take you another two more hours from Parsons I reckon.”
“Thanks again, Brownie. That’s what I wanted to know. I’m going to see my grandparents up there.”
On the front platform of the first Pullman, two young men were leaning against the front of the car, next to the hand rail.
“Why in the hell did you grab me and run from that rear passenger car all the way through the diner to stand out here? Shit man, we bought tickets to ride in that fancy luxury car!” One of them griped at his companion.
“You didn’t see who came in a sat down back there?” The other said.
“Hell no. Who was it? The President or some lawman or what?”
“No, it was one of Marshal Crow’s sons. The one who jumped me and my brothers that time. It was that same stinkin ass marshal’s kid that hit Buck with a shovel handle while he wasn’t looking and tore his ear off. He told us that day his name was Eli Crow Junior!”
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Kansas City, Missouri July 21, 1889 Eli and Isaac were up and dressed, after washing up from a wild time the night before when they’d had champagne sprayed all over them and made love on the balcony. They were sitting out on the balcony again, looking down on the sprawling city below as people began to stir and fill the streets. The girls came out laughing and talking about the fun, crazy time they’d had last night. They were bathed, dressed and ready for a day of shopping and sightseeing...
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October 1, 1881 While Eli was getting his latest prisoners turned over to the jailers, Jefferson left the courthouse through the back door and ran out to saddle his horse. He rode hard up the back way, cutting across an open lot and through someones yard as he raced home. He didn’t take time to put his horse in the barn, he knew Eli would see it anyway. He jerked the saddle off and turned his horse in the cow pen. When Eli rode into the yard later, it was almost sundown and there was no one...
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“Kit, would you and Ruby want to wear buckskins like we do?” Caleb asked as they all talked, ate, and became friends. “We sure do. Marshal Eli told us we could, and said he’d even give us our own horse,” Kit answered. “We’ll have to round up our horses in the morning and see how many we have now. Daddy may have to get more horses from our friend, Iron Hammer. He’s the main man in the Cherokee Tribe that owns all the lands around us,” Little Eli said. “Momma told me we could all go down to...
Crow Ridge Cattle Company Tulsa, Indian Territory Thanksgiving Day November 27,1884: “Here come the Buffalo Soldiers, they’re crossing the river now!” Isaac yelled as he jumped off the back porch, headed toward the barn where the men, the girls, and the rest of the Bucks were gathered. The women had run the men and younger ones from the house so they could finish cooking and get the dinner ready. This was to be the biggest feast and biggest celebration they’d had to date. The men, the...
When they finished unloading the flatcar, they headed back to the house. Smitty, Leon, James, and Albert were on the wagon and Eli drove. “Smitty, I need to have a talk with you. Want to walk down to the river with me?” Eli asked. “Sure Eli, let me get a drink from the pump and I’ll be ready.” “I’ll meet you out front.” Eli went through the house and into the kitchen where the women were fixing supper. “Corinne, come go with me,” Eli said. “Eli, I’m not sure about this now. Can we wait...
After an early start in the cold hours of morning, they rode hard and steady all day, stopping to relieve themselves twice and eat from the grub sack. They made Kansas City, Missouri late in the day as the sun was sinking behind the cold flat horizon, across the river in Kansas. They stopped at a big fancy hotel and registered as Eli and Rose Crow. The desk man was hesitant at first to let the two Half-Breeds stay in his hotel, but saw the Deputy U.S. Marshal badge and the Indian Police...
“ELI! You’re back. Did you get the last one? Dal said you thought there was a woman with them too,” Sam Connor greeted his grandson when he came through the back door, stomping the mud off his feet. Eli was soaked, his buckskins wet and clinging to his body, his moccasins filled with mud and water. He hadn’t even put his long coat on when he left Young’s Store. The back of his coat was shot out anyway. “They’re all taken care of, Grandpa. How’s Grandma? She alright after all this?” He...
When they reached the river’s edge, Kit laid the fuses and caps on a stump. Ruby handed Kit a stick of dynamite and picked up a cap and a short fuse. Eli and the others watched as she inserted the end of a fuse into the open end of the blasting cap, then put her fingers about an inch from the end of the brass. She stuck this short end of the exposed brass into her mouth with the extra fuse trailing down her chin. They could see her straining her jaws as she bit down on the brass, clamping it...
Eli had planned their trip himself and since he wanted them to stay a few days in Boones Crossing without being in a rush, he decided to take his dad’s advice and travel to Kansas City first then come back to Boones Crossing. Though he and Isaac didn’t wear their guns, they did have their knives on their hips, with their guns packed in their traveling bags. Both were dressed in buckskins and their girls dressed in finery like the other women traveling on the train. They ate one meal in the...
Saturday October 3, 1896 Crow Valley, Oklahoma Territory “Let me see that map again, Deuce,” Ezra said. He stood next to Eli and Isaac as they looked at the map. They had just gotten their first orders as Deputy United States Marshals two days ago, and the six of them were excited as they saddled up. They’d packed the night before and already had their two packsaddles loaded with tents, food and supplies for at least a two-week stay once they reached their destination. They were being sent...
Dal Hopkins had been half asleep, half-awake as he worried about his town. He heard a man whisper something behind him in the cell. Was he dreaming? Could it really be? HE KNEW THAT VOICE... He’d know that voice in the middle of a windstorm on the plains or in a howling snowstorm on top of a mountain. No matter where on earth he was, he would know that voice... Eli was here. He knew it was him! How – he didn’t know, but that was Eli Crow behind him, he’d bet his life on it. “Marshal,...
Eli knew he had a battle on his hands convincing the mommas of his sons and daughters that his plan was the best way to keep the Bucks, the Crow girls and the rest of them from having babies and still let them spend time with their friends. He figured the best way to handle this was to get them all at once and get it over with. Miranda, Clarissa, Tin Yu, Catt, Eva, Rose, Sissy, Suh, Juni, and Grandma were gathered together out away from the others. Eli wanted all of them to listen to what he...
Boones Crossing, Kansas July 23, 1889 Little Eli, Kit, Ruby, and Isaac arrived in Boones Crossing early, making the short trip from Kansas City in only a matter of two hours. They had accompanied their friends to the train station the evening before and watched as they boarded the train to Colorado. This was a tearful parting of new friends with all of them vowing to meet again soon. The McInnis sisters especially took it hard, sobbing as they sat on the train and waved out the window to...
Crow Ridge September 1, 1896 “Come on in, Ezra. Your dad and I wanted to talk to you before you head back to Crow Valley,” Rose told her son. Jefferson was sitting up in bed with the covers pulled to his waist. “Dad, are you feeling any better?” Ezra asked as he walked over to sit at his bedside and lay his hand on top Jefferson’s right hand. “I feel better today, Son. This has actually been one of my better days in the past few months. “Dad, I suppose I’ve always taken for granted that...
When the Buffalo Soldiers rolled in from Little Tree with empty wagons, all of them jumped in and loaded them as quickly as possible. There were fifteen more loads to ship after they held back the last three loaded wagons to take to Tulsa. Willis turned fifteen of his men right back around, telling them to get on back so they could all head over to Tulsa and start learning to be oil well drillers. The next morning early, Eli and Jon David were sitting by the fire outside, drinking coffee...
Eli knew he had to get over to the women as soon as he could. He saw them laughing and talking with Analisa, pointing now and then toward where he stood. Even Sissy, Miranda, and Grandmother were huddled with the young Mexican woman, whispering and laughing. When Catt and Eva pulled her aside, they were laughing aloud and Eli knew it was time to go. “I see all of you have met Analisa. I hope you’ll make her welcome. I’ve asked her to work for us when we get back to Tulsa,” Eli told them when...
Two weeks earlier, when Duncan and Eli had split as they arrived in Tulsa, Duncan felt alone as he rode north toward Kansas. Though he’d been a deputy marshal for over two years when he met Eli, he’d grown to like hid friend so well that he missed his company and the friendship they shared together on their trips into the Territory. He rode into southern Kansas two days later, after riding late like he and Eli often did when they first met. He wanted to hurry and do his law business, then...
The men of Crow Ridge Cattle Company loaded the second trainload of cattle bound for Kansas City and knew there wasn’t time to load another fifteen cars before dark. The first trainload would have to make it to the next sidetrack, near the Kansas state line, before the two empty trains could travel on down to Tulsa. They made plans to start loading at daylight the next day. The empty trains would arrive during the night and have to lay over. They gathered around after the first day of...
The Waco Kid never raised his head as he reached out to pick up a stick and thrash it across the bedroll nearest him. “Get your asses up, we got a score to settle this morning and I’m ready to get started!” he said loudly. The other men began to stir in their bedrolls and The Waco Kid rolled over to sit up. He had yet to look up as he pulled his boots on, then picked up his two pistols and shoved them down in his holsters. He stretched his arms over his head, wincing at the pain in his ribs,...
Crow Ridge March 29, 1889 The family was up before dawn to see the Crow girls and the Young Bucks off. Even their younger brothers and sisters were up. Eli cornered Little Eli and Ezra as soon as they came downstairs and pulled them aside. “I need to give you men something. I’ve been wanting to tell you about this, but never felt like it was the right time until now. “Eli, back when you told me that you Bucks wanted to have a place of your own and still wanted it to be near each other, I...
Union Station Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania June 19, 1885 Eli had been on the train for four days when he arrived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They had an hour layover there, one of many layovers they’d had on his long train ride from Indian Territory. After he’d found the toilets to relieve himself, he sat inside the huge train station and watched the hundreds of people coming and going. He’d never seen this many people in one place ever before, not even in Kansas City at the ballpark. He kept...
“This is absolutely beautiful. I just love the way the houses and barns look with all the pecan trees around,” Miranda said. “It does look good and shady back in them trees. We need to plant some pecan trees over at the other place to shade it a little, I reckon,” Eli agreed. “You boys get you some clean buckskins and go back behind the barn and get a bath,” Eli told the six boys. “Miranda, would you help Sissy get the girls back there and get them bathed?” “I will, but first we’re going...
There were snow flurries blowing in the wind, with a light blanket already covering the ground when the Bucks started out the next morning after saying their goodbyes to the family. They were dressed in their buckskins with their union suits underneath and heavy boiler overalls over their buckskins. Each had a leather fur-lined cap pulled down over their head and ears. They wore wool scarves backed with flannel over their faces, leaving only a slit with their eyes exposed as they rode...
Eli and Duncan headed out of town with their wagon load of prisoners. Bud Parkins drove the wagon, Duncan and Eli rode their horses. “Eli, I already like this horse pretty good. He’s as tall and long legged as that big stud you got.” “Yep, you got a good’un, Duncan.” They turned south at the creek crossing, and rode right by Noonan’s ranch. “You could at least let me see my wife before you take me back,” Noonan said. “I’ll go see if she wants to see you... “Duncan, you keep them headed...
“What can I do for you, Mister? You look to be part Indian. Are you?” The man behind the window at the train station said as Eli walked up to the window to send a telegraph message back to Little Tree. “I need to send a message over to Little Tree, Texas. Can you do that for me?” Eli said, ignoring the man’s remark. “I sure can. Who is it for and what name do you want on it?” “Put my name on it, Marshal Eli Crow. Send it to Hoke at the livery. Tell him I need him to get word to my folks at...