by Terry Grosz
The Mexican cowboy relayed Martin’s stem words, and both Indians nodded and said something in return to Martin.
“They say, ‘Thank you,’ patron,” said the cowboy pleased with his bosses’ decision.
Martin and Jacob smiled and then ordered the rest of the men back to camp so they could have a hot meal after a long day on the trail. No more cattle disappeared during the rest of the trip as the herders continued crossing the lands of the Maidu.
Aside from meeting the stages and mule trains on the narrow trail, the next rite of passage became the swinging bridge over the Feather River. When confronted by the strange contraption, the cattle would not cross no matter how hard the men tried to push them. Finally Jacob got the idea of dragging across the leader of the herd. With several rope loops across his head and horns, he was dragged bellowing in fear across the swinging bridge. That settled it as the herd, seeing their leader on the other side of the river, almost stampeded across the bridge, causing it to groan and swing wildly. Soon everyone was across the Feather River and began the long trek up out of the canyon and onto the ridge trail from Bidwell’s Bar to Bucks Ranch.
For the next four days, they trailed the herd back over the Beckwourth Trail to the small mining town of American Valley. Here they rested the herd for two days so the animals could feed on the valley’s lush grasses on the Thompson Ranch several miles east of the town.
Realizing they were less than a week’s travel from Sierra Valley, Amanda, and Kim, the boys went into town where they purchased new clothing, got haircuts and shaves, and took long, hot baths. When they returned to camp, they took a lot of razzing for getting “all gussied up.” Jacob and Martin took the razzing in good spirits, and their improved appearance wasn’t all they had up their new sleeves. They had purchased not only many fine ladies’ clothes but perfumes and two diamond rings as well! Grouchy fathers or not, the men had it in mind to propose to the two ladies, eventually marry, and settle down in Sierra Valley as wealthy cattle ranchers. They would also be made even richer by the wealth of Spanish gold bars and pokes full of nuggets still buried in their cabin’s floor awaiting them.
The following morning the men and the herd left Thompson’s Ranch, and a week later they left the small town of Mormon Junction. A short time later, they arrived on a small ridge overlooking Grizzly Creek at the entrance of Sierra Valley. The brothers could hardly wait as their tired herd and slow-moving wagons seemed to just creak along. Finally they arrived at the brothers’ two cabins, barns, and sets of corrals, only to find them burned to the ground! Quickly riding to their original homesite, they discovered two stark wooden crosses at the head of fresh mounds of earth.
Leaping off their horses, Jacob and Martin hurriedly walked over to their cabin’s ash heaps and, after a brief look of disbelief, moved over to the two crosses. One was carved with the word “Jerry” and the other with “Dave.”
As the herd arrived and began to mill around and the wagons full of squealing pigs braked to a stop, the two brothers could hardly believe their eyes. Both looked wildly around as if the culprit would still be nearby, then quietly accepted the scene of death and destruction spread out before them.
“Men, we will camp back along Grizzly Creek this evening and just let the cattle roam nearby. In the meantime, let’s build a corral that will hold the pigs and let them out from their wagons so they can move around a bit,” said a very grim-faced Jacob.
His grimness turned even darker when his brother returned from the cabin where their gold nuggets and bars had been buried.
“Jacob, someone discovered our gold cache, dug it up, and spirited it all away!” said Martin with his typical someone-is-going-to-die-for-this look.
“Are you sure?” asked Jacob, feeling his killing edge coming on as well.
“Sure as I am standing here. There is a hole on the northeast side of the cabin that is at least four feet deep with nary a nugget or gold bar left,” Martin grimly responded. “Not to mention someone killed our two friends the Hall brothers in the process of robbing us.”
As all this ugliness came to light, their crew of herders and friends from the sea gathered around, listening and looking on quietly.
“Cain, will you take charge of the crew and things here? My brother and I have to ride over to Jim Beckwourth’s cabin in order to get to the bottom of this,” Jacob said with a distinct killing tenor in his voice.
Cain, sensing the seriousness of the moment, nodded in agreement as Jacob and Martin swung back into their saddles and galloped off in the direction of Jim Beckwourth’s cabin.
“Hello, the cabin!” yelled Jacob as he and Martin rode up. In a second, the door flew open, and out strode Jim Beckwourth with a look of wonder on his face and rifle in hand.
“Where the hell have you two ring-tailed cats been? Do you realize it has been more than a year since you two showed your ugly mugs in this here valley?” he asked, obviously astonished yet happy to see his two given up for lost friends.
“What the holy hell happened, Jim?” asked Jacob in a tone not to be misunderstood as he swung down from his horse.
“I take it you two boys have been over to your place and found it burned to the ground. Well, as near as anyone can tell, Dave and Jerry let four travelers stay for the night in Martin’s cabin since he wasn’t using it. The next thing we knowed was the cabins were burning, and Dave and Jerry were dead.”
“Who did it, Jim?” asked Martin in a hard voice.
“Don’t rightly know for sure, but talk in Mormon Junction was that four mean-as-a-skunk miners from a camp called Rich Bar over on the Feather River were tossed out of a saloon in town after killing another miner in a suspicious fight during a card game. The last anyone saw of them they was headed this way just before Jerry and Dave were killed. Two days after they was reported in the area, I went over to your cabins to borrow a sack of flour. That was when I discovered the burned cabins, barns, and corrals, all your stock missing, and the bodies, or what were left of them, inside the cabins’ remains. I took right off after giving Dave and Jerry a proper burial and tracked them four varmints and a slew of packhorses they stole from you as far as the outskirts of the Truckee River settlement afore I lost their trail. However, I went into town and met with Larry Davis, the gunsmith, and he said there were four miners who have since bought the Majestic Saloon adjoining Stockley’s Gaming Casino, the Bucket of Blood Saloon, and Molly’s Sporting House. Hell’s fire, boys, they now own a block of the town’s finest gaming and sporting houses purchased with a hoard of gold they got from somewhere!”
Martin turned to Jacob and said, “Yes, and it sounds like they did so with our stash of gold that we left buried in our cabin.”
“How the hell did they find it?” returned Jacob with a questioning look.
“I might have an idea,” said Jim. “From the looks of one of the Hall brothers, his hands and feet were wired together when I found them.”
“That be the only way,” said a grim-faced Jacob. “They had to torture it out of those fellows because they knew where the gold was buried, but they were loyal to us to a fault.”
“Jacob, if that be the case, we have some killing to attend to,” Martin uttered quietly.
“I would be obliged if’n you boys would let me attend that event as well. If’n for nothing else, to keep the wolves from your backs during the hurrah and to avenge the loss of my two old mountain-man friends,” Jim said with a killing glint in his eyes as well.
“Can’t let you do it, Jim,” replied Jacob. “You of all people deserve to live out your string in peace in light of what you done for the West and all of us here in the valley.”
Realizing the truth of Jacob’s words and his creeping age, Jim said, “If’n you need help, I think you can count on Davis to give you a hand once you get there in town.”
“That would be good,” said Martin, “because by now them four varmints have hired others like them to protect and watch over their backsides.”
&n
bsp; The ride back to their cabins was a quiet affair. When they arrived, it became apparent that word had gone around the valley that the boys were back because Rich Grosz, Mark Webb, Daniel and his clan, and Martin Jones and his clan had appeared. There was much happiness in evidence as the people were only too pleased to see the return of the long-lost brothers. But there was also much sadness over the loss of the Hall brothers.
After much explanation about what had happened to the brothers and about their yearlong absence, Jacob quieted the crowd, and the talk turned serious.
“Folks, we have a lot to do and not much time to do it, so we had better get started. Firstly, we have four wagons heavily loaded with winter supplies. With the help of our hired Mexican hands, I suggest we get those goods distributed to all of you so they are not stolen by outsiders or ruined by the weather. Secondly, we have the issue of our livestock and pigs. Again with the help of our Mexican hands, I suggest we distribute them equally among the families at hand for safekeeping until my brother and I return from a task awaiting us along the Truckee River settlement. If we return, my brother and I will settle up with all of you for caring for our stock. If we don’t return, then you will have starter cattle and hog herds, and we will be even.
“Now, we have another issue. It appears the men who killed the Hall brothers are in the Truckee River settlement. That being said, my brother and I propose to go there and prove that is the case—and given the chance, we will kill every one of them! Again, if we are successful, we will be back. If not, then you can split up our things and divide our ranch and its lands equally among yourselves because it is all paid for.”
“Jacob,” said Cain, “what about us who were your shipmates and came with you to settle here as farmers or cattlemen?”
“You can stay and share in our supplies and herds as well. You will need to get together with Jim and purchase some land from him from our cache of coins we brought with us because that opportunity hasn’t changed. You don’t need to get in harm’s way and risk your lives with us for a score we need to personally settle,” replied Jacob.
“The hell you say!” said Cain. “We were brothers once and still are as far as I am concerned. Count me in on the killin’ trip. After all, I got shanghaied looking for the two of you in the first place, and now I’ll be damned if I let either of you out of my sight again to get into trouble without me.”
With that, Cain rode his horse over to where Jacob, Martin, and Jim were mounted and took his place beside his brother mountain men.
“Well, if that don’t take the cake!” said Bill Black. “Here we have the chance to get into a real hell-raising and aren’t even invited. I would say that borders on some of the worst manners I have ever seen. What say the rest of you bilge rats? Are we in, or are we out?”
En masse and without hesitation, Ran Slaten, Leo Suazo, Bill Black, and John Paul rode their horses over to where Jacob and company stood and reined in behind them.
“Well, if all of you wish to become damn fools, I guess I won’t object,” said Jacob with the first smile he’d shown since his arrival home. “If that be the case, we best get cracking and get ready because I plan on leaving for the Truckee settlement at first light.”
The rest of the day was spent in getting ready and paying off the Mexican cowboys so they could go home once they had moved the cattle, hogs, and food supplies to the various ranches. During that process, Rich Grosz, Chris Grosz, and Mark Webb approached Jacob with fire in their eyes.
“Jacob, you can count us in on this fracas as well. Jerry and Dave were our friends too, and we feel we owe them something,” said Chris.
Jacob looked for a moment at the three hell-for-stout men standing solidly in front of him, then said, “No, I think not. I didn’t drag you three all this way just to have you killed in a brawl in town. Besides, all of you have families, and we don’t. If any of us get killed, it don’t matter. But if you do, then your families are at a loss.”
The three men tried to object, but Jacob stood firm. Seeing that Jacob’s mind was made up and that his words made sense, the three men fell to the work at hand helping in the dividing of the winter food supplies and animal herds.
Martin Jones approached Martin and had a similar quiet conversation in which he offered to go with Martin, as did his sons. Martin, like Jacob, thanked his grandfather for the offer. But he told the older man that he and his sons needed to continue their new life in a land where being an Indian did not matter but being a man of his word did. After more quiet conversation, Martin’s face clouded over, over what his grandfather had just told him. Then Martin Jones and his boys fell to with the others trying to carry out Jacob’s wishes regarding the placement of the supplies and livestock.
Walking over to Jacob, Martin said, “Kim is married. She waited for me, and after no word on our whereabouts for over a year, she married a dairy farmer from the east side of the valley. Martin tells me she is happily married, and I best not let her know I am back because according to him, she loved me dearly, and that might cause problems in her marriage.”
Jacob could see the heartbreak in his brother’s eyes. He put his arm over Martin’s shoulders and walked him away from the other men and their activity.
“I just learned from Rich that Amanda is also married. Like Kim, she waited, then, fearing I was dead, married a man in Mormon Junction who runs the town’s largest emporium. She too is happy and in fact is with child. I do not plan on visiting her or upsetting her life either. From what I can see, the two of us are brothers once more with little opportunity to settle down and have a family in this valley,” Jacob said sadly.
“Well,” said Martin, “we were gone a long time, and I don’t blame them. But for once things sure seemed to be going our way, and now we must once again start over and face our mortality.”
“I can’t think of a better person with which to do that than with you, my brother,” Jacob said quietly.
The brothers hugged and then, without another word about what might have been, returned to the preparations at hand. Once they finished, they had some unfinished business to attend to, and that included a whole lot of bloodletting to their way of thinking...and not their blood.
Chapter Thirty
The Fourth of July
Dusk the next day found seven heavily armed men entering the firearms shop of Larry Davis. Recognizing the brothers and sensing that something serious was up, Larry walked by the group without saying a word, put a closed sign in his window, and drew down the shades.
“It is good to see you two boys once again,” he said with a big grin and hearty back-slap.
Introductions were made all around, and then Jacob said, “We have come to claim what is rightfully ours and kill four thieving, killing sons of bitches and anyone associated with them for what they did to two of our friends in Sierra Valley.”
“I take it you mean those and their small army of confederates who walked into town some time back with leather sacks of gold nuggets and Spanish ingots and now own half of Main Street,” Larry responded seriously.
“That sounds like them,” said Martin, deadly serious over the violent business to come.
“Well, after talking with Jim from over your way, I figured you might eventually show up with blood in your eyes and have taken it upon myself to do some groundwork. Sheriff John Dale is my friend and also realized there was something stinking in the henhouse with the arrival of those four and their instant wealth. Especially in light of no news of a new gold strike for many months in the territory. However, those chaps have surrounded themselves with an army of local outlaws, and the sheriff is unable to do anything about it because he doesn’t have very many good men,” said Larry. “But I will tell you what we need to do. I need to go get John and see if he will meet with the seven of you. That way we can get his support, and when we drop the anvil on these killers, we will have the legal sun at our backs in a manner of speaking.”
“Larry, when can you get the sheriff to sneak
over and meet with us?” asked Jacob.
“How about tonight? You can bed down in the back of my store, and I will get Rose from Rose and Ernie’s Emporium to bring us some chow when no one is looking. In the meantime, you had better get out of sight in case anyone looks past my shades. It seems Royce Hubert, the leader of the gang of four, has spies everywhere. And by the way, count me and my artillery in on this shindig whenever it comes down the pike.”
Jacob had to smile at Larry’s offer, and from the tone of his voice, the request was not to be questioned but counted on as gospel.
As they stood around Larry’s wood stove in the back room, waiting for the coffee to boil and the sheriff to arrive, there was a loud bang as the front door opened and then slammed shut. Each man went for his shooting iron, only to be met by Rose carrying in a huge crock of bean soup, an armload of fresh homemade bread, and several crocks of butter.
“Larry said you boys might be hungry after your long ride, so I loaded the tray up pretty good. I will leave it here and go back for another, so eat hearty.”
She was gone just as quickly as she had appeared. Hungry and not wasting any time, the men dove into the food with gusto. The dishes were clean as a hound’s tooth when Rose entered with another tray carrying more of her hearty soup, homemade bread, and a fresh-cut apple pie still crackling hot from the oven in her wood stove.
Taking the empty tray, she asked, “How you fellas fixed for ammunition?” Before anyone could respond, she said, “I see most of you are wearing Remingtons. I will have Ernie stash some .44 cartridges in the next load that comes over.” Then she was once again gone just as fast as she had appeared.
The back door opened, and in walked Larry and a smallish man with arms as muscular as a blacksmith’s.
“Evening, gents,” spoke the new man, who was wearing a badge.
Stepping forward, Jacob introduced himself, as did the rest of the men crowded around the coffee pot on the stove.