by Zina Abbott
Caroline dropped to her haunches so she was on the same level as the child. “Hello, Emmy. I remember you when you were just a little baby. I used to take care of you at the stagecoach station.”
Emmy leaned back and looked up at her mother. “Like how I take care of Nattie?”
Caroline smiled and nodded. “Yes, just like that. It was like I was your very own grandma. I still think of you and your parents as family. Only we don’t have the stagecoach station anymore, and we no longer live close by each other. We bought a small hotel up in Atchison. It’s close to the railroad, and your parents have their livery business here. I’m so happy we were able to come to visit you.”
Before anyone moved, they turned their heads at the sound of spaced thuds sounding on the stairs.
Almost halfway down, Elam, balanced on one leg, paused, and nodded a welcome before he continued.
Roslyn smiled as she watched Isaac step forward and inspect the rails Elam had installed on both sides of the stairwell they had built so Elam could reach the loft. Braced by thick posts every third stair, Elam had set wood poles about two inches from each wall. He designed them so he could use his arms as a hoist to get up and down the stairs without either wearing his wooden leg or using his crutches.
Once he reached the bottom of the stairs, as he nodded to their guests, Elam reached for the pair of crutches propped against the corner of the wall outside the office. “Isaac, Mrs. Peterson. Right good to see you both.”
“Oh, stop it, Elam. It’s Caroline. Although, now I think of it, I never could get you to call me that while we were at the Ellsworth Station.”
Elam offered his typical scant smile. “No, ma’am. My ma done taught me manners.” He turned to Isaac and pointed to the pant leg pinned up so it did not flop around as he moved. “Done caught me without my leg on. Didn’t figure on you getting here for a day or two.”
Isaac waved the concern away. “Doesn’t bother me. If it’s not too hard getting around using the crutches, I’d like to see what you’ve done with the livery. If you have the time, that is.”
“Reckon I do.” While Roslyn, Caroline, and Emmy trailed behind, the two men walked down the center aisle and inspected the equipment and stalls. When they reached the back stall where Emmy had been, Roslyn proudly took over as she showed the Petersons the braided rug on the floor, the benches, the baby things, and a hook for a lantern should they be there after they lost daylight.
Prominently resting across two supports placed about five feet from the floor on the back wall was Elam’s wooden leg.
The Petersons stared at it with questioning expressions.
Elam shrugged. “Figured it best keeping it up high where Emmy don’t trip on it and Nattie don’t gnaw it with his teething. Easier me putting it on and off down here.”
Caroline stepped over to the crib and sucked in her breath. She held her voice to a whisper. “Oh, this little boy is beautiful. I can hardly wait until he wakes up so I can hold him.”
Roslyn flushed at the praise. “He’s been a joy. He’s almost too big for that bed now, and we’re going to need it soon for the next one.”
Emmy ran to the far wall where a window covering stood propped open. She scrambled up several ladder-style steps until she stood on top of a small platform with handrails. “I can see all the horses from here. Sometimes they’re funny.” She stuck her arm outside and pointed. “That’s Bubby. He likes to laugh.”
As if Emmy had given the command, the sound of a mule bugling filled the room.
“Bubby?” Isaac stepped forward to peer through the opening. “Did you end up with Beelzebub?”
Roslyn laughed. “Sure did. When Wells, Fargo and Company took over active management of the line and reorganized their stations, they decided Bubby was too uncooperative to be worth keeping. Eustace talked the division agent into offering Bubby to us for almost nothing. When we went to collect him, Bubby kicked up a terrible fuss about being taken away from Josie. They let us buy her, too.”
Isaac squinted as he surveyed the corral. “Yes. I see her now.”
The group exited through the rear door so Elam could show the Petersons the corrals and their buggies and wagons for rent.
Heads turned when the faint sounds of a toddler wailing floated out of the livery barn.
Roslyn turned to the others. “I need to go take care of Nattie. Emmy, please show Mr. Peterson to the office. Pa will join you as soon as he puts his leg on. Come with me, Caroline, and after I get Nattie, I’ll show you what we’ve done to the cabin. Elam and I added a bedroom.”
At Roslyn’s and Elam’s insistence—and over the Petersons’ protests—the Stewarts treated their guests to supper at the hotel dining room—the same hotel in which Roslyn had stayed when she first arrived in Junction City.
Elam explained their reasoning. “We come here now and again, but it done got harder once Nattie joined us. Ain’t sure how long before we can see our way to bringing the young’uns when there’s three of them.”
On their way home, the discussion turned to the new baby. Roslyn, who carried Nathaniel in her arms, laughed. “Yes, this one will be coming close to Christmas. I’m not sure if I prefer if it come before or after.”
Caroline patted her arm. “Before. Trust me. Our Arnold came on Christmas Eve. We thought he was a wonderful Christmas gift, but he always felt cheated that he had to share his birthday with a holiday.” She sighed. “However, babies come when they come, and we love them, no matter what.” She paused. “Have you decided what you will name this one?”
“If it’s a girl, Elam and I talked about naming her Margaret, after his mother.”
Caroline smiled and nodded. “What a beautiful name. And if it’s a boy?”
Roslyn and Elam gazed into each other’s eyes. An understanding passed between them.
Elam turned to the Petersons and offered his ghost of a smile. “We done named Nathaniel after my pa. If this here one coming is a boy, reckon it’s time we got us another Ross in the family.”
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Author’s Notes
~o0o~
E lam was the name of Noah’s grandson through his son, Shem. (Gen. 10:22)
Beelzebub was the name of a Philistine god. It was also used as a title for “chief of the demons,” or Satan. The Pharisees referred to him as the prince of the devils (Matt. 12:24). Jesus denied that He cast out devils by the power of Beelzebub. (Luke 11:14-20).
The earlier stagecoach company to operate in the vicinity of Ellsworth, Kansas was the Kansas Stage Company. This company, with its headquarters in Kansas City, started business in Kansas in 1860.
The Land Office was not located in Junction City until 1870. I moved it back to 1866 for the sake of my story.
In 1865, David Butterfield (no relation to John Butterfield who operated the Butterfield Overland Mail Company from St. Louis, Missouri south through Texas, New Mexico and Arizona Territories, and California before the American Civil War), decided to capitalize on the Smoky Hill Trail being the shortest route from shipping points in the east to Denver, Colorado. He formed the Butterfield Overland Despatch (B.O.D.) After putting together his financing, he began building stations, and buying stagecoaches and livestock.
The B.O.D. operated three types of stations. Home stations were run by families. They provided meals for a fee. Stations where stock was kept might have one to three stock tenders that changed out teams. Stops there might be only five to ten minutes, barely long enough for passengers to use the necessary. The third type of station was a cattle station where oxen were kept for freighters who wished to change their yokes of oxen for fresh teams. (Butterfield also operated oxen-pulled freight trains along this route.) All B.O.D. cattle stations were also home stations.
The first B.O.D. stagecoach run left Atchison, Kansas on September 11, 1865 and arrived in Denver on September 23rd. The section from Atchison to Fort Ellsworth was fairly well established and travel was
smooth. The stations from Fort Ellsworth westward were not completely built or filled with necessary livestock at first. Conditions were rougher and fraught with danger the entire time the B.O.D. was in operation.
Tensions between the white Americans and the Native Americans escalated in western Kansas during this period of time. The Cheyenne, predominantly, but also the Arapaho and Kiowa, resisted being driven from their prime southern bison hunting grounds (between the Platte River to the north and the Arkansas River to the south). As much as they attacked the forts, the stagecoaches were a bigger target for them because they increasingly brought white Americans to their lands. Some attacks involved perhaps ten to twenty natives. Survivors of other attacks claim there were 100 or more native warriors involved.
The Native Americans feared the coming of the railroad. Bison were disturbed by the activity of the forts, freight wagon trains, and stagecoaches, but would not cross railroad tracks. This disrupted their normal migration pattern of moving to the southern plains during colder weather, but north to the new grass during the summer months.
Along the Smoky Hill Trail, the Ellsworth stagecoach station was built close to Fort Ellsworth (later changed to Fort Harker). Fort Fletcher (later Fort Hays) and Fort Wallace were originally military camps at stagecoach station sites. The primary duties of the frontier forts at that time included protecting the mails (Ben Holliday held the mail contract and used the Overland route along the Platte River), settlers, stagecoaches, and the railroad crews.
Due to tremendous losses of stock, stagecoaches, stations, and personnel, in March 1866, the Butterfield Overland Despatch company was sold to Ben Holladay, who continued to operate the stage operation, even though a month after he bought the company, he sold the majority of the stock in the company to Wells, Fargo & Company. The B.O.D. ceased operation in 1870.
As far as real history goes, the Ellsworth B.O.D. station was a home station, which meant it would have been operated by a family. I found lists of B.O.D. stations along the Smoky Hill Trail, but no details about the schedule other than the stagecoach ran thrice weekly. Atchison would have been the division headquarters for the eastern part of the route. I did find reference to a resident division agent at Big Creek Station just west of Fort Fletcher (later Fort Hays) who was in charge of the route from that point west to Denver, Colorado. The schedule I devised for my story is fictional, although possible, based on what I found in my research. It is also possible that stagecoach runs by one driver for the eastern division might have gone from Atchison, Kansas to Big Creek Station.
I found records of a raid by hostiles on Fort Ellsworth on August 7, 1864. The natives captured five mules from the Kansas Stage Company and fifty horses from the fort. There is a record of another attack on the fort on June 17, 1865, but there were no details given regarding losses in the report. Both instances took place before the B.O.D. operated a station by the fort.
During this period, Fort Ellsworth was manned by the 7th Iowa Cavalry under the command of 2nd Lt. Allen Ellsworth. Most online references to this regiment’s history involved either their Civil War service, or action by some of their companies in Indian Wars campaigns in the Nebraska area. I have no idea if the company at Fort Ellsworth had a post surgeon with them. I doubt the regimental surgeon was stationed there. I wrote my story as if they did not have a medical officer with them.
On November 11, 1866, after the time period of my story, the fort was renamed Fort Harker. The original site of Fort Ellsworth built on the Smoky Hill River, which had a tendency to flood, was abandoned and rebuilt about a mile northeast.
For the sake of my fictional story, I moved the June 17, 1865 attack at Fort Ellsworth up a year to 1866 and included the station in the attack. By then, the Butterfield Overland Despatch had their station there. Although this not historically accurate, there were several attacks by the three hostile tribes, particularly by the Cheyenne “Dog Soldiers,” against B.O.D. stagecoach stations farther west from Ellsworth. Although, in my story, I left out references to the torture and gruesome deaths suffered by some of the stock tenders at these stations, the Cheyenne attack I did portray in this book could be considered compatible with the type that took place at the stagecoach stations along the Smoky Hill Trail between the end of the American Civil War and the completion of the railroad as far as Sheridan, Kansas (just east of Fort Wallace) in 1868.
~o0o0o~
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Thank you for reading
Mail Order Roslyn!
Each book in the
Widows, Brides & Secret Babies
series is a Clean, Sweet Historical Romance. You may find all the books in this series as they are published by searching for
“Widows, Brides and Secret Babies” on Amazon.com
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If you enjoyed reading Mail Order Roslyn, you might also enjoy Hannah’s Handkerchief, Book 24 in the
Lockets & Lace series,
Which is also set on the Kansas frontier following the American Civil War.
Here is an excerpt:
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Chapter 1
~o0o~
Ft. Riley, Kansas
April 1865
H annah Atwell’s footsteps slowed and gradually veered toward the long dining table that dominated the room. They halted behind one of the cherrywood chairs and she leaned forward to examine in detail the china plate rimmed with dainty yellow flowers embedded in a soft green wreath pattern around the outer edge. A glance to the side told her the cup and saucer were part of the same set. All rested on a pristine white linen tablecloth, each dinner plate flanked by silverware—not tin flatware like her family back in Salina used, but real silverware.
What was more, more forks and spoons surrounded each plate than she ever would have imagined one person needed to eat a meal. A stemmed wine goblet stood behind each place setting, and a folded linen napkin placed to the left side. In the center, a silver candelabra, its arms spread, held five white candles.
Hannah sucked in her breath as she counted the number of place settings. Ten, and everything matched. It was all so beautiful.
“Come, dear. The room I’ve put you and your cousin in for the night is up these stairs.”
Wearing her most accommodating smile, Hannah turned to the captain’s wife, her hostess for the evening. “Thank you, Mrs. Prescott. I was admiring your table setting.”
Permelia Prescott lips twitched, and then she spread them into their classic smile before she advanced on the staircase. “Yes, it is for the senior officers’ dinner that will take place shortly. We have visitors down from Fort Leavenworth for the social this evening. Since the major’s wife is still back east, it fell to me to host the meal, even though I ended up with the lion’s share of the responsibility for this evening’s dance and supper buffet. It will be a busy time, getting everything washed up and ready for tonight. I just hope the gentlemen do not linger over their meal too long.”
Gripping her small carpetbag, Hannah followed her hostess and placed her foot on the bottom stair. “Mrs. Prescott, I’ll be happy to help wash dishes or do anything you need done in the kitchen. I appreciate your invitation to my cousin and me to stay here so we may attend tonight’s celebration, but I don’t want to be an additional burden to you.”
Mrs. Prescott stopped and turned to face her.
“Thank you, dear, that’s very thoughtful. However, I’ve already hired extra workers from among some of the wives here at the fort. They are grateful for the pay they will receive. In addition, the other officers’ wives will assist with tonight’s decorations and food.” She paused and gave Hannah a knowing grin.
“We’ll all be bringing our china plates and cups for the midnight buffet. Perhaps you’ll enjoy seeing the different colors and patterns on the dishes.”
A flush started at the base of Hannah’s neck. No doubt, her interest in the elegant place setting confirmed she was nothing but a simple farmer’s daughter, one not accustomed to the finer things in life. “I do like pretty things for the house. I’m sure I’ll enjoy seeing the different styles of china.”
Permelia turned to continue up the stairs. “I just hope I have sufficiently impressed on my kitchen help that china is not as sturdy as crockware. It will break if not handled carefully.” She shook her head. “I would think most of these officers have been taught how to hold china. I imagine tonight we’ll find out.” She paused and turned back to Hannah once more. “That’s another reason when I spoke to the captain about this, I insisted there would be no spirits tonight, either directly from a decanter or in the punchbowl. Not only do I not want any of our female guests to suffer discomfort by being in the presence of misbehaving gentlemen, I want all the ladies’ china to survive this event.”
Hannah finished climbing the stairs and followed her hostess down a narrow hall. Misbehaving gentlemen? What I have gotten myself into?
When Captain Prescott came out to check on the newest colt born to Kizzie’s mare, Sugarcone, he issued the invitation to both her father and Uncle Sidney requesting that she and Kizzie attend the dance. The occasion was to celebrate the surrender of General Lee and the virtual end of the war with the Southern states. It was also being used as a means of raising funds for the Sanitary Commission which provided medical supplies and trained nurses to help those soldiers injured in the war. To sweeten the deal, the captain promised his wife would see the girls wore ballgowns left behind by their married daughter so there would be no clothing expense for the two families.