by Don Bendell
Strongheart realized Lookout Mountain had to be called that for a reason, so people must have been able to look out easily in every direction and see anybody coming. He remembered the ridge and the terrain and figured that ridge with the deer at the base, Deer Mountain, to be something that would block his view in between Lookout Mountain and his travel. He also remembered patches of trees in the giant mountain meadow, and figured he could ride between them quickly without exposing himself to view too much. Maybe he would even make camp and travel after dark, so he would not be observed from the tall, rocky peak.
It did not take Joshua too long to reach the end of the ridge, and he was able to move through several draws, where one patch of trees led to another. Through the holes in the trees he was able to see the high, rocky sentinel sticking up into the sky. Joshua had already done a lot of traveling that day, and it was now late afternoon. He decided to camp before he got too close, where his campfire might be smelled and the light of the fire might be seen.
In this country, wise horsemen always took note of water and shelter. Strongheart recalled his ride down Road Gulch Road and remembered seeing a little side gulch running up toward Lookout Mountain. There was a lot of green, and he saw birds flying in and out of it as he traveled by. This told him there was probably a spring at the head of it. He made the road without being spotted, turned left, and headed downhill for a couple miles, until he spotted the small side gulch to the right. He headed up and within a half mile found a small spring and a little tank, where his horse could drink his fill. It was well protected by a higher ridge, trees to break up the smoke from his fire, good areas to observe anybody headed his direction, and good graze for Gabe around the spring. He would make camp early, eat well, and get plenty of sleep, allowing his wounds to heal even more. He was tired and very sore, but oddly feeling stronger at the same time.
It was false dawn when Joshua climbed into the saddle. He reasoned that he could go up over the ridge and hopefully would come out at the far end of the giant mountain meadow, which actually ran about halfway up the eastern side of Lookout Mountain. The western, northern, and southern sides were rocky and more straight up and down. An hour later, Joshua found himself riding through rocks and a small mining trail which ran from the long meadow out onto a fingerlike ridge coming off Lookout. He was now on the northern side of that ridge, which had the most cover, too. Every other direction would have forced him to abandon his horse.
Jeeter McMahon’s brother, Harlance, had left the day before. He told his brother he did not hanker to spend all his time in some rocky hideout watching for posses, lawmen, or bounty hunters. He was going to head for southwestern Colorado Territory and spend some time near Animas City looking for gold. His brother thought he was crazy, but Harlance explained about what was happening there and encouraged his brother to go with him. The area would in less than a decade host the new gold-smelting town of Durango.
Over whiskey-laced coffee two nights before Strongheart arrived on the scene, Harlance told Jeeter about the area. Southwest Colorado was not a place many white men ventured into because of the southern Utes and mountain Utes. But, Harlance explained, the brand-new Brunot Treaty of 1873 removed the Utes from the mountains and opened up the area for prospectors, and much placer mining was done, and finally full-scale mining. This meant a settlement of surrounding businesses, such as saloons, brothels, an assay office, and normal retail businesses to support the mining, was created. Mountain towns were springing up in the San Juans, like Telluride, Silverton, Rico, and Ophir. Animas City was a little north of what would become Durango, and Animas City would eventually disappear. The railroad was not there yet, and the area was wild, with many prospectors and mining engineers starting to flood into it. What was ironic was that the Cripple Creek and Victor areas not too far from Lookout Mountain were where Colorado’s richest gold strikes would be, as well as Westcliffe and nearby Silver Cliff, an area where Joshua Strongheart had ridden to and from all in a day’s time.
Harlance was not that enthused about actually prospecting; he was thinking more about the remoteness of southwestern Colorado Territory and all the women and alcohol being shipped in there, as well as many possible holdup victims, miners with bags of gold dust, and, of course, those brothels.
To that end, he also talked his brother into giving him the beautiful antique wedding ring of Annabelle’s, in case he met somebody “special” at one of the bawdy houses or saloons around Animas City or any of the other towns.
Now Jeeter was alone in his hideout which was in the rocks high up near the peak. There was a natural cave formed by an overhanging rock that had fallen decades earlier on three different rock outcroppings. He had shelter from rain and sun and could watch a wide area, especially to the west, since he had come that general direction from Cotopaxi. There were two drawbacks. He had to keep his horse picketed far below, on the northern side of the peak, where there was a small spring in the rocks and piñons, and some grass, and he then had quite a climb to his hideout. He also had to go all the way down to that spring to get his water, but to him it was worth it. He felt safer and more secure when he knew he could see in three directions over a wide area.
There were also numerous deer and elk all over the sandy piñion- and cedar-covered foothills surrounding him. There were plenty of mountain lions, too, so he could find lion kills as he scouted around, and he would take the carcasses from their kill sites without firing a shot. Mountain lions were very finicky eaters and would leave a deer carcass for other predators when the meat had gotten the least little bit tainted. They would also eat the intestines of a deer first, and twice Jeeter found fresh kills with both the front and hindquarters of the deer intact. In both cases, the lions were lying on nearby ledges overlooking the kill, but they would not attack a human. It was just not something cougars would normally do, unless one was starving or had come upon a small child alone. They were too shy, and they were usually nocturnal anyway.
Strongheart got Gabriel under a large rock ledge, so the sun would not be on him, and dropped the reins. The horse stood calmly in the shadows. He removed his spurs and boots and grabbed a pair of soft-soled Lakota moccasins from his saddlebags and put them on. He grabbed his Henry carbine and slowly, quietly moved into the rocks, angling himself up higher toward the peak.
A half hour later, he quietly emerged from the rocks close to the peak and saw that he was looking down into a jumble of rocks making a natural fortress. There were tracks from Jeeter and Harlance all over the soft, sandy ground. Jeeter suddenly appeared below him with something in his hand. It was some paper. He looked out over the valley then disappeared back under the overhanging rock. Joshua did not move, and seconds later, Jeeter reappeared to Strongheart’s right front. He was completely naked but wearing Joshua’s gun belt, holster, and weapons. Strongheart raised the rifle and settled the sights on Jeeter’s spine, halfway up his back, and then he lowered his rifle. The man was going to a spot partway down the ridge from his hideout, apparently his bathroom. Joshua shook his head and quietly chuckled at the sight of the naked armed man striding away from the rocks.
Joshua quickly and silently backed up away from the edge. He moved like a cougar himself down the rocks and slipped into Jeeter’s hideout. He had shelter, food, and a campfire and had made himself a nice evergreen bough bed, and there were excellent fields of fire and vision in almost every direction. He even had spaces between large rocks from which he could easily observe or shoot anybody approaching from the blind side of the mountain, along the base of the steep rock. If Joshua had tried coming that way, he would have been easily bushwhacked. Like many people and animals, though, Jeeter had failed to watch for danger from above.
Joshua poured himself a cup of coffee and found it to be strong, fresh, and very hot, just the way that he liked it. His standard request was that anybody making him coffee should grab a small rock and set it on the brewing coffee, and when it floats the coffee is ready.
Quickly looki
ng through Jeeter’s things, he found his money belt, and the letter was inside. He checked to insure that Jeeter was not at hand, then lowered his drawers, strapped the belt around his waist, and cinched his gun belt back up.
None of his wounds were hurting right now, because of adrenaline, but Strongheart still was a long ways from having all his strength back. He sat down and waited a couple minutes, and soon he heard Jeeter whistling a tune as he made his way up the path to the hideout. Naked but for the gunbelt, Jeeter strode into the cave and froze at the sight of a grinning Joshua Strongheart, bandaged all over, a pistol in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.
With a thick accent, Jeeter finally spoke. “What you doin’ heah, ya damned blanket nigger?”
Strongheart smiled, saying, “I gave my word to my mother on her deathbed I would never give away or sell my rig that you are wearing.”
Jeeter shook his head, saying, “You come after me wounded up bad to get back yer gun and knife?”
Strongheart said, “And the wedding ring you took, and I got my money belt. Why did you still have the letter?”
Jeeter spat some brown tobacco juice out. “Wal, I reckoned I would sell it ta the highest bidder. If ya was a man and let me make a play, then after I kill ya, I would go do jest that.”
“Well,” Joshua replied, “we don’t have to worry about that.”
“What, letting me ta make a play? I figgered as much.”
Strongheart said, “Where is the ring?”
Jeeter said, “The hell with ya. I give it ta one a mah gang, and I ain’t telling’ ya nothin’ else.”
Strongheart said, “Well, I have already killed about half your gang, and I will hunt the rest down until I find that wedding ring. So you won’t tell me where your brother or the rest are?”
“Hell, no. Why would ya spend time lookin’ for a damned ole ring?”
Strongheart said, “Because I gave my word.”
Jeeter chuckled, shaking his head. “Craziest thing Ah ever heerd of. Ya been shot a bunch, ridin’ hard I guess, and all over a gun, a knife, and a ring.”
Strongheart stopped smiling and said, “No, because of integrity. You would never understand that concept.” He spun his pistol back into the holster, saying, “You asked what I meant when I said we won’t have to worry about that.”
Jeeter said, “Yeah.”
“I was not talking about giving you a chance. I was talking about you being able to kill me.” Jeeter looked into Joshua’s dark, dark eyes and what he saw made his spine shiver. Suddenly, he wished he was back in his natural bathroom.
He laughed halfheartedly, saying, “At least let me put some clothes on. Ah’m naked.”
Strongheart said, “That’s how you came into this world, but now you are wearing a gun, my gun. That is how you are going out of it. You chose the owlhoot trail. Don’t whine.”
A shadow literally passed over Jeeter’s face and then the rocks, and he looked up. Three buzzards circled lazily along on the updraft from the mountain, looking for food. A dread came over him. He had to kill this Indian. His hand went down for the gun, and as it touched the handle, he thought he was going to do it, but he looked up and saw the muzzle flash from Joshua’s right hand. Jeeter was amazed that Joshua had been sipping coffee and not spilled a drop. At the same time, something slammed into his chest and then another, and somewhere he heard two loud booms. He was struggling to breathe.
Looking at Strongheart in a panic, he said, “How kin ya bury me in these heah rocks?”
Joshua said, “Don’t have time. You wouldn’t give me names or places. Remember? Besides, buzzards have to eat, too.”
The thought sent Jeeter into sheer panic. He suddenly went blind, then deaf, then he could not breathe but kept trying. He was too young to die. That was his last thought.
Strongheart retrieved his rig and grabbed whatever Jeeter had of any value, returned to Gabriel, and rode down, getting Jeeter’s gelding along the way. He saddled him and led him down toward Texas Creek, along a sandy gulch with an intermittent creek seeping in and out of the sand. It was known locally as Likely Gulch.
An hour later, he led the horse into the small group of buildings called Cotopaxi. Zack Banta came out, the ever-present twinkle in his eye, and this time a large corncob pipe in his mouth.
The old-timer accepted the saddle and carbine Joshua handed him, as well as a bag of money and some jewelry.
Banta said, “Wal, I reckon ole Jeeter McMahon has no need fer none a this anymore. Ah also reckon the way ya do things, young Strongheart, thet Harlance ain’t gonna have much need fer this horse or his things purty soon. We’ll put him in the stable behind the hotel.”
“See that he gets a good owner, yourself or whoever,” Joshua said.
“Yassir, reckon I kin use a good mount. My ole piebald has crunched him a buncha gravel under his hooves in these mountains,” Zachariah mused, “but he likes to jest stand now a lot and remember those good ole days whilst he rests his eyes.”
“You have a good mount now,” Joshua said, winking.
Zack said, “Get any more ’sides Jeeter? Someone rode in here. Said they was a hell of a shootin’ up to Westcliffe.”
Strongheart said, “Yep. Ruddy Cheeks Carroll in Westcliffe.”
“Hee, hee, ya shore don’t waste no time,” Zack said. “Who’s next?”
“Oregon,” Joshua said, “I have to courier a message there. Very important, but I will be back. I’m looking for an woman’s antique wedding ring. Somebody in the gang has it.”
“Wal, ya better rest up tanight and leave first light. Who ya courierin’ fer?”
Strongheart said, “The U.S. Army. I work for the Pinkerton Agency.”
“Yep, I knewd when I seen ya an sized ya up,” Zack said, “ya wasn’t some young half-breed tryin’ to figger out which world ya fit in. Could see right off ya was a man ta ride the river with.”
A cute befreckled teenaged girl came in and Zack said, “Hiya, missy. Now, Esther, why doncha run and tell yer ma to fix up our friend Mr. Strongheart here some vittles and a food pack fer his saddle tomorrah.”
She smiled broadly and said, “Yes, sir, Mr. Banta.”
The girl flashed a longing smile toward Joshua and ran to the hotel.
Joshua was feeling much stronger when he left Cotopaxi at first light and made his way westward toward Poncha Springs. He had some long hard riding ahead of him, but he would make the trip on his magnificent new mount, Gabriel, and load the big gelding when he could onto trains to make the long trek shorter. He hoped that the general had indeed gotten his orders to hold off and wait for the dispatch.
Strongheart saw some beautiful country with snowcaps in every direction when he got to Poncha Springs, and he set out west from there to take the winding road over the Continental Divide. There were plenty of pines, and he was at over eleven thousand feet when, on the rutted trail some had left, he finally got over the rough pass folks were calling Monarch.
He kept on, amazed, when he saw what was called the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, which was a very deep, beautiful sheer-cliffed gorge. He finally came to a part of the Colorado Territory where all the mountains were flat-topped mesas, and soon he headed into Utah Territory. He knew the Golden Spike had been driven in a few years earlier at Promontory Point, south of Salt Lake City. He knew once he got there, he could board a train and ride the rails most of the way to Oregon.
Strongheart was very sore and very tired when he finally got his horse settled in a car and hauled some water and hay in for him. He laid his saddle down on its horn and cantle in the corner, so the horse would not step on the saddle and break the wooden tree.
Joshua’s wounds were itching now, which was a good sign. They were healing.
He was sound asleep in the nice Union Pacific Railroad car when the voice brought him out of the blackness. “Stand up Injun. No red nigger is riding in any car with me.”
Strongheart opened his eyes, tilted his flat-brimmed black cowboy
hat with the wide beaded headband, and looked up at a very large grizzled man, reeking of old sweat, cows, and other odors not quite so pleasant. He had a large wild beard with gray permeating its ruffled interior regions, struggling to break out into the light of day.
Joshua smiled. “Well, mister, only half of me is red. The other half is white and that part of me is trying to catch up on some much needed rest.”
The bearded bully growled, “Oh, that’s worse! A stinking half-bree—”
Joshua interrupted, laughing. “Mister, I walked by most of the people in this car, and you did, too. I think only one of us stinks, and they know it is not me.”
There were chuckles throughout the car, and the behemoth’s face got beet red. He grabbed Joshua’s arm and yanked him up out of the bench seat. Joshua put his hand up in a halting gesture.
Smiling, he said, “Sir, there are ladies and children in this car. If you insist on us not riding in the car peacebly, we must go outside.”
The man said, “Well, at least you know your place, Buck.”
All watched in horror and a few women in curiosity as Joshua led the giant down the aisle, tipping his hat to each lady, smiling. They reached the door and Joshua grabbed the handle, held it open for the big man, and the bully stepped out onto the small platform. Joshua followed him out, raised his right foot, planted it on the monster’s chest, and shoved, sending him screaming off into the prairie brush and dirt along the tracks. Joshua shook his head as he walked back in the door.
Inside, he said, “Was anybody traveling with that man?”
A small, wiry cowboy raised his hand, saying, “I was, mister.”
Joshua said, “Your partner decided he did not want to ride in this car with me, so he is walking the rest of the way. Do you have a problem riding with me, or anybody else?”
Several men chuckled, and Joshua saw a beautiful blonde smiling broadly and making eyes at him. He nodded and tipped his hat.