“Let’s get as close as we can,” I told the boys. “When the first head comes up, you two get the outside ones and I will try for the middle ones with my pistol.”
When the first head came up we got them all, then a big buck that was lying down jumped up and I got him too. Now the work started. Jeff was doing well. He had four deer cleaned before Danny finished his two. I sent Danny after the wagon and then we loaded up the bunch and went to town. We were a little early, so we went delivering the deer.
We took one over to the colonel’s, then Danny took one in for his mother. We left one hanging at our house and took one over to the cobbler and he told us that we had better find some leather before the cold sets in. He told me he needed six dollars and he would get enough leather for boots for us all. I gave him the money. I asked Martha who should get the rest of the deer. She told me to give the colonel one, as well as two widows that she knew. Danny carried one in to the colonel and then we delivered the other two to the widows.
Jeff’s two other horses were in, so I had Jeff tie them in the back and then sent him back on the job. It was time for me to pick up Big Bertha and the colt.
John was now on the day shift, and he asked me if he could take a rifle out to do some hunting. I told him yes, but to bring a deer in to town occasionally. No one had any ammunition, so everybody was starving for meat.
We plowed with four teams. After we had 400 acres plowed, Big Bertha was harrowing by herself. Now we had more harrows and so we put a team on harrowing. Mr. Baker, the man who had the big jack, came by and wanted to know if he could trade for some work. I asked him how many acres he had, he told us 120. I asked him if he had reserved some seed at the store and he told me that he did.
“If you plow, you could take the mules and start because we have to start seeding here and I don’t have the man power right now,” I told him. “We will need four breedings from your jack as well as a pig to butcher, we are short on lard,” I told him.
Martha had told me that he had some pigs.
“Alright,” he said.
I told Martha we needed another big farm or two.
“What do you want to trade for?” she asked Mr. Baker.
“Well, we need more harnesses, two more pigs for winter to butcher, and another good wagon,” he stated.
Martha then asked me, “Would you take one thousand acres if I could line it up, David?”
“Sure,” I told her.
Martha then said, “Okay, I want to make sure I have this right. One thousand acres for a wagon and four pigs, with one going to you, two sets of harnesses, one normal set and one big heavy set, is that right?”
“Yes. We are also going to need some pillows made, about twelve,” I told her. “We need material for making pants, three pair; along with more shirts and dresses,” I told her.
Martha made the deal with the Stevenson’s to work their 1,000 acres, and we did. They gave us a nice large wagon, four pigs, and two sets of harnesses.
Big Bertha was at the Baker’s place. Mr. Baker told us that she was bred already, so we took her and the mules and took over a team with a mare hoping to get her bred too.
John’s two months was up, so I hired him to drive a team for us. Now I had to hang around town more. I got a message that four or five outlaws had hung two soldiers about 20 miles from us. The military commander sent a messenger informing me to be on the lookout for these men.
A week later, five men rode in and went to the store. Jeff told me one was a Quantrill man who had been a friend of his brother’s. I told him to go in to the sheriff’s office and grab his father’s shotgun. The colonel came up the street and I told him to get a .44 from the office, then to go behind the corner for protection. I told Jeff to go behind the warehouse door. It was a bad situation with them in the store; they were the men that had committed the crime, it was evident. Their two horses had the U.S. brand from the army. I did not want to go inside the store because I could get boxed in, so I decided to wait them out.
When they came out, they had a bunch of food stuff in their hands. I almost laughed and called out, “You two men are under arrest!” and I pulled out my gun.
They were caught, only one had his hand free and he was facing away. He could jump between the horses, but the storekeeper appeared in the door holding a big walker. Then Jeff and the colonel stepped out and we had them boxed in.
“One at a time, starting with you big fellow,” I ordered. “Step over to the walk and put down your groceries very carefully. The rest of you, don’t move a muscle. Okay big fellow, raise your hands.” He did, and I motioned the colonel to step behind him, “Push your gun against his skull,” I instructed the colonel, “Then reach around for his pistols.”
After the colonel put the man’s pistols on the walk, I told the man to lay face down and put his hands out wide. Then we had the rest of them do the same thing until we had all of them in custody. I told Jeff to get some rope to tie their hands.
“Do you fellows have any money to buy your way out of this town?” I asked them.
“We may be able to come up with some,” one of the men stated with the rest agreeing.
“Well, maybe we can do a little business then.”
Jeff came back with a bunch of rope that we had in the office. I had the wagon and mules in town, so I told Jeff to bring it up and we would load these fellows aboard. The blacksmith came up and I asked him to tie their hands behind their backs; he did a good job. Before we loaded them into the wagon, we had them stand up one by one and I had Jeff search them. Two of them had money belts that we took and we ended up getting 200 dollars from their pockets. I had the blacksmith tie their legs too. I told Jeff to pull up in front of my office and then we walked all the horses over. I asked Jeff and the blacksmith to unsaddle the horses, except the one with the McClellan saddle, it was obviously army. I ordered him to empty all the saddlebags on the floor and unroll all the blanket rolls.
“Colonel, please look at all of their weapons to see what is army,” I asked.
One rifle was army, along with a .44 Colt, so we put those in the front of the wagon. We found an army overcoat that was fairly new and an army jacket, so we put those in the front too. Jeff kicked a sock that was rolled up and it was full of money, 120 dollars in gold. We gave all the money to the colonel to add to the county treasury.
We tied the two army horses behind the wagon. I told Jeff to go home and saddle up my Arab. We were going to visit the army. The colonel asked if I wanted him to tag along. I told him that it was entirely up to him. It was about a six-hour ride and I wanted to get going. The colonel asked what he should ride, and I told him the wagon with Jeff’s shotgun; then Jeff could freely drive the team.
“Take two of the horses over to the store for farm use,” I told Jeff. Then Jeff put the odd horse in the corral behind the jail, and I asked the blacksmith to throw him some hay later on.
The colonel went home and told his wife he would be away. I told the blacksmith he could take all the food stuff and if he did not need it, to give it to somebody that did. I stopped at the schoolhouse and told the girls that I would be gone until late that night.
Five and a half hours later we arrived at Fort Baker. The guard at the gate told us to stop and called the officer of the guard. A lieutenant came up and I told him that I was the sheriff of Benton County and we had some prisoners to deliver to his commanding officer. He told me to pull up at the H.Q. building and he walked outside. Before he could report, a major came out with my captain friend. I saluted the major and told him that I was Sheriff Tucker from Sand Rock.
“I have some prisoners here that tried to loot our store,” I told him. “They had two army mounts. That blonde fellow was with Quantrill. This is Jeff McGregor, my temporary deputy; and Colonel Fleming, our county supervisor.”
The colonel saluted him.
The captain said, “
Well, Sergeant, I am glad I sent you that message. Did you find anything else that we could identify?”
“Yes sir, we found two weapons,” Jeff reached for them and handed them over to the sergeant major. The colonel also handed over the jacket and the overcoat.
The major asked the sergeant major to post a guard over the prisoners and told him to try and identify if any of the items belonged to the hanged troopers.
“Can I invite you gentleman over to our mess hall for a meal?” asked the major.
“You certainly can, Sir,” I told him, “And thank you.”
The major and the captain had a cup of coffee with us while we ate. They talked mostly to the colonel about the war.
“Well” said the major, “We will be over your way to start collecting taxes soon.”
“Is there any possibility you could put the taxes off until the crops are in, Sir?” I asked.
“Well, there may be since it is a mixed county. You were union, as I understand it from the captain, correct?”
“Yes, sir,” I replied.
“How come they hired you as a sheriff?” the major asked me.
“Ask the colonel here.”
The colonel explained, “There was no doubt about it, he was the best law man in our county and he still is. I think we made a very good choice. By the way, do you have any U.S. flags for sale? We have not been able to purchase any. The sheriff has been looking for a couple to hang in front of the schoolhouse and at his jail.”
“I think we can fix you up, Colonel,” he assured him.
The sergeant came in and told the major that all of the items had been identified as being the hanged trooper’s.
“Please put all proof on my desk and instruct all officers that we will hold a court-martial in the morning. Can you gentlemen stay for it?” the major asked us.
“I have three girls to tuck in,” I told him.
“I would be glad to stay,” offered the colonel, “If that will be enough, and if the sheriff lends me his horse.”
“These roads are so unsafe,” I told the major. “Could you please send a couple of troopers back with the colonel for safety sake?”
The major told me that would be no problem. “Okay, Sheriff. Was the colonel present at the arrest?”
“Yes sir, he gave me armed assistance.”
“Very good then, Sheriff. Thank you very much for your assistance. Come by and see us any time. I will send those flags back with the colonel. Captain, will you show the colonel to the visiting officer’s quarters?”
We said our goodbyes and started back. We arrived home around 11:00 p.m. tired from the long wagon ride. Liz stayed up to feed us; I told her that she did not have to but it was very nice of her.
Colonel Fleming came in the next evening. I helped him unsaddle the horse and asked how everything went. He told me that the men would hang in two days. He then said, “The major told me that he would work with us on the taxes the best he could, but he doesn’t rightly know when it will be.”
Chapter Nine
November came, bringing with it the cold weather. My kids had warm clothes, sheepskin coats and boots. Now that there wasn’t much work, almost every morning I went out for a couple of deer. I had to go quite a ways now, so I always took a packhorse. Jeff went with me most of the time. One night I handed him something that his little sister misspelled and I found out that he could not read or write. I then called Liz and asked her if she could read and she told me no.
“Starting tomorrow we will all go to school,” I said. “Liz, Jeff, Vicky, and Mary will all learn to write.”
The farmers started to bring in the county horses. We really did not have enough hay to winter them all, so I went over to Colonel Fleming and told him that we had better auction off all the county horses. Colonel Fleming thought that was a good idea. We had to put them up for bid, so we notified all the farms in the county and told them all that the horses would have to be in that weekend. Saturday they would be out in front of the jail up and down the street, they would be numbered, and we would auction them Sunday afternoon. I wanted a couple more mares.
The opening bidding was for cash at a minimum of 12 dollars a horse. If no cash bids were received, the bidding would then be with IOU’s, at a minimum bid of 15 dollars. There was one Arabian mare that I wanted badly, so I bid 15 dollars cash; nobody bid against me. I got her, and the kids led her home. I only bid on the young mares and I usually started with 16 dollars. Occasionally somebody would go 17, but then I would come back with 18 and that was it; I signed IOU’s for those ones. I ended up with four mares.
Martha was bidding the minimum on every horse, but she would not raise, so she did not get any. She did need something to come to work with during the winter, so I took a team out to her and told her to use one of her wagons. Moses could put the horses in the barn during the day and have them harnessed up for her to go home with.
Carl bid on one gelding but could not get the other one he wanted. We auctioned off the saddles too. There was a Texas saddle that was in very good shape that I bid on, and of course I got it. I bid it up to four dollars.
I loaned Carl a horse for the winter. He had enough hay for two. His neighbor got one also, so they would be able to work it next year.
On good days we went to cut wood and sometimes we went with two wagons. We gave a lot of wood away to widows and others that helped us at times. Martha told me she would need some wood too. I asked her what her field-hand was doing. She told me he was sleeping and eating, but mainly complaining to the maid. I told her to bring him with her every morning and I would have her wagon full by the time she went home.
Moses, on the other hand, was like part of our family. He had his sheepskin coat and new boots. He ate the same food as we did. I usually talked things over with him and asked his opinion on things. He worked hard and took care of all the horses. He was at the school with the kids every morning and would run up the flag, then bring the horses that Martha used back home.
We cut a big wagon full of wood for the colonel and parked a wagon full of wood by the jail for sale. The doctor gave two dollars for it, so we loaded the wagon up again. The cobbler told me he had enough leather to make a nice pair of shoes for one of the girls. He also told me that he needed wood, so I had him make a pair for Liz. I told Liz to go over and get measured for some new shoes.
I was in the barn one day looking at how the oats were holding out and Jeff was grooming our Arab mare. The kids asked me what to name her and I said that was easy, we would name her Fatima. I don’t know where that name popped in my mind from. I figured it was probably something from my past.
There were four big cases in the barn full of the McGregor’s things. I asked Jeff what was in the cases and he told me that the long case had some buffalo guns and the little one held ammunition. We opened the long one and there were four brand new long barreled rifles; big heavy guns, beautiful pieces.
“What is in the other cases?” I asked.
“They are all my mother’s things.”
I told Jeff that he should take the guns up to our room so they didn’t rest being out in the barn. I talked to Liz too. I told her that she needed to find a place in the house to store her mother’s things so that they didn’t get moldy and ruined. She moved the things up to her room.
Later that evening, I saw a picture of a lady in her room and I asked her who it was. She told me it was her mother. I went in and measured the picture, so I could order a frame for it.
I was looking for things for the kids for Christmas. I already had some hair brushes and mirrors for the girls. I got some material for new dresses and shirts. Material was the easiest to come by, so I got enough for Martha and Carl’s families too. Then I got some for Mary so that she could make a dress for her little friend whose mother could not afford anything; Danny’s money just fed them.
I was
on my way out to Martha’s; she wanted to see me. When I got close to her place, I saw a soldier walking. He was leading a horse and two packhorses. As I got near, I saw him pull his gun and transfer it to his belt. He was a careful man. Then I noticed that he was an officer and his horse was limping. I pulled up and he did too. I gave him a “howdy” and asked him what the problem was with his horse. He told me he didn’t know. I got off my horse and went over and introduced myself as Sheriff Tucker. We shook hands, and then I went over to the horse and looked at his foot. I could not see anything either. I told him he had better not walk him to town because it was too far for his horse.
“There is a farm only a half a mile from here. Let’s take him over there,” I suggested.
“Are you sure that I am welcome?” he asked.
“With me you are,” I told him. “The owner is like a big sister to me.”
When we got to Martha’s, she was surprised to have visitors. She came out and asked me if she should add some more water to the soup.
“That would be really nice of you,” I said. “We have an injured horse here. Can we put him up in your barn?”
“You can do anything you want around here, David, you know that. What did you do, find a stray Yankee?”
“Well, I know how much you like having men around, so I thought I’d help out a little,” I teased.
We put the horses inside, took the saddles off, and then went in the house. I introduced Major Fernley to Martha and told her that his stud horse had a problem.
“I think I will send the doc out tomorrow to look at its leg. It may be a pulled tendon,” I assessed.
“I hope not,” Major Fernley added. “Does this doc know anything about horses?”
“Probably more than he knows about people,” Martha assured.
Martha gave us a glass of milk and told us that it was the strongest drink in the house. The kids came down and greeted me, happy to have company. Dinner was almost ready, so she told us to come to the table. She had some fresh sausages and potatoes, it was tasty. Martha asked the major where he was heading. He told her he just wanted to get out of the Confederate countryside, so he could rent a farm for a while to outfit him for going west.
Sheriff Tucker Page 6