The Bozeman Trail

by Ralph Compton

  Disregarding James’s order, Matthew pulled the trigger. Even as he did so, however, Billy pulled his knife and placed his blade over the primer cap on Matthew’s rifle. As a result, the hammer clicked harmlessly against the knife blade.

  “What the hell?” Matthew said angrily. “What did you do that for?”

  “So I didn’t have to cut your throat,” Billy answered. “Now, you put that rifle back in the sheath.”

  Grumbling, Matthew did as he was asked.

  The approaching Indian had stopped when Matthew gave every indication that he was about to shoot, but now he resumed riding, coming closer to them. When he reached them he stopped and held up his right hand, palm open, in a symbol of greeting.

  “I am Washakie of the Shoshone,” he said. “My people are at peace with the white man. I am a friend of the white man.”

  “A friend, huh? You sure haven’t been acting like it these last few days,” Matthew said.

  “You have been doing battle with our enemy, the Sioux,” Washakie said. He nodded. “You have fought the Sioux bravely and well, but you are safe now, for you are in Shoshone land. If the Sioux try to fight you again, we will protect you.”

  “What do you want for this protection?” James asked.

  “Only that you be the friend of the Shoshone, as we will be your friend.”

  “And the gift of a few cows, I suppose?” Matthew asked, sarcastically.

  “I have received many gifts, and I have given many gifts,” Washakie said. “But my friendship does not depend upon gifts.”

  “Are you telling us you don’t want any of our cows?”

  “I want cattle, yes,” Washakie replied. “But not as a gift. We wish to trade.”

  “What do you have to trade?” James asked.

  Washakie looked at James, then the others who were with him.

  “Soon it will be very cold. Do you have blankets and robes for the cold?”

  “Damn!” James said. He looked at the others. “Damn, he’s right! It was so hot when we left Texas that I never even thought about bringing something for the cold weather.”

  “If you do not have blankets and buffalo robes, you will freeze to death,” Washakie cautioned.

  “And you just happen to have those things that we need, right, Chief?” Matthew asked.

  “We have such things, yes,” Washakie replied.

  “Well, you can just go peddle them somewhere else,” Matthew said. “Because we ain’t buyin’.”

  “Yes, we are buying,” James said. “Unless you think you can keep warm up here just by putting on more than one shirt.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  With the Golden Calf Cattle Company, mile 1,560

  Thursday, October 9, 1862:

  The day began with overcast skies and a northwest wind. Although it was tolerably warm in the morning, the temperature started dropping and by noon it was below freezing. Shortly after noon the clouds delivered on their promise, and a freezing rain began falling. Conditions went from uncomfortable to downright miserable. Sleet pummeled the riders and caused sheets of ice to build up, first on the horns of the cattle, then on their coats and the coats of the horses.

  Sheets of ice also built up on the buffalo robes the riders were wearing. Ice crystals hung in the mustaches and beards of the men, and on their eyebrows. It even caused little icicles to hang from the end of their noses.

  Bob rode in advance of the herd, looking for some place to shelter the animals. He came back with the happy report that there was a canyon just a few miles ahead.

  “What good will it do us? We’ll never get them there,” Billy shouted into the howling wind.

  “We’ll get them there. We’ve got to!” James shouted back. “If we don’t, we are going to lose the entire herd. I didn’t come this far to give up now!”

  Billy’s prediction that they wouldn’t be able to get the herd into the shelter of the canyon came uncomfortably close to being true. The wind cut through man and beast like a razor-sharp knife, blowing sleet and freezing rain into the faces of the plodding cattle. The natural tendency was for the cows to turn around, presenting their tails to the wind, but if they did that, they would be going away from the canyon, so the cowboys worked hard to keep them going in the right direction. Making lashes of their lariats, they slapped the animals hard on the rump, forcing them to proceed into the face of the driving storm.

  It was a long, hard drive until finally, just before nightfall, they entered the canyon. As they did so, the drive got easier, for the cattle, realizing now that the better choice for them was ahead, were anxious to get into the shelter.

  The night that followed was bitterly cold, though they managed to push it back somewhat by building a large fire. Revelation got supper going. It consisted of biscuits and bacon, augmented by a big pot of coffee. The men, exhausted from the day’s efforts, sat quietly, staring into the fire as they drank their coffee and ate their supper.

  Then, Revelation surprised them with something else. She added sugar and cinnamon to the extra biscuit dough, formed the dough into little circles, and dropped them into a boiling pot of lard. Within minutes she was moving from cup to cup, pouring fresh coffee and passing out doughnuts. When she started, still one more time, to refill the cups, James called out to her.

  “Here, Revelation,” James said. “You don’t have to do that. If we want more coffee, we can get our own.”

  “I don’t mind,” Revelation said. “I was warm and snug on the wagon seat today, while you men kept the herd moving.”

  Billy chuckled. “Warm and snug, huh? You looked like a big icicle when you climbed down from that seat. I don’t know how you could call that warm and snug.”

  “Sit down, Sis. If anyone else wants coffee, I’ll get it for ’em,” Matthew said.

  “Damn, Matthew, what’s got into you?” Bob teased.

  “I can be a good guy if I want to,” Matthew said. “It’s just that most of the time, I don’t want to,” he added.

  The others laughed.

  Taking him at his word, Revelation hung the coffeepot from its hook over the fire, then sat down beside James.

  “That was very nice of you, cooking sinkers for the men,” James said, using the cowboy term for doughnuts.

  “It was the least I could do for them. Everyone worked so hard today.”

  “Yeah, they did, didn’t they?” James said. “They’ve endured a lot on this drive, but they’ve pulled together into a really great outfit.”

  “You’ve pulled them together,” Revelation said.

  “No, they pretty much did it themselves. I don’t think there’s anything one man could do with a group like this, if the men weren’t willing to do it on their own.”

  “Still, they look up to you as their leader.”

  “I reckon,” James said, clearly uncomfortable with the compliments.

  “James, how much longer do you think this drive will last?” she asked.

  “Well, if the map we got back at Fort Larned is accurate, I figure we’ve got about one more week. That is, if a blizzard doesn’t come up and snow us in.”

  “Oh, do you think that will happen?” Revelation asked, anxiously.

  “I hope not,” James said. Then, when he saw that wasn’t comforting enough to her, he added, “I don’t think we’re going to have to worry about a lot of snow, the sleet and freezing rain has pretty much taken about all this cloud has to offer.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  They were silent for a moment, then Revelation spoke again.

  “After we get there and sell the cattle, how long will it be before the outfit starts back?”

  “Well, the outfit won’t go back,” James said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “After we sell the herd, there won’t be any more outfit. The Golden Calf Cattle Company will break up and everyone is going to be on their own,” James said.

  “What do you think they will all do?”

  “I im
agine everyone will hang around, at least through the winter, looking for gold.”

  “Oh, do you think so?”

  “Well, yes. I mean, when you get right down to it, that’s the real reason we came up here. The idea of the cattle drive came later.”

  “So, you’re going to look for gold, too?”

  “I may look for a little while,” James answered. “Why are you so concerned? Are you that anxious to get back to Texas? Have you got someone waiting for you back there?”

  “Someone?”

  “A fella.”

  Revelation laughed. “No,” she said. “Are you kidding? Who, in Bexar county, would be interested in a Scattergood?”

  “I just wondered, I mean, with all the questions about how soon you could get back.”

  “I like to know what is going to happen next, that’s all.”

  “Whether I find any gold or not, I don’t plan to go back to Texas, to stay,” James said. “I’ll take Pa his share of the money from the sale of the herd, but then I’m coming back to Dakota.”

  “Why?”

  “If Dakota is like California, even after the gold boom dies down, there will still be a lot of people up here. And if so, they’ll have to eat. I plan to get myself as much grassland as I can and start a ranch.”

  “Yes,” Revelation said. “Yes, I can see where that might be a good idea.”

  “I’m glad someone can see it. I’ve talked with some of the others about starting a ranch up here, and they don’t seem to think it’s a very good idea.”

  “So everyone else is going back?”

  “I don’t know what your brothers will do, but Bob, Billy, and Duke plan to stay here, at least through the winter, to look for gold.”

  “I suspect my brothers have something like that in mind as well.”

  “What about you?”

  “I suppose I’ll have to stay for a while as well. I can’t go back by myself.”

  James picked up a stick and tossed it into the fire, watching it catch in the flames. He looked over at Revelation. Her face glowed softly in the flickering light of the campfire. James cleared his throat.

  “Revelation?”

  “Yes?”

  James was quiet for a moment.

  “Yes?” Revelation said again.

  “I’ve been watching you for this entire drive,” James said. “You’re strong, you’re a hard worker, and you don’t get rattled in danger. You’re a good cook and you can make do without a whole lot of trappings. I mean, the sinkers you made for us tonight show that.”

  Revelation laughed. “Well, I thank you,” she said. “I think.”

  James tossed another stick into the fire. “What I’m getting at is this. It’s going to be a hard, lonely life starting a ranch up here. But I really feel like it could pay off in five or ten years. Now, those first few years would go down a heap easier if I had someone to share them with me. And, I expect there would be more reward in building a ranch, if I had a son to leave it to.”

  “I suppose so,” Revelation said. She still wasn’t certain she understood where James was going with this line of conversation.

  “So, how about it?” he concluded.

  “How about what?” Revelation asked, confused by the question.

  “What’s your answer? Yes or no?” James asked.

  As Revelation realized what James was asking, she gasped.

  “James Cason, are you proposing to me?”

  “Proposing?”

  “Are you asking me to marry you?”

  “Well, yes,” James said, as if surprised that she was just now figuring it out. “What do you think I’ve been doing?”

  “Damn you, James,” Revelation said.

  “Damn me what?”

  “Don’t you know that a girl spends her entire life fantasizing about how she is going to be proposed to? She wants the moment to be romantic, she wants to be made love to, she doesn’t want to think she’s being hired as a ranch foreman.”

  “Oh,” James said. “Well, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any offense.”

  “So ask me.”

  “What?”

  “If you want me to marry you, James Cason, ask me the way a woman is supposed to be asked.”

  James was quiet for a long moment. Finally, he spoke.

  “I’m not very good at this sort of thing, Revelation. I’m a plainspoken man, and I say what’s on my mind. I always tell the truth about things, no matter which way it falls, so sometimes I get myself into a heap of trouble because I’m honest, when a little dishonesty would be a less hurtful thing.

  “This, I will tell you true. I’ve been giving a lot of thought to starting a ranch up here, and almost from the beginning, I have known that I don’t want to do this alone. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it’s not just that I don’t want to do it alone, I don’t want to do it without you.

  “You want me to ask you to marry me, the way a woman is supposed to be asked? Well, Revelation, I truly don’t know how that is, so all I can do is tell you that I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately. And most of all, I’m thinking that I would like for you to be around from now on. I would like for us to share the rest of our lives together. So I’m asking you now, Revelation Scattergood, would you marry me?”

  James had been staring into the fire for the whole time he was talking. When he looked back at Revelation he was surprised to see tears streaming down her face.

  “Revelation, what’s wrong? Have I upset you?”

  “No, silly,” Revelation said. “Don’t you know that women also cry when they are happy?”

  “You’re happy?”

  “Yes.”

  “Does that mean you’ll marry me?”

  “Yes,” Revelation said, nodding her head vigorously. “I’ll marry you, James Cason.”

  “Yahoo!” James shouted.

  “What’s got into him?” Matthew asked.

  “I imagine your sister just told him she would marry him,” Duke said.

  “Well, it’s about time,” Matthew said. “She’s been pining over him ever since we left Texas.”

  “Yeah, I figured it would’ve happened long before now,” Billy said.

  “I told you he wouldn’t ask her until we were nearly through the drive,” Bob said.

  James listened to the exchange with an expression of surprise on his face. “Damn,” he said. “Are you telling me everyone knew about this?”

  Revelation laughed. “Everyone, it seems, but you,” she replied, her eyes glistening happily in the firelight.

  Chapter Seventeen

  With the Golden Calf Cattle Company, just outside Bannack2

  Wednesday, October 15, 1862:

  Although they left Texas with 3,250 head of cattle, losses to Indians, accidents, weather, penalties, and normal attrition, had cut down the size of the herd. They wouldn’t have a final count until they drove the cows into the holding pens, but they knew they were going to have to have an equitable apportionment to share the losses. After a great deal of discussion, James, Bob, Billy, Duke, and the Scattergoods, came to a mutual agreement as to how the loss would be apportioned. James and Billy would take the biggest loss, as they had left Texas with the greatest number of cows. Bob and the Scat tergoods would take the second largest loss, while Duke, who had the fewest cows, would suffer the least loss.

  That settled, they then authorized James to go into town to negotiate the best price he could get.

  Leaving the herd in a grassy valley, James started into town to make arrangements to sell the cattle. He had ridden no more than two or three miles away from the cow camp when he saw them. Shielding his eyes against the bright blue sky, he looked at the circling birds about a mile away.

  They were vultures, black messengers of death hanging on outstretched wings, waiting for their turn at some gruesome prize. James knew it would have to be something larger than a dead rabbit or a coyote to attract this much attention.

  Curious as to wh
at it might be, he continued riding toward the circling birds. It didn’t take long to satisfy his curiosity. Just ahead, hanging from the straight branch of a big cottonwood tree, a corpse twisted slowly from the end of the rope. Even from where he was, James could hear the terrible creaking sound the rope was making.

  “I don’t know what you did, mister,” James said quietly. “But whatever it was, you deserved better than this. Even the condemned aren’t left hanging on the scaffold.”

  The corpse had an elongated neck, and its head was twisted and cocked to one side. The eyes were open and bulging and a blue, swollen tongue was sticking out of the corpse’s mouth.

  There was a sign on the tree, and James moved closer so he could read it.

  ATTENTION: THIS MAN STOLE MONEY. WE HUNG HIM FOR IT. —THE BANNACK MINING DISTRICT VIGILANTES, SHERIFF HENRY PLUMMER IN CHARGE.

  James stood up in the stirrups so he could reach the rope around the man’s neck. He opened his knife and began sawing at the rope, paying no attention to the two riders who were coming down the road from the direction of Bannack.

  “Hold it there, mister!” one of the riders shouted. “Just what do you think you’re doin’?” The rider was holding a rifle.

  “What’s it look like I’m doing?” James replied. He continued to saw at the rope. “I’m cutting this man down.”

  “Leave him be. Plummer wants him to hang there until he rots.” The rider punctuated his statement by levering a cartridge into the chamber of his rifle. He raised the rifle to his shoulder, aiming it at James.

  James sighed and sat back in the saddle. “Did you two do this?” he asked.

  “We were part of it. We’re deputies for Sheriff Plummer.”

  “What kind of court would sentence a man to hang for stealing? And what kind of sheriff would leave him hanging?”

  The two men laughed.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “There ain’t no court, mister. There’s only the sheriff.”

  “So in addition to being sheriff, this man Plummer is judge, jury, and hangman?”

  “That’s right.”

  “I can see right now it pays not to get into trouble around here.”