When we got to Lubbock, we sold 16 skins and resupplied on everything. Four days after Lubbock, we turned off to follow the Colorado River. There was sort of a trail on the south side of the river that we followed.
Two days passed, and we came to a nice place where we stopped and grazed the horses. We liked the place so much that Dolly wanted to build a teepee. I was thinking of staying there for the winter. There were thousands of buffalo in big herds grazing and we started killing some younger animals. We ate a lot of meat and Dolly made good stews and we started smoking some for jerky.
Chapter Nineteen
One day we heard some big guns firing. Buck climbed up a hill and there saw an old trail going up the side of the hill. You could see a lot of country from up there. Buck had my army glasses with him and could see where someone had skinned some buffalo. I went up there too and we looked the country over. We saw a meadow surrounded with high land. I figured that there must be about 60-acres down there. Buck spotted a building and we went down and found a log cabin; the roof was in bad shape, but with some work it could be fixed up and made livable. It would be better than a teepee. It had a fireplace in one corner and a window facing the meadow. There was a spring-fed pond on one side of the meadow where the animals could get their water.
I took Dolly down and she was all for staying there. The next thing we had to figure out was how to get our wagon up there. We looked the place over and we could go up the trail with the near empty wagon and in close to the building. Buck and I explored the place and found where the trail use to be on the south end. It was now overgrown, including young trees and brush.
The roof on the house had to be fixed first. The old roof was skins with brush on top covered with dirt. We did the same with our roofing. We left one corner open, where the stove was, so the smoke could go out. We let the horses graze hobbled for a while. They had good grass and water at the pond. Buck went hunting and took one of the packhorses with him. He shot a buffalo and brought in the flanks, hump, tongue, and loins. We used up the meat and went hunting again. If we wanted to smoke some, we brought in the rounds instead of the loins.
Liz was on lookout on top of the hill while Buck was hunting and butchering. He had the axe with him. If she saw Indians, she would let me know and I would saddle my Arab and be ready to go down with Buck. We did not want any unnecessary tracks made. We could see where the buffalo hunters were working, and in the glasses we could see where their camp probably was. We could also see groups of Indians raiding, usually groups of twelve to fifteen. Sometimes they had five or six extra horses. We figured that they were killing some of the hunters.
We were there for about a month before it started to get cold. We decided to cut some hay for winter; we only had a sickle to cut with. Dolly said that she would cut the hay and we would pull it home on some skins. There was a big piece of tall grass on the east side and we started to cut there. After three days, Buck and I got two big buffalo skins to load on and we picked up all the dry hay. We took a load in and unloaded it and then started to make a stack.
We were gone for about an hour and went back to Dolly. When we got out to her we found two big wagons loaded with skins in our hay field with three men trying to rape Dolly. Two of them held her by the arms and the third was ripping her dress. The minute that the three men saw us, they dropped Dolly and went for their guns. Buck got two of them and I got the third. All three were dead. I started to realize how fast Buck was with that .45 of his. I hugged Dolly and she cried a little and decided to go back to cutting. I told her to stop and go back home. I assured her that Buck and I would pick up the rest and that would be enough.
We had two big wagons loaded with buffalo hides. Each wagon had six horses. We took the two wagons around where the trail used to be to get in to our pasture. We hid the wagons in the trees and led the twelve horses in to our field and turned them loose. We stacked up all of the harnesses and then went back to haying. Liz was on the lookout, she was very good. One of the two wagons and six horses used to belong to Mr. Heffman who sold us stud service. We figured that he must have been killed, along with the two women he had with him. After we picked up the hay, we checked on the east to see if anybody would be looking for the missing wagons.
Two weeks later, it started raining and it rained for three days straight. All of the tracks were wiped out. We saw more and more Indians looking for hunters. Herds and herds of buffalo were still out there; they were coming from the south. We decided that we would go east next spring. Buffalo hunters were getting too close to us, and that was not good. That meant that there would be more Indians visiting our area. Buck started to hunt on the east side and Liz could see him from the hill.
A couple of weeks later, she ran to me and said that Indians were coming towards Buck. I put a saddle on my Arab and raced out to him. Four Indians came up and Buck started talking to them in sign. He told them we were Pawnee and were just hunting to eat. Buck had two packhorses with him.
One of the Indians was a chief, he had feathers. “Since you are Indians we will not kill you. We just need your horses,” he said.
“But we need our horses,” Buck stated. “You can take horses from the buffalo hunters. White eyes.”
Two of the Indians started to move in on his left and right. Buck warned them to stop but then didn’t. When they were close, we both shot and the two on each side of him fell from their horses. The chief had never seen any shooting like that before.
“You will both die slow,” threatened the chief.
“You should bring better horses,” Buck countered.
We took their two horses and our four and rode out of there. We left a lot of meat. We made a dangerous enemy. We shot some deer that were in our valley; we needed the meat. Dolly worked the skins.
It started to snow and looked like real winter with dark clouds. I decided to go with Buck to get a buffalo. We took two packhorses and a saddlehorse that we could hang two rounds on. We did not go too far this time. Buck shot a buffalo and skinned it. We loaded the flanks, hump, both loins, the tongue and headed home. It was snowing hard, so our tracks were covered. Dolly was happy to get the meat. We could smoke it inside and hang the meat on the outside where it was very cold. We smoked some every day until the rounds were used up. We had a big stew cooking every day and she made pan bread, so we ate very well.
When it started to thaw a little, we would see Indians every day. The chief saw where we had butchered and took the meat. We were not like the other hunters. He must have had a good idea that it was us. They were around for days. Towards the evening, one Indian came up the hill to look around. Buck was up there and shot him. He took the Indian’s horse and rode home. He then took the Indian saddle off and turned the horse out with ours. We knew that they would be coming for us in the morning.
Early that morning Buck saw them coming; there was 12 of them. As they came near, he shot two of them. He then came in close to the house and hid behind some oaks. The Indians kept coming. They saw the house and the wagon. I was outside waiting for them. Then Buck shot and another Indian fell off his horse. The Indians got off their horses and came on foot. I was able to shoot two of them and then I went in the house and told Dolly that she had the window. She had both shotguns there and she knew how to fire. I heard two shots and I knew it was Buck, he was using his .56. This was costing them a lot of lives. We saw the chief, and Dolly shot the 16-gauge and hit him; I shot him in the throat as well. I shot another one coming around the wagon, and then two of them came around and Dolly shot them with the ten-gauge. It sounded like a cannon. They were shooting and so were we.
I heard one more shot from Buck, then Liz screamed. Dolly was on the floor, shot. I went to her but she was dead. She had been shot in the face. I felt terrible. I loved her so much. Liz came over to me, crying. I hugged her to me and told her that I loved her. We both felt terrible.
I heard a couple of .45 shots, so I
took the other Henry and went out. Buck was unsaddling all of the Indian horses and turning them out with ours. We had a herd of horses, too many for the area. I told Buck that Dolly had been killed and he came and hugged me. I told him that we needed to get out of there. I said, “We have three wagons and a herd of horses and we should go east.”
We went to dig a grave for Dolly, but the ground was frozen. Buck suggested a ditch close to the trail, so I wrapped her in her blankets and carried her out there. We all went together and covered her with rocks so the coyotes could not get to her. It was very sad for all of us. We all loved her very much.
“What will happen to us now?” Liz asked.
“We will always be together,” I told her. “You are my daughter and Buck is my son. We will ranch somewhere and raise horses.”
She was happy about that. We loaded our wagon and cooked a bunch of food, so we would just have to warm it up. We had stew for two days. We cut a lot of firewood so we could easily make a fire. After we were loaded, we hitched up our horses and went back down the hill and drove around to the east side and over where the two loaded wagons were. Buck went after the horses. He brought them four at a time. I harnessed them at our wagon and Buck rode for four more. I took two horses into the brush and backed out one wagon while Buck was away and backed it right over the brush. We worked all day with the two wagons and horses. I made a fire and warmed up some food and coffee. We had lunch and later dinner. Liz kept the fire burning. We slept in the wagon, wearing our sheep skin jackets and had our guns ready to fight.
The next morning Buck went after our last five horses while we fixed breakfast. After he got back, we tied up the horses. Our three riding horses were behind our wagon with the wild mare. The next wagon had four in back and a line to the wagon team so it would follow. Behind the last wagon, we had the rest of the horses.
I started out with our wagon and then I gave the reigns to Liz and jumped off. My Arab was saddled, so I got on him and went to help Buck get the two wagons moving. The trail was not bad and we moved along very well. We stopped for lunch and made a fire and some coffee and warmed up the stew. After that, we kept on going. We stopped again that evening and made another fire. We fed the pulling horses some oats and tried to graze the other animals. We only had four sacks of oats. We did not know that we would have 35 horses.
On our way out, my memory started to return to me. I started to remember my time as a sheriff and my time in the army, and slowly I realized who I really was. I remembered everything.
After five days, we got to a place called Colorado City. We could almost smell the place. They had so many hides piled up. This place handled a lot of buffalo hunters. The owner saw us coming and he rode out to meet us. He said that he would give us the best prices. We told him that we wanted to sell the hides and the two wagons, along with 25 horses. He wanted it all. He did not want to unload the two wagons, so we had to estimate how many hides were on them. I estimated about 350 hides, and he said he’d go with an even 400. I told him 400 was fine by me. He said he would give me 80 dollars per wagon and 50 per horse. We had 80 skins on our wagon, so we started to figure he was paying 2.80 per hide. We settled for 3,814 dollars and then resupplied our wagons.
We stayed there for two days, mostly shopping and resting. We bought some clothes for all three of us and ammunition for our guns. I bought myself a Colt Navy gun converted to copper shells with a belt and ammunition, some .45’s for Buck, some shells for our shotguns, some Spencer .56’s, and a nice doll for Liz. We had a lot of Henry .44’s, so we did not need anything else. From there, we had to go to Abilene and then head for Fort Worth, Dallas.
Three days later we arrived in Abilene. We went to a hotel and spent the night. I was able to wire home to my father. In the wire I said: My memory has returned, and I am in Abilene, Texas traveling with my wagon. Please reply and give my regards to all. How is my family? -Johnathan Belden
I got an answer the next day. They were happy that I was alive and well. They wanted to know how I was coming home. Your family is fine and happy. How are you traveling? -Your Father
I sent another wire addressed to him: Coming with wagon; heading towards Fort Worth, Dallas and east to the river then home by ship. Bringing adopted son, 17 and adopted daughter, 6. Give my love to my wife and son. -Johnathan.
We left that day, heading east on the stage road to Fort Worth. It would take us one week if we were lucky. We had 15 sacks of oats and the horses were in good shape. We stopped for lunch and dinner and made coffee and fed the horses. We tried to stop at stage stations to get some cooked food; we paid, of course, and ate a lot of beans. We tried to stop for the night at stage stations where we could water the horses and then feed and water them again in the morning. We got some coffee in the morning and hooked up the traces and were on our way, making good time.
I tried to explain to the kids about losing my memory and that it was coming back now. I told them that I now remembered who I was and where I belonged. I tried to explain to them how they would always be my partners and I assured them that I would never leave them.
We bought ham and bread in villages as we rode through. Of course, Liz wanted rolls, so we usually bought 40 rolls when we went to a bakery.
Chapter Twenty
One morning we rode through a town named Santos and came up to a stage and stopped in a crossroad. Two Mexican Army officers and a sergeant came up to us and told us they wanted two of our horses. The sergeant spoke English and explained that one of their horses had hurt its leg crossing the river earlier. It was limping badly and they needed to replace the horse. I told them that they could not have any of our horses. They claimed to have the right to take horses if they needed them since they were army.
“This is not Mexico, this is the United States, and we are in the state of Texas,” I said. “You have no authority here.”
The sergeant said that the major told him to tell me to cooperate or they would shoot me dead.
“You have three horses tied to the back of the stage, use one of them,” I told him.
A captain next to the major said in poor English, “Those are army horses, our riding horses. You have horses in the back.”
Buck was getting off the wagon, facing them. I told them I would give them two horses from the back; I got off the wagon and pulled my gun and shot the major and Buck shot the captain. The sergeant had his right hand in his pocket and he said he was a Texan, not a Mexican.
“What are you doing in a Mexican uniform?” I asked.
“I was down south drinking in a cantina and I ended up in a uniform. It was not by choice,” he explained.
“Well, we have two dead Mexicans. Are those three horses branded?”
“The captain’s horse is branded,” he stated.
“Give the captain’s horse to the stage driver,” I told him.
He did, and then I told him to take the other two and ride home and be a Texan again.
“That is what I have been hoping for,” he said. “They have two girls tied up in the stage that they were going to sell in Mexico. They were going to take your girl too.”
I told him to take all of their guns and saddlebags and get himself a red shirt and a Texas hat. I untied the two girls and asked the driver where the law was hanging out. He said there were Texas Rangers in Fort Worth. One of the girls was around 17 or 18, and I asked her where she wanted to go.
“Home,” she replied.
“Where is that?” I asked.
“Wichita Falls.”
I looked on my map and it was up north. I told her the Texas Rangers could take her home and that they both could come with us to Forth Worth.
“Thank you for saving us,” she said.
“We are happy to do so,” I assured her.
The sergeant was getting the guns and Buck was helping him. Buck said that they had money and he handed me a wallet full o
f pesos. I took the money and handed a dozen big bills to the sergeant and he thanked me. I handed some to both girls too, and they also thanked me. I had a bunch left and I handed it all to Liz. Buck went through their pockets and found some more money on the captain. I took both of their money belts that they had underneath their shirts and put them on the wagon.
We started a fire and made coffee and gave the girls some ham and rolls. The stage driver came over and thanked me for the captain’s horse. He had him in harness already. I asked him where he was heading, and he told me Austin. I shook hands with that sergeant and we started out heading east. We stayed the night at another stage stop and had some good stew. We all slept on the wagon. The horses were fed and watered.
The next afternoon, we came in to Fort Worth. I asked the baker where the Texas Rangers hung out. He told me and then we went in with the girls and told them our story. They said that they had a lot of problems with the Mexican Army. One of the rangers said, “They are pretending that this was a part of Mexico like it used to be.”
The ranger lieutenant called his wife to help with the girls. They both kissed me and thanked me. Then they wanted to go shopping and the lieutenant’s wife took them.
We went on to Dallas. The lieutenant wanted to give us a job as rangers, but we declined and told him that we were heading home.
A couple hours later we were in Dallas and we went to a hotel. We put our horses in a corral where they were fed some good hay and oats. We stayed in Dallas for two days. I sent a wire to my dad and told him we were in Dallas and would go east from there to a Shreveport, it would take us another eight to nine days.
Instead of my father answering, my wife answered and told me to hurry home: Everybody is so glad you are coming and that you are well. Love you very much. I am working for the U.P. as a director on board, Dad is the chairman. Mark is in Utah, he is V.P. in charge out there; he only answers to dad. -Love Liz.
Sheriff Tucker Page 12