The Legend of Eli CrowChapter 47
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The next morning, they were up before daybreak, cooking and eating breakfast. They could hardly wait to ride up the wide slope of the east ridge and look back to the north at the huge sprawling valley that belonged to them.
“See that creek that comes out between those tall hills on the west side near those two trees?” Eli said as he and his brothers looked through their scopes.
“I do, Eli. That’s your place, isn’t it?” Ezra said as he looked down at his map.
“Yep, now look on your maps and see what Jefferson and Mr. Howard named that creek when they made this map!”
“Let me see, Eli,” Kit said as she pulled the map closer and leaned over on his horse to look.
“Oh My God.
“Crow Creek. I just love that!” Kit yelled and the others did too when they saw it on their maps.
“Yep, I’ve already thought of a name for our ranch on the way over here, Kit.”
“What is it, Eli? We’re all so excited about this!” Kit said.
“Crow Creek Cattle Company” he announced.
“I LOVE IT.” Kit yelled and leaped from her horse to his as she clung to him, laughing and crying.
They had ridden at a fast pace the rest of the day after leaving their new lands, when they came upon the clear-water lake they all loved to swim in. They had never been here without the grownups and now they were left to make their own decisions about right or wrong, being grown, and using good judgment.
“Kit, Lee Yu and I have a question to ask you and Ruby and I hope you don’t mind if it’s personal,” Lilly Beth said as she and Lee Yu walked over to where Ruby and Kit were undressing.
Their group had separated, the Bucks going one way from camp and the girls another.
There was still another three to four hours of sunlight and though the air was warm, they tested the sparkling clear water and it was really cool. They had decided to swim in the lake regardless of how cool it was, since they were alone and no grownups were around to make sure they acted proper.
“Lilly Beth, Ruby and I have nothing to hide from you, Lee Yu, Kia, or Michi. We’ve all been as close as sisters since the day we came to live with you. You can ask us anything and we’ll tell you what we know,” Kit told her.
“Is this about sex and us being with Isaac and Eli?” Ruby asked as they all huddled closer to talk.
“Yes. Do you mind if we ask you about those things?” Lee Yu asked as she looked at Kit, then Ruby.
“Heck, I’ll tell you anything you want to know, that is if it’s about something Eli and I have done, or even thought about doing,” Kit told them.
“It is, Kit and we just wanted to ask you some things we aren’t sure about,” Lee Yu added.
“We probably don’t know a lot more than either of you, though. Until we came to stay with your family, we had never been around boys. Your mommas and Miss Miranda has taught us about how boys and girls are supposed to behave, just as they have all of you,” Ruby told them.
“What we wanted to know was a little more personal than the things they taught us,” Lilly Beth told them.
“Yeah, since you both get to spend a lot of time with Eli and Isaac, we were wondering how it felt to be close to a boy like that. I mean, well, Lilly Beth and I get to thinking about meeting boys and we get all jittery and itchy and feel sort of funny all over. Even our titties feel different,” Lee Yu told them.
Lilly Beth knew if she ever got Lee Yu to help get some answers, she would cut right to the heart of it, and ask the pertinent questions just like they had talked about.
“Wait, we want in on this too,” Kia said as she and Michi came over.
“Kit and I talk to each other about our feelings a lot. All of you have heard us trying to understand what we feel. I can’t speak for her, but I can tell you right here and now, I get so excited at times when Isaac and I are alone, that I have to make myself stop and think about all of us and the family too,” Ruby told them as the six girls stepped out of their buckskin breeches, wearing nothing but their new underwear and their buckskin shirts.
“Me too, Ruby. Eli can just look at me sometimes and I get all jittery and feel like I could just take his clothes off and do things to him,” Kit told them.
“What things, Kit? That’s what we were wondering about. What do you think about doing with Eli?” Lilly Beth asked, braver now that they were actually talking about their feelings with boys.
“Lilly Beth, he’s your brother and I don’t want you to think bad things about me, but I want to get naked with him so bad, I hurt in my belly, and like Lee Yu told us, even my nipples ache too,” Kit told them.
“Do you ever feel guilty after having those thoughts about Eli?” Lilly Beth asked.
“Heck no, I don’t ever feel guilty about that. I know when we get old enough, I’m going to get naked with your brother and do all the things I’ve wondered about. I want to do all those crazy things, Sissy, Catt, and Eva talk about, but never really tell us how they do them,” Kit told them and they each laughed nervously.
This was a first for them, talking about grownup, personal feelings among the six of them. Wanting to know more, wanting to know how each of the others felt when they thought about sex things.
“Does it make us bad girls to have thoughts about boys and wonder what it’s like to be naked with a boy?” Lilly Beth asked.
“Since Miss Miranda became our momma, she has talked to Kia and me a lot about how a girl feels when she’s with a boy. She never talks about what they do when they get naked though. We know boys and girls do get naked though, they have babies and we already know how that happens,” Michi told them.
“I don’t want to have babies until I’m married and I don’t want to get naked with a boy, well, not just yet anyway,” Lee Yu told them. “What I do want to know is what it’s like when a boy kisses you and why does it make me feel all jittery and feel so good that I want to take my clothes off when I just think about being kissed,” Lee Yu told them.
“Momma told me that was when a woman felt aroused, Lee Yu,” Lilly Beth told her. “She told me a woman has the same feelings a man does, but she just has to keep them hidden or people will think she’s a slut or a whore,” Lilly Beth added, shocking the others that she said whore.
“When a girl marries, does she still have to keep her feelings hid from her husband?” Kia asked.
“I asked Grandmother that very thing, Kia,” Ruby told her. “She told me that if she and her husband both felt the same and he understood her feelings, they could have such a great relationship. If the girl wasn’t sure about how her new husband felt about things like that, she better be sure, or he may think she’s a bad person. She didn’t say the words, ‘slut or whore’, but I know that’s what she meant,” Ruby told them.
“Ruby, has Isaac ever seen you naked or partly naked?” Lee Yu asked.
“No, but I want to be naked with him so we can see what each of us looks like with no clothes on. I know all of you sisters may think I’m wrong to feel that way, but just wait until you meet your own young man, you’ll see what I mean,” Ruby explained.
“I feel the same way, Ruby. If we hadn’t already promised Eli’s dad and momma we’d conduct ourselves as responsible grownups, I would have already been naked with him and he knows exactly how I feel about it too,” Kit told her sister.
“That’s the reason the four of us want a boy like the Bucks and like our dad. We want one who will love us and respect us in spite of how wild we want to be at times,” Lilly Beth told them causing the others to laugh.
“Lilly Beth, do you really want to get wild with a boy?” Michi asked, teasing her, and they laughed again.
“When I meet the man I know will love me and let me be myself, I will get wild with him, “ she answered and shook her backside to let her underwear slide off her legs, standing naked with the others.
“Momma told me that when I meet a boy that I know loves me with all his heart, never be afraid to show him how much I love him. Make him feel like he is the only reason I’m alive,” Lee Yu told them.
“I love the way that sounds. That’s what I want to do with my man, Lee Yu. I want to love my man like all of Dad’s women love him,” Lilly Beth said.
“We’ve all read about what our Dad and our mommas are doing, is not accepted by society. But I can’t see anything wrong with all of them loving Dad. They just never talk about it and we never go many places for it to be known,” Michi told them.
“No one better say anything to our Dad about the women he loves. He’ll either cut their throats or scalp them or both. Then he’ll cut their nuts out too,” Lee Yu said. The six girls doubled over in laughter just as they heard the Bucks calling for them to hurry up and swim, the water was already cold.
The girls slipped into their extra underwear suits and buttoned them from their crotch to just above the swell of their young breasts. They looked around the circle at each other and Kia grinned as she reached up to loosen one more button at the top, exposing the swell of her young breasts even more. Each of them loosened another button and pulled the top open more as they smiled at each other. They knew they were becoming women and they already knew their breasts and nipples were going show when their swimming suits got wet.
Still standing in their circle, Kit reached up to loosen one more button as she looked around at the others, as if daring them. Then as they watched, she tucked the lapels of her underwear top down into the bodice, exposing her entire upper chest and all the way down between the valley where her freckled breasts swelled and separated.
With their lips spread wide in wicked smiles, the other girls loosened another button, then folded their lapels inside, just as Kit had.
“Damn, if you girls haven’t noticed, we have already become women,” Lilly Beth said as they left their clothes hanging on the surrounding bushes and held hands.
They ran toward the lake together, jumping into the water, screaming and laughing as the cold water covered them.
“You girls better be glad dad and our mommas aren’t around. You’d be wearing dresses and never riding a horse again,” Eli told them when his sisters, Kit, and Ruby surfaced next to them in the cold, clear water.
“We had to do it, Eli. We never get to be wild back home and it’s not like you can see us, really.
“Is it?” Kit asked as she stood before him.
“Kit, you better take a good look at yourself, then a take good look around at our sisters. Just be glad we’re your brothers. If you do this in front of others, you’d better know them well.”
“Eli, so we’re your sisters, but we always know you Bucks will tell us straight. Are we women?” Michi asked.
“All six of you are grown women,” Ezra told them before Eli could speak.
“He’s right. All of you are grown women now and you have to behave as women,” Isaac told them.
“Except when our brothers are close by to protect us?” Lilly Beth asked and grinned when Eli and his brothers did.
Eli turned to his brothers as they all stood in waist deep water, shivering, “we better find these sisters some boys to like. I’m not sure we can control them much longer,” he told them.
“You better be glad we put these swimming suits on. We started to swim naked,” Lee Yu told them, laughing as she dove in the water, splashing them.
They weren’t able to stay in the water much longer, the air was getting cooler and when they came up, they were shivering.
With the girls laughing and shaking their backsides, they split up to dry off and get dressed before they ate supper by the fire.
Pecan Ridge Cattle Company
Indian Territory
April 1, 1889
The Young Bucks and their sisters rode into Pecan Ridge ranch headquarters and saw Don Cowden and Clara outside with their daughter. They saw Martha, Clara’s younger sister sitting on a bench in the warm sun, next to a tall handsome man with a big mustache. As soon as they saw him, each of them knew he was Jud McClanahan, the former cavalry lieutenant their dad was friends with.
Little Eli stepped up to speak to Don and the others first, “Don, how’s it going down here? Good to see all of you again.”
“Eli, it’s been good here. How’ve y’all been? How’s your dad and the other folks back home?”
The terrain was becoming rougher than they’d experienced so far. The fifty miles took them almost two days, as the trail twisted and turned, and back tracked through the jagged rocks of the first foot hills as they came closer to the Southern Rockies. By the mid-afternoon of the second day, they had ridden down into a big grassland that covered most of the valley. The horses were hungry for fresh grass and they stopped to let them graze near a cool, clear river. Juni and Tin Yu were naked...
Sissy and Joe came home while they were still sitting around the table. Joe was wearing a Deputy United States Marshal’s badge, grinning that crooked grin, and Sissy was hanging on him like she was shackled to him as she came in grinning. “We’re married, Daddy. I’m a wife now and I love my husband. Judge Parker married us and he cried, he was so happy that we let him. He told us not to worry about that trouble over in unassigned lands, he would take care of it.” “Momma, I’m taking my man...
Fort Smith, Arkansas October 12, 1883 When Eli, Duncan and Moses rode into Fort Smith, they went straight to the courthouse to tell Judge Parker about the flash flood, and finding no rustlers. Before they even got upstairs to his chambers, they were met by Jefferson, and told of a jailbreak. “Eli, it was that Larry Parkins kid, the one who hit Duncan. He was in the cell with L.W. Ward and Clyde Pickens, the ones you brought in from down toward Fort Towson when we got Kia, Michi, Lorene...
“Sundy, you put this shirt on and slide over here on my horse with me. We’re going up there and scout this trading post,” Eli said as he unlocked her shackles and pulled a buckskin shirt out of his saddlebag. “Marshal, you be watchful of Sundy if there’s shootin. We’ve took a liking to her and want to see her do good, now that her kin have been arrested,” Jessie said. “I’ll be alright, I know Marshal Eli will keep me safe,” she said as she hugged her thin body to his back. “Duncan, I’m...
“This big horse wants to run, Duncan. You want to make some time?” “Let him run, Eli. We have almost 700 miles due west to ride and I’m ready. It’ll take us over 2 days hard riding to get to Tulsey Town, over on the Arkansas River.” The two deputies rode hard for over an hour and then slowed their spirited horses to a long easy lope as they talked and laughed as friends, starting a partnership that would be remembered in Indian Territory and surrounding states for years to come. The...
Fort Smith, Arkansas November 2, 1875 Before Duncan had completely recovered from the injury to his head, he was laid up with pneumonia. He’d gotten caught in a heavy downpour and arrived home wet and chilled. He spent two weeks recovering, with the first week spent in bed the whole time. Eli and Moses were split up again, since they were short-handed. “Eli, which way you headed this time? It looks like I’m headed up toward Kansas where you ‘n Duncan come from when he got whacked on his...
Oklahoma Territory Crow Ridge Cattle Company August 4, 1889 Jon David, Amanda, Sissy, and Analisa told Eli yesterday that they needed to be at the office early this morning. They let Chane and Jon Jr. spend the night with Shawn, Karly Jo, Clara, and Maryanne. Eli stepped out on the front porch earlier than usual that morning since he had all his Little Bucks here for the day. He drank the last of the coffee from his mug and stood looking down at the river before turning to look over toward...
Doctor Harrod came out just a few minutes after Eli and Jefferson walked into the lobby and sat down. They both jumped up as soon as he came through the door, hurrying to meet him. “Doc?” Eli said as he looked at the young doctor. “Duncan is fine. He’s sleeping now and you’ll both be able to see him in a few hours. I drained the wound where the injury had become infected. There was a bone fragment just as I thought. It was wedged in a clump of hair that had pushed into the tiny skull...
Indian Territory June 15, 1884: “Eli, look at all them dark clouds down yonder south of here. I sure hope we don’t run into any bad weather on the way home,” Duncan said as they rode on into the late afternoon after getting Joe patched up. “I’ve been watching them too, Duncan. I hope they’re between us and home, I’d hate to know our place was being hammered by storms.” By nightfall, the dark storm clouds had moved east of where they were heading, but the air was still damp and heavy like...
With the arraignments and hearings coming up for the criminals that Eli, Duncan and Moses had arrested in the past weeks, they were all required to be in the courthouse most of each day for a week. After that, they were told by Judge Parker they needed to be on call for another week as the prosecutors, lawyers, and public defenders obtained information from them. Though this was a rough two weeks for the three of them, who were used to being out in the open. They did enjoy their time at...
The next morning early, the three had ridden no more than half a mile from camp, when Eli pulled his horse back. “We got riders coming in, hold up and get your guns ready,” he told them. They were suddenly surrounded by sixteen members of a cavalry patrol, handguns drawn and hammers backed. “Stand your position men, United States Cavalry here. You’re trespassing on government property,” a big sergeant in front of the troop yelled. “Mister, you best put them pistols away before we shoot...
As the three rode back to the courthouse, they felt good about the girls going to learn about nursing. They felt good about getting to ride out together again too. Jefferson had their warrants, since Judge Parker was already in court for the day. “Eli, this big horse wants to run some, let’s get stretched out and make some miles. It sure does feel good to be out here again,” Duncan said. They poked their horses up to a good hard gallop and let them run for miles before they pulled them...
They left the courthouse and headed straight home to see the family. Duncan, Moses, and Eli could hardly wait to see their kids. Moses was extremely proud of his and Suh’s boy. They’d named him Pike Longfeather Kidd in honor of Moses’ father. Duncan and Eli’s young’uns were seven, and the two marshals could hardly wait to get home from a trip. Pike was about six months younger than the other boys, but he felt he could do anything the others could – the other boys expected as much of...
It took another hour to get from the high knoll over to the far side of Fayetteville, but they were at the old trading post at last. Eli helped both women to the ground. They were about frozen from being on the trail most of five days. He tied their horses to the hitching rail and rapped on the solid wood door. “ELI IS HERE,” he heard a scream and the door swung wide as Tin Yu, Catt and Eva ran out to him, nearly knocking him over backwards as they grabbed him in a hug, jumping up and...
The next morning, when Rose and Mary came down to the kitchen to start breakfast, Jefferson already had a warm fire built in the cookstove. As they filled the big coffee pot with coffee and water, they heard a noise on the back porch. Jefferson stepped to the back door to see the two nannies and the two kids on the porch, with the billy standing in the yard, looking up at them. Corinne and Lorene were next down the stairs, carrying the two babies, since they had taken it upon themselves to...
The three marshals rode for two more days, pushing their horses, keeping them fed and watered, as they made their way toward the Cherokee Outlet, known all over this part of Indian Territory as no man’s land. The third day on the trail after they’d met the cavalry patrol at the mouth of the Chikaskia where it emptied into the Salt Fork of the Arkansas, they met another patrol headed east. Abraham Walker was the scout. “Marshal Moses Kidd, you have made good time. Lieutenant Carpenter is...
The trip back to Fort Smith took three days longer than the trip over to the Panhandle. Twice along the way, Eli killed a small deer late in the day, so they could cook it all night and be gone at daylight, eating the cooked meat along the way. The rest of the time, they only stopped long enough to feed and water the horses and relieve themselves. The prisoners were left to their own devices, as for relieving themselves. While riding on the boards of the rough, bouncing wagon bed, they...
The travelers broke camp at daybreak after an early breakfast. They were still most of a day’s travel from Pecan Ridge and the MacEagle brothers wanted their new friends to visit the Cheyenne Village and meet their grandfather on the way. The Young Bucks and the Crow girls knew White Elk and they were excited about going to the Cheyenne village to meet with him again. They were even more excited to be there when he welcomed his grandsons home after they’d graduated from the private boarding...
Saturday, May 3, 1884 Cherokee Lands Indian Territory Iron Hammer’s Lodge “Eli Crow, I see you have returned and now you bring all the marshals and little Crows to see me. I see my own brothers, the Barkleys, with you. How am I so honored this day?” “Iron Hammer, I came with my friends and young’uns to tell you of a cattle deal we made in Kansas City this week. My little Crows have gifts for your little Hammers and me and my friends are always happy to sit with Iron Hammer and his brothers...
Tulsa, Indian Territory Crow Ridge Cattle Company June 2, 1884 The big house on the hill was full of happy talk as they gathered in the kitchen to talk and catch up on the latest trip into the Territory. Clarissa was typing on her typewriter as fast as she could to keep up with all that was said. She was getting faster at typing and this was the first time she didn’t make notes to type from later. They let the ten youngest travelers talk first, each of them telling their version of the...
A week after the marshals returned from their last trip, Eli rode across the river to Tulsa with Little Eli and the other boys and girls. The young’uns thought they were almost grown now, getting to ride the big high stepping horses all the way across the river with him and going to the post office at Perryman’s. He gave them enough money to buy some candy and even some gum, for the first time in their lives. The boys saw some baseball bats, gloves, and balls and each of them wanted baseball...
December 27, 1884 Tulsa Depot Tulsa, Indian Territory Jon David and Joe were at the train depot when the train pulled in from Kansas City. Jon David had gotten a telegraph message that there would be twenty-one, young Negro women aboard the train arriving on the twenty-seventh. There were only two Pullman cars and a caboose connected to that train. The preacher from the Negro church in Kansas City had made the trip down to Tulsa, escorting the young women personally, since the young women...
Indian Territory October 5, 1884: As the light of dawn began to spread across the plains, they harnessed the mules and hitched the teams to the wagons. They were all ready to meet the others at Pecan Ridge Cattle Company and start the pecan harvest. They saw how the nearby trees were loaded with pecans and knew this pecan crop was going to be a big one. Eli and Moses had been out before dawn, riding the western perimeter. Duncan and Joe had also been riding the eastern perimeter behind...
They did make that trip in September. Eli wanted the family to visit their hotel in Santa Fe then come back through Albuquerque on their week-long trip. They even made it down to Las Cruces to stay two nights at that hotel before heading back home. Eli knew the women would be having babies in the spring and he was already planning trips to Kansas City after the babies were born. In April of 1890, Eli took his Cherokee brothers, Iron Hammer, Iron Hand and Iron Eyes, with their families for a...
Tulsa, Indian Territory Sunday, July 28, 1889 While Moses, Isaac and Little Eli were loading the horses, the engineer yelled and waved to Eli again just as he stepped down from the Pullman carrying Little Eli’s traveling bag. “Marshal, if we’re gonna make a fast run down to Abilene like you want, the fireman will need some help from your bunch to keep up the steam,” he yelled above the noise of the locomotive. “We’ll ride up here with you. I want to keep this this thing red hot and smoking...
Miranda turned and sat sideways on the top rail as she watched Little Eli run over to get on his horse. Lee Yu, Lilly Beth, Kia, and Michi were all waiting for him. They all waved to her when they saw her looking. She felt like getting off the fence right then and grabbing Eli Crow. She was so in love with him and his family. No matter if it was right in the middle of the cattle pens, and right in front of all the men, she could have thrown him to the ground and loved him right here. They...
Across the small hotel dining room, there were three well-dressed men wearing tall white hats, drinking coffee and smoking fat cigars. One of them moved closer to sit at the table nearest the Young Bucks. “Excuse me please, but did I hear you say you have an exceptionally fast horse bred from Cheyenne horse blood?” The man asked from behind Eli. Eli turned to look back at the man, “Yes Sir, we sure do. He’s never been beaten in about thirty races,” he told the man. “We’re here to meet the...
After their meal, they rounded the young’uns up and headed them back upstairs. The elevator had to make two trips to get them all to the top floor. By the time they had the younger ones settled and into bed, it was after ten o’clock and they had a busy day planned for tomorrow. The baseball game started at one o’clock and they were scheduled to play two games before dark. The grownups talked for another hour before heading off to their separate rooms and to bed. They still wanted to spend...
“Trapper, there are at least two dozen turkey-buzzards circling overhead back west of here,” Micah told him as they rode north. Trapper and the others turned their horses to look back to where Micah was pointing. “Looks like we could have a fresh one for you men to check out. Let’s get on over there,” Trapper said and spanked his horse with his reins. They topped a small rise to see at least two dozen more buzzards on the ground tearing into a dead calf. When they rode up, the buzzards...
After their performance on their first assignment in Colorado back in October of 1896, the six Young Bucks’ names became well known at the Western District U.S. Marshal’s Service office in Kansas City. During the next two years they were called upon time and time again to settle disputes. They were sent to the Missouri border town of Fort Scott, Kansas, to help settle a railroad union dispute that had already gotten out of hand with clashes of violence by the time they arrived. With strong...
“We’ve never been up this way before, Daddy. Where are we going?” Little Eli asked. “We’re going up the Arkansas to the rough country where the Pawnee and Osage Tribes join lands. We’ll camp on the Arkansas and we’ll have our own school for you boys out here.” They had crossed the Arkansas River in a northwesterly direction, then followed along the west side of the river until mid-day. The boys were told to bring nothing but jerky in their grub bags, they were going to survive on what the...
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...
Upon their return to Tulsa from racing Cheyenne at Vinita, Little Eli had met with Bill and Jack Robertson that day, asking them about making a lightweight saddle just for Cheyenne. After measuring and fitting him with the special built saddletree and pad, they made a saddle with no high pommel and no saddle horn. There were no fenders, just leather straps that supported the small brass stirrups. This saddle was half the weight of the working and pleasure saddles they used on the ranch. As...
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...
When they arrived in Durant, the sun had been up a few hours and Eli herded them to the hotel. The fireman and engineer went with them as the local railroad workers filled the reservoirs with water and oiled the locomotive for them. This was the first chance Eli had for more than a few words with his Bucks since they’d boarded the caboose in Abilene. Eli and Moses sat across the table from them in the dining room and looked at each of them as they talked to their brothers and their...
“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...