The Legend of Eli CrowChapter 47
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The trek up the Arkansas was only the first of many over the next four years, as the men took the boys out to spend a week at a time, teaching them things all men who live in Indian Territory needed to know if they are to survive. They made two more treks the next month, practicing gun skills, learning how to use a knife and especially how to use their fists. They learned how to fight when the odds were against them. Moses taught them that there no such thing as a fair fight. Gang up, whip asses get it done and over with it. Use whatever it took, fight hard, fight dirty and fight to win!
Upon their return from their second trek, the women of the family and the girls too, noticed the swagger of the boys as they walked like grown men. They even looked the part and no longer looked like boys in their actions and even when they spoke.
They weren’t allowed to wear their guns when they went across the river to Tulsa, but they were told to wear their new hunting knives wherever they went.
The men at the depot noticed the difference in the six boys from over on Crow Ridge when they came in to check for telegraph messages for the marshals. The men at Perryman’s Store, where the post office was located, saw the difference too. None of them could pin down just what made them different, but there was a noticeable difference in the way the boys walked and talked.
Tulsa, Indian Territory August 11, 1884:
A few weeks after they returned from their second trek up the Arkansas to learn trail survival, fisticuffs, and gun handling, they came out of Perryman’s to see four older boys being disrespectful to a woman and her three daughters. The woman had just arrived and was attempting to step down from the wagon wheel, when the eldest boy walked up and put his hands under her skirts in a disrespectful manner, causing the woman to quickly step back up into the wagon.
Little Eli turned to look at his brothers, then back at the scene in the street. The young man was talking loudly and rudely to the woman about her and her daughters. There was a crowd beginning to gather as the commotion attracted the attention of people in the stores and on the street.
“Git them young women down from that wagon old woman, we might want to show them how to kiss and love on a man,” the older of the young men said loudly, then turned to grin at his friends. He looked around at the crowd that had gathered, becoming even more arrogant and brave in his vulgar words.
“Come on down here girls, me and my brothers want some loving and we don’t aim to wait much longer before we come up in that wagon and get some,” he taunted. It was obvious the four had been drinking, by the way they slurred their words.
The woman grabbed her reins up from where she had them wrapped around the brake release and spanked the mules with the leather reins to get out of there. One of the four brothers stepped up to grab a mule by its bridle and held the nervous team still.
“Come on down from there before we come up and git what we want right there in that old wagon with folks watchin.” The young man said loudly, his brothers laughing as they looked around at the crowd.
Little Eli stepped off the boardwalk into the dirt street and most of the crowd of onlookers recognized him as Marshal Crow’s son. The crowd began to back away as the other Crow boys stepped into the street behind the four drunken brothers.
The brother who held the mules in place saw them and pointed to them as his brothers looked around.
“What in the hell are you damned heathen Injun kids doing out here? Git your asses back over on the reservation before I kick your skinny asses back across that damn river my own self.” The young man yelled at them as he started toward them with his hands out.
Little Eli backed away from his brothers toward the store porch and the young man turned to face him. As soon as the drunken man’s back was turned, Pike dropped to the ground on his hands and knees right behind him. Little Eli quickly shoved the young man backwards, over Pike and into the dirt. Before he could get to his feet, the older brother was beaten to a bloody pulp all over his face, neck and ears by all six of the Crow boys.
The young man’s brothers ran to his defense just as Isaac and Ezra stood and stepped aside. They tripped the first two, causing them to fall on top of their older brother. These two brothers were beaten about their heads and faces with a flurry of fists, until they rolled over, covering their faces and ears with their hands and arms. The fourth brother charged into the midst and was caught by a fist from either side of his face, as Caleb and Micah rose from the ground and waylaid him in his tracks as he ran between them. He screamed in pain as he grabbed his bloody, broken nose and fell to his knees.
The eldest of the brothers rolled over and rose up from the dusty street; he was bloody and covered in dirt as he came at Little Eli again, his legs spread wide, his arms outstretched to grab hold of him. He caught a fist to his groin as Little Eli ducked under his arms and swung from the ground as hard as he could.
The fight was over just that quick.
Little Eli and his brothers walked over to introduce themselves to the woman and her daughters. The crowd began to disperse as the bloody and beaten brothers crawled or limped over to their horses and slowly mounted.
“You God Damned heathen young bucks best be gone from here when we get back. We aim to go get some guns and kill every God damned last one of you scrawny little bastards!” The eldest yelled as he looked down from his horse at the six brothers.
From behind the young man, one of his brothers yelled for him to lookout but it was too late as a hickory shovel handle caught the side of his head, breaking his jaw and tearing most of his left ear off. The young man screamed and slapped his hand over his bloody ear hole, then looked down to see his ear in the street, covered in dirt.
“Us Young Bucks, come from up on Crow Ridge over there across the river. We don’t take no cussing from no man and if you and your brothers want some more of what you just got, come and get it. We aim to put a stop to your kind causing the womenfolk embarrassment in this little river town. If you don’t want our daddies to come see you personally, you best stay away from Tulsa for a while.
“My name is Eli Crow Jr. and these are all my brothers. You best remember us and that name for years to come,” Little Eli told him as he took the pointed end of the shovel handle and flipped the bloody, dirt covered ear up in the young man’s face. Little Eli wiped the blood from the hickory handle on his buckskins and placed the new shovel handle back in the rack with the others on the store porch.
Doc and Lettie had heard the commotion from the clinic next door and walked out to see the whole incident taking place. Doc looked at Lettie and both smiled as they walked back inside the clinic when the four beaten and bloody riders headed west out of town.
For a long time, the boys never spoke of the incident when there were others around, not even in front of their sisters or Kit and Ruby. Doc did tell Jon David about it, describing how the six, nine year old Crow boys beat the four young men to a bloody pulp and sent them packing with their bloody heads down ... their tails between their legs like whipped pups.
A few days later, Jon David told Eli, Duncan, Moses, and Joe about it, with the promise they’d never confront the boys about what they’d done.
“We’ve already heard about it from Mr. Perryman and some of the others who saw it. They told us we should all be proud of these Young Bucks of ours. Seems that young man gave the Crow boys a new name to go by,” Eli told him as they sat in the barn and talked.
“Doc said it wasn’t even a fight, Eli. He said the Young Bucks were on those men before they even knew what was about to happen. All of you must have really taught them the rougher side of being a man out there on the trail.”
“We did, Jon David. We aim to take them back before long for a third week on the trail. We know there’s folks out here in Indian Territory who’d like to get one of our family members out away from us and do harm to them. We’re just making sure things are a little bit tougher for that to happen,” Duncan told him.
Jon David walked back to the house and the marshals talked among themselves about the incident and what they thought they ought to teach the Young Bucks next.
“Well, all those lesson in dirty fisticuffs Moses showed ‘em must have stuck with them the way Jon David and Perryman told it,” Joe said.
“I’d like us to work with them some more on their knife handling and throwing skills the next time we go out,” Eli told them and Duncan grinned at him. He knew of Eli’s knifing skills better than the others. He already knew Eli wanted the boys to be as good with their knives as he and Moses.
“I hope we get to work on the gun handling with the Colts some more. I need it as much as they do,” Joe told them.
“Joe, I thought you was pretty dad-burned good with yours, myself,” Moses told him.
“After seeing you ‘n Eli and Duncan shoot your Colts, I knew I was needin’ some more practice.”
“Just keep workin on it, Joe. It don’t just happen all at once,” Eli told him.
“Eli, have you given any thoughts as to when we’ll let them Young Bucks start carrying their Colts full time when we’re not around?” Duncan asked.
“I’ve thought a lot on that, Duncan. The best I could come up with, is when they all reach their double ten numbers in age. I figure by the time they’re thirteen, they’ll have enough gun savvy about them to think like a man and be accountable for their actions. I was twelve when I started carrying a gun. I was tall and skinny like them boys are now, and that old Army Colt felt like a cannon hanging on my hip. I learned to pull that thing with one hand and shoot what I was looking at though. When I took that fancy Colt from a feller I’d killed, I started taking it real serious then, making sure I could kill with each shot. Don’t take near as many bullets that way,” he said and laughed when the others laughed at what he’d said.
Crow Ridge September 21, 1884:
The marshals – the oil field men, Smitty, and the Young Bucks gathered at the loading pens to start hauling the first two derricks to the backside of Crow Ridge where they’d planned to drill the first hole for oil. They’d already piped the water over to the site from a windmill and had the water tank full.
They used two of the steam tractors to pull the derricks, after Smitty built a set of steel dolly wheels for them to roll on. It was a long slow trek with the steam tractors creeping along as the men sat on the frames of the derricks or rode the fenders of the tractors while they talked excitedly about drilling their first oil well.
Joe’s shoulder was almost completely healed from his two gunshot wounds and George Barkley was beginning to remember some of the things of his past. He still couldn’t remember the day of the storms or being in bed for nearly a month.
He was right with his brothers though, as they helped get the two derricks moved across the rolling lands of Crow Ridge Cattle Company.
When the men and boys returned from moving and erecting the first derrick on the far side of their land, they put their horses in the barn, and fed and watered them.
As soon as they walked through the kitchen door, the women and girls started yelling ‘Happy Birthday’. Seven of the boys and girls were celebrating their ninth birthday today. Their mommas and aunts had fixed a big supper, along with cake and coffee. Pike, Kia, Michi, and the Halloran sisters were just as happy as the birthday kids. They knew the pecan harvest was coming up soon and they were excited about getting to go to Pecan Ridge. The boys felt like another year older made them closer to being men.
Crow Ridge Cattle Company September 27, 1884:
Crow Ridge Cattle Company was blessed with an unusually early killing frost. They’d already had a few light frosts up to now, but this one looked like a young snow when they looked out at daylight that morning. Over each of the next three days, they had big killing frosts and started speeding up the plans to head over to Pecan Ridge Cattle Company and harvest pecans. The women started packing supplies and clothing to take on the trip.
Moses had gone down to Perryman’s a month before and ordered three dozen, ten pound sledge hammers to take with them. When he went to pick them up, he bought two, three hundred foot spools of cotton plow line to use on the pecan harvest. He saw ten, large woven willow baskets and bought them. He knew they’d need baskets to load the wagons.
Starting in early September, in preparation of this event, Jon David and Howard sent telegrams to produce buyers in Kansas City that Howard knew. Through a friend of Howard’s, they were able to find a buyer in New York City who was willing to pay top money for new crop pecans.
Wm. H. Marconi & Sons Produce Company sent them a detailed contract to buy all the pecans they could ship by December 31. They sent Jon David the pre-paid bills of lading for shipping pecans by rail directly to their warehouse in New York City. Jon David sent inquiries to two law firms back east that he had dealt with in the past, and they assured him that Marconi & Sons Produce Company of New York City, New York, was honorable, upright and trustworthy.
Based on what Eli had told him about the pecans trees in that area of the Territory, Jon David sent them a signed contract for their entire pecan crop, at twenty one and a half cents per pound, noting the pecan harvest may well be in excess of the eight hundred and fifty tons they had first estimated.
The men had already gathered up all the heavy wagons they could find in and around Tulsa. They managed to find twenty nine wagons with running gear solid enough to haul a heavy load. They took them down to Williams at the lumber yard and had him build tall sideboards for them to haul pecans. They took four of the five wagons they already owned over to Williams for sideboards too and when those four came back, they put canvas covers on five wagons for the women to ride in and to haul clothes, supplies, and feed.
“Marshal, you must have a thousand trees to need this many wagons,” Williams told him as they made the deal.
“I reckon we got close to double that, maybe even more. We never took time to count ‘em.”
“I’ll put some men on it and they’ll have ‘em ready in a couple of days. When are you leaving out?”
“As soon as you get them wagons ready to roll.”
“Pick ‘em up at daylight, day after tomorrow. I’ll have two men greasing axles, checking wheel spokes and coupling poles while the others build sideboards. We’ll have ‘em ready for you.”
“I’ll bring you a good mess of pecans back, Williams, for getting them wagons done that fast for us.”
The night before they were to leave, Eli brought the six Crow girls and the six Young Bucks into the kitchen and sat them down for a talk.
“We’re all headin out for Pecan Ridge tomorrow morning early and it’ll take us four days to get there. I want all of you up, fed, and your horses saddled at first light. We’ll ride our horses over to the lumber yard and pick up the wagons we’ll be hauling pecans on. All of you have had chances to drive a wagon team, so you’ll ride two to a wagon all the way down to Pecan Ridge. You’ll be held accountable for tending your own team of mules there and back as well as when we haul pecans to Little Tree...
“We won’t have drivers for all the teams and wagons, since the women will ride together in the five covered wagons there and back. That means some wagons will have two teams of mules pulling empty wagons, tied behind you. You’ll tie your horses to the side of your wagon, with your saddle on him ready to ride. We’re gonna have thirty-four wagons and I want all of you to watch out for each other on them wagons.
“Young Bucks... it’s time for the six of you to step up and be the young men you were taught to be.
“We don’t know how many trips it’ll take for us to get all the pecans hauled over to Little Tree, but I expect all six of you to be ready to leave out on a wagon for Little Tree as soon as we get the first six wagons loaded. When we get down to Pecan Ridge, we’ll meet up with the Buffalo Soldiers and I want all of you to make them welcome as friends and partners to the Crow family. Those men will come back here with us to work in the oil fields when we’re through down there. They’ll be living in the bunkhouses over there that Carl and Donald have built for them.
“We’ll save back a couple of wagon loads of pecans to bring back with us for our family and friends here. I promised Williams down at the lumber yard I’d bring him a good mess back too. I figure a half a wagon load ought to make a good mess for him and his men.
“I know Sissy, Miranda and Grandmother have been schoolin you Crow girls on more than school stuff, dancin steps, and how to be ladies. I’m gonna let them give all you Crow girls something they told me you’ve earned and are ready for.”
Eli stood before them as he spoke and none of them had any idea of what he was talking about until Miranda and her grandmother came in with two large, heavy canvas sacks.
Miranda motioned for all six of them to line up, then stood before them, “All of you girls line up over here single file. As you pass by Grandmother and me, we’ll give you something you’ve all earned while the men have had those Young Bucks out on the trail.”
Lee Yu was first, followed by Lilly Beth and they were dancing in their moccasins they were so excited.
Lee Yu screamed as Grandmother handed her a new leather pistol holster with her name tooled on it. She was still grinning when she turned to see Miranda holding a six-inch barrel, Colt revolver bored for the .32-20 cartridge. They were made just like the Colts the boys had, except for the barrel length.
Lilly Beth screamed too and hugged her Grandmother as she took her holster.
Kit and Ruby were followed by Kia and Michi as all of them received their handguns and holsters after weeks and weeks of training by Sissy, Miranda, and their Grandmother.
The girls were buckling their gun belts around their slim waists and tying the holsters down on their legs as the men and boys watched them. When each of them had their guns strapped on, Sissy lined them up in two rows with their pistols showing, shortest ones in front as she took their picture.
Eli turned to the Young Bucks and told them to get their guns on, being sure there were no bullets in them. They made pictures with girls only and pictures with boys only. Then Sissy lined them up to take a picture with boys and girls together.
She and Miranda wanted a picture of the marshals wearing their guns and holding their hats. Sissy posed them with her daddy facing just a little to his right. Then she posed Duncan in front of him, facing Eli and looking to his left. Moses stood behind Duncan, facing the same way and a little to his left. Joe stood behind Eli, facing to his right slightly as they all stood with their hats held down at their sides. The men were standing tall, staring at the camera with a solemn look as Sissy exposed the plates.
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...