The Old Spanish Trail

by Ralph Compton

“Considering we gave up two hundred and sixteen of ’em in Santa Fe,” said Charlie, “I reckon it’s close to a miracle.”

  “I’d have to agree with you,” Bob said. “We started with five thousand, five hundred and twenty-five. That’s a loss of only ninety-nine along one of the roughest trails I ever rode.”

  “Now that we’ve tallied the herd,” said Felton, “what are we goin’ to do until Don and Red get back?”

  “I’m gonna sleep,” Jim Roussel said.

  It seemed like a worthy idea, and they all headed for the shade of nearby trees.

  Despite their late arrival and not getting to sleep until past midnight, Don and Red rose at first light. They went immediately to the cafe and had breakfast.

  “Which way to Los Angeles?” Don asked, when he paid for their meal.

  “Keep goin’ west,” said the cook. “If you’re ridin’, you’re half an hour away.”

  They then went to the stable behind the boarding house, saddled their horses, and rode out, leading their mules.

  “What’ll we do first?” Red asked.

  “Track down Ellerbee and Sons,” said Don. “I want to confirm the sale of the herd before we do anything else. Then we’ll find a mercantile, buy what we need, and make tracks back to the outfit.”

  As they rode on, they soon were able to see the blue of the Pacific in the distance. It was of such magnitude, they reined up and just looked at it for a few minutes.

  “We’ll see more of it after we’ve delivered and collected for the herd,” Don said.

  The Ellerbee and Sons warehouse had enormous corrals on three sides, and all of them were empty.

  “Looks like they’re ready for us,” said Red.

  After stating their business, they were shown into the office of Dwight Ellerbee. When Don had introduced himself and Red, Ellerbee wasted no time getting down to business.

  “I’ll want to examine the stock before I commit myself,” Ellerbee said. “Where are they?”

  “North of here, about five days,” said Don. “Grazing and getting fat. Will you stick to the sixty dollars you quoted us by telegram?”

  “Yes,” Ellerbee said. “In fact, I’ll do better than that. If they’re all two-year-olds or under, and they average twelve hundred pounds, I’ll go sixty-five.”

  “We’re perfectly willing for you to see them first,” said Don. “You have cattle pens all around you. Are we to bring them here?”

  “Yes,” Ellerbee said. “It will take at least a day to get your money. I trust that won’t be a problem.”

  “It won’t,” said Don. “We’ll see you a week from now.”

  “Lord Almighty,” Red said, “that extra five dollars a head will run my take up another five hundred dollars. That is, if I still got a hundred head when we get ’em here.”

  “I’ve already talked to Bob, Jim, Les, and Mike,” said Don. “We’ve decided, since we own most of the herd, that we’ll take any loss. You, Charlie, Arch, and Felton will be paid for all the stock you started with. Les will be taking Eli’s share back to his kin in Texas.”

  Red kept his head down, saying nothing. Finally, after swallowing hard, he spoke.

  “I’ve rode a lot of trails, amigo, but I’ve never trailed with a better outfit. I reckon I don’t know what to say, except muchas gracias.”

  After asking directions, Don and Red located the office of Los Angeles County Sheriff Emery DeShazo. Quickly Don explained the purpose of their visit.

  “So you believe the Indians murdered Beavers and Dent,” said DeShazo.

  “We’re certain of it,” Don said. “The horses they stole from us wandered back with the money in the saddlebags. If you were either of them, and alive, would you have allowed all that money to slip through your hands?”

  “I suppose not,” said DeShazo. “The trouble is, I have no proof they stole the money. The miners who claimed Beavers and Dent were killers and thieves were a mite hasty. Two other men have since been caught and charged. As far as I’m concerned, the money you’re claiming was taken from the saddlebags of Beavers and Dent was theirs. Nobody in these parts had any idea where them two was from, and there wasn’t a trace of any kin. So I’m in no way responsible for anything that may have belonged to them. The money is yours, as far as I’m concerned.”

  Don and Red left DeShazo’s office, and it was Red who finally spoke.

  “So now you have thirty thousand dollars.”

  “Wrong,” Don said. “We’re an outfit, and we have thirty thousand dollars. We’ll tell the others what DeShazo told us. Then we’ll decide what to do with the money.”

  Leading their mules, they reined up before a mercantile. They were anxious to complete their purchases and return to their outfit with much good news.

  *The Sierra Nevada mountains. At this point, about a hundred miles from Los Angeles.

  17

  “We got out of there just in time,” said Don, as he and Red loaded the mules with their purchases from the mercantile. “There’s less than twenty dollars left of the money we got from Winkler in Santa Fe.”

  “It was the answer to a prayer,” Red replied. “How in thunder would we ever have got to California without it?”

  They rode back the way they had come, reaching Saugus an hour before noon.

  “There’s a chance we might reach the herd sometime tonight,” said Don.

  “I’m for that,” Red said, “but we’ll have to rest more often, with the mules loaded.”

  They rode within sight of the sheep ranch where they had asked for directions, but they had no reason to stop. The dog announced their coming, yipping for as long as he could see them. The cabin appeared deserted. They rode on, pausing hourly to rest the horses and mules.

  “If we get there tonight, it’ll be almighty late,” said Don. “We have plenty of grub, and I’m of a mind to have supper.”

  “So am I,” Red agreed, “but we got no coffeepot.”

  “I reckon we can manage just this once without coffee,” said Don.

  Lest their fire attract unwanted attention, they stopped well before sundown. The meal cost them an hour, but the delay served a dual purpose. They unsaddled their horses and removed the packs from the mules, allowing the animals to roll.

  “If I’m any judge, we got fifty miles behind us,” Red said.

  “We’re half way then,” said Don. “That’s the southern end of that mountain range up yonder.”

  “It don’t look fifty miles away,” Red said.

  “It may not be,” said Don. “We’re guessing as to how far we’ve come and how far we have yet to travel. From the time it took us to reach Saugus, I believe we rode at least a hundred miles. Ten miles an hour is a comfortable gait for the horses and mules, even if the mules are loaded.”

  “We’ll reach our camp before midnight then,” said Red.

  “After all those days on the trail, I never thought I’d get too much rest,” Ellie said, “but I’m awful tired of just sitting here watching the horses, mules, and cows eat grass.”

  Jim Roussel laughed. “You haven’t been on enough trail drives. You learn to rest and sleep when and where you can, and if you ever get too much of either, you don’t mention it to anybody.”

  “I just hope Don and Red get here sometime tomorrow,” Ellie said. “I’ll be so glad to be rid of this blanket.”

  “They’d better ride in tomorrow with more coffee,” said Charlie, who had overheard their conversation. “We got just about enough for breakfast.”

  Les Brown, Mike Horton, and Felton Juneau were taking the first watch. Bob Vines had joined Sarah, where she sat on the bank of the swiftly flowing stream.

  “I slept most of the afternoon,” Sarah said. “What am I going to do tonight?”

  “You can join me on the second watch,” said Bob. “There’ll be a full moon later.”

  Sarah laughed. “I didn’t know cowboys had any interest in a full moon.”

  “Oh, but we do,” Bob said. “Sometimes, aft
er we’ve had a snootful, we bay at it.”

  “That’s one thing I haven’t asked you,” said Sarah. “Are you a drinking man?”

  “Not since I was south of the border, maybe three years ago,” Bob said. “I got myself a jug of that cactus brew. About a hundred and forty proof, I reckon. I come to about three hours before first light, afraid I was gonna die. Before I finally come out from under that hangover, I was afraid I’d live. Since then, I’ve never touched anything stronger than beer, and then never more than two.”

  “I’m relieved to hear that,” said Sarah. “The only real memory I have of my daddy is of him being drunk.”

  Two hours before midnight, one of the remuda horses nickered, and from somewhere in the darkness, there was an answer. Cocking his rifle, Mike Horton issued a challenge.

  “Rein up and identify yourself.”

  “Two ugly galoots from Texas, with pack mules bearin’ gifts,” Red shouted.

  “Send in the pack mules bearing gifts,” said Mike. “You two-legged varmints will have to wait for daylight, so’s we can have a look at you.”

  Charlie punched up the fire, piling on more wood as Don and Red rode in. Roberto seized one of the coffeepots and went to the stream to fill it.

  “I hope you brought plenty of coffee,” Charlie said.

  “Ten pounds,” said Red. “That oughta last a week, even with you around.”

  Charlie and Arch took the reins of the horses and began unsaddling them. Dominique untied the ropes securing the packs, and when Roberto had the coffeepot hung over the fire, the two of them began unloading the mules. They concerned themselves only with the supplies, laying the other parcels aside.

  “Ladies,” said Don, “Dominique and Roberto have separated all the grub. The rest of those packages belong to you. There’s Levi’s, a shirt, and boots for each of you. I’d have liked to have done better, but our money was running low, and we needed grub. I’m sure that after we’ve sold the herd, these ugly varmints you’ve took up with will buy you some real finery.”

  “Bless you,” Rose said.

  There were glad cries from the others as they ripped away the paper wrappings. The contents were exactly what Don had said they were. Ellie, Millie and Bonita cast away their blankets and got into their shirts and Levi’s.

  “They don’t make those kinds of duds for ladies,” said Red. “You’ll just have to roll up the legs of the Levi’s. They was made for long-legged hombres.”

  The rest of the women had cast modesty to the wind and rid themselves of what remained of the rags they had been wearing. Soon they were all dressed in new shirts and Levi’s. All the shirts fit very well, but Rose was looking with some doubt at the narrow-toed boots.

  “I don’t believe my big foot will go in there,” she said.

  “Sure it will,” said Don. “I bought them all a size larger than what was on the list.”

  “Sit down,” Mike said, “and I’ll help you with them.”

  The rest of the women watched with interest as Rose sat down and poked the toes of her left foot into one of the boots. With only a little help from Mike, it slipped on, and Mike then tried the other one. It went on just as easily, and Mike helped Rose to her feet. She immediately stumbled and would have fallen on her face if Mike hadn’t caught her.

  “They’ll take some gettin’ used to,” said Don, trying mightily not to laugh.

  “Your turn, Sarah,” Bob Vines said. “Sit down.”

  Soon they were all wearing the new boots, and unaccustomed as they were to such footwear, they finally were able to stand and walk without difficulty.

  “I’m so excited, I can’t sleep,” said Bonita. “I feel like a real Texan.”

  “You look like one,” Arch said approvingly.

  “All of you had better get what sleep you can,” said Don. “I aim for us to move out tomorrow, and we’re at least a hundred miles from Los Angeles.”

  “Whoa,” Bob said. “We can’t sleep, not knowing what you learned in Los Angeles. Is there water and graze along the way? Is Ellerbee still goin’ to take the herd? What’s to be done with the money that belonged to Beavers and Dent?”

  “One thing at a time,” said Don. “There’s plenty of water and graze along the way. We passed only one place, which was a sheep ranch. Ellerbee still wants the herd, and they’ll pay sixty-five dollars a head for two-year-olds and under if they’re all a twelve hundred pound average.”

  There he paused, for the shouts of the outfit drowned him out. When they again were quiet, he continued.

  “The money that belonged to Beavers and Dent now belongs to us. The sheriff had no proof it was stolen and had been unable to find any relatives. It will be up to all of you as to what becomes of it.”

  “You mean it’ll be up to all of us,” said Mike Horton. “What do you believe should be done with it?”

  “I believe it should be split ten ways, with a full share going to the kin of Eli Mills,” Don said. “Thirty thousand and five hundred dollars comes out to three thousand and fifty dollars a share.”

  “I like the idea of Eli’s kin gettin’ a share,” said Les. “He’s gone, but he’s still one of us, and that’s how it should be.”

  “Yes,” Rose agreed. “Such feeling makes me proud to know all of you, proud to be one of you.”

  There were shouts of approval from them all. Dominique had put on a second pot of coffee to boil, and both were ready. Despite the lateness of the hour, Dominique and Roberto filled their tin cups with scalding black coffee.

  “Don,” said Bob, “we already have two watches lined up. You and Red have had a long hard ride, so you’re both excused for the night.”

  “We’re obliged,” Red said. “Molly, do you aim to sleep tonight, or will you be walking around in them new boots till daylight?”

  “They’re grand,” said Molly, “but I think I’ll give them a rest. But I’m not taking off my new Levi’s and shirt.”

  “Damn, I was gettin’ to like that blanket,” Red said.

  “Then I’ll save it and give it to you for Christmas,” said Molly.

  Even with all the excitement, the hour was late, and at first light they would continue their journey. Those not on watch retired to their blankets, but when the full moon rose, so did Sarah. She found Bob leaning against a tree, near the fast-flowing stream.

  “It’s been an exciting day, hasn’t it?”

  “Yes,” said Bob. “We’ve had some surprises. If Beavers and Dent came by that money honestly, then I’m sorry they didn’t live to enjoy it.”

  “But they stole two horses,” Sarah said.

  “Yes,” said Bob, “and that leads me to believe they stole the money too. Don offered to allow them to ride back to Los Angeles with us, but I think they had good reason not to. The extra three thousand won’t mean that much to Don, Jim, Les, Mike, and me, since we own most of the herd, but it’ll mean a lot to Red, Charlie, Arch, Felton, and the kin of Eli Mills. That will run their shares to almost ten thousand dollars each, if we can hold Ellerbee to sixty-five dollars a head.”

  “But there’s some things money can’t buy,” Sarah said. “If you return to Texas while the war’s going on, won’t you have to fight?”

  “I reckon,” said Bob. “Some of us have been talking about staying in California for a while. At least until the war’s over.”

  “Molly says Red plans to do that,” Sarah said. “I hope we can too.”

  “I reckon we will,” said Bob. “I don’t mean to sound unpatriotic, but I kind of feel the way old Sam Houston did. He fought like a cougar to get Texas into the Union, and he saw no advantage to leaving it. He resigned as governor when Texas seceded.”

  Dominique and Roberto had breakfast ready by first light. After a hasty meal, all the riders began gathering the cattle from along the stream. The good graze had done wonders for them and the horses and mules. Dominique and Roberto had all the pack mules loaded well before the herd was bunched. All the women were now riding saddle
d horses and were dressed like Texas cowboys. Don Webb looked at them approvingly. When the herd had been bunched, Don waved his hat.

  “Head ’em up, move ’em out!”

  The days of rest and good graze had made a difference, and the longhorns began with a long stride. The drag riders had only to keep up. Dominique and Roberto kept the mules and the horse remuda right on the heels of the drag. The women, dressed in their new cowboy garb, rode proudly. Having been to Los Angeles, aware that there was water and graze, Don kept his position as point rider. There would be no advance scouting the rest of the way.

  “I’d say we did better than fifteen miles,” said Mike Horton, after they had settled the herd alongside a creek.

  “I think so too,” Don said. “Another four days like this, and it’ll all be over.”

  “It’s time for us all to set down over a couple of pots of coffee and decide what we aim to do after we sell the herd,” said Jim Roussel. “I think there’s goin’ to be hell to pay in Texas before the war’s done.”

  “Some of us have already been talking,” Red said. “It’s mostly just a matter of us all gettin’ together and seein’ if we’re headed for the same corral.”

  “Tonight’s as good a time as any,” said Don. “It’s still early enough that after supper, we’ll have a couple of hours before sundown.”

  After supper, well before dark, they settled down to talk.

  “I reckon all of us can agree that we got no business going back to Texas while it’s neck-deep in war,” Charlie said.

  “We can all agree,” said Don, “but Felton and me don’t have much choice. We both have a woman waitin’ for us, and they won’t take kindly to settin’ out the war in Texas, while we’re in California.”

  “Mine won’t,” Felton said.

  “Then go to Texas and bring ’em here,” said Red. “Don, I seem to recollect you sayin’ something about goin’ back on a sailing ship to one of the Texas ports.”

  “I did,” Don said, “and I’m not opposed to the idea, unless the Federals have managed to blockade the Texas ports.”

  “We should be able to find out in Los Angeles,” said Bob. “If the ships are still sailing into and out of Texas ports, you should be quick to take advantage. You don’t know how much longer you’ll have the opportunity.”