Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2013 00:14:16 -0700 (PDT)
From: Joe Collins <joecollins7420@yahoo.com>
Subject: On the move West   Chapter 1

If this story is prohibited in your area, you are underage or gay sex
offends you, then please leave! If you are looking for hard core sex, you
won't find it here. However, some sex and reference to sex will be found.
The story plot and characters are fictional and any resemblance is just
coincidental. Please feel free to email me and be sure to include the title
in the subject line. joecollins7420@yahoo.com

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On the move West
Chapter 1

My father made it big in the steel manufacturing business and became a
wealthy man. My mother died and shortly thereafter, my father died at an
early age of fifty. I, the only heir, inherited everything.

According to his will, all of his slaves and indentured servants were to be
given their freedom . I followed his instructions exactly, gave them their
freedom papers, a sum of money and outfitted them with wagons, teams, and
supplies so they could move west to establish a new life for
themselves. They all decided to stay together and headed for the farmlands
in Central Canada.

I had lots of time with nothing to do. I made appearances at the plant but
still nothing to do. I had a plant manager who ran the factory and all I
had to do was a little paper work here and there and give the workers their
pay at the end of the week. I paid them good and had them working decent
hours and hired no children under the age of 18. I started working along
with the workers. Before long, I had a body to be proud of. The workers
rewarded me by giving me a good honest day of work. My business continued
to thrive.

Everyone was after me to get married. I had no interest in marriage and
started avoiding social events. There was always a young lady and/or her
mother trying to attract my attention but with no success. I was just
really trying to avoid all the 'gold diggers'. I don't know how many dinner
invitations I turned down. I simply wasn't interested in women and marriage
was the last thing on my mind. I would on occasion visit the local saloon
and take one of the girls upstairs. I had to be very careful or the church
and maybe the whole community could turn against me and then I would really
lead a lonely life and would be completely isolated.

*****

The war between the states ended. I, Jim Turner, lived in the north just
over the dividing line and I supported the North. However, I, too, lost
everything. My house and outbuildings had been completely destroyed and
burned. All my cattle had been butchered and my horses and mules taken. My
crops were all burned. My only living relatives, three uncles and their
families were gone(killed).

*****

I sold my bottom land farm and my steel manufacturing business both for a
very handsome price. I now had a very large nest egg, in fact I was very
rich. I would start my life over in the west. I bought three wagons, four
mules and twelve oxen to pull the wagons and for use on a farm in Oregon. I
purchased twelve oxen because of the weight of the farm equipment. I knew
they would be needed. Until the going got rough, I planned to rotate the
oxen giving them a break, work a team of four and give them two days off
before working them again. On steep up hill climbs and hard climbs, I would
hitch six of the oxen to each wagon. I wanted to save my animals for work
on the farm. I had converted all my cash to gold and put in it under a
false bottom in the wagon not filled with farm equipment.

I got my neighbor, David White, a lad of 18, to drive one of the wagons and
I would drive the wagon in which the heavy farm implements would be
loaded. I would walk beside the lead oxen to lighten the load. Thus, I
would essentially be walking to Oregon.

David's step-brother, Samuel, age 19, was going to drive their own
wagon. They had lost their entire family during the war and was willing to
go with me and start over. Like me, they lost everything. We could not get
a good price for their land. Not a problem because I had already decided to
use my fortune for all my friends to start a new life.

Fortunately, their house only partially burned and we were able to salvage
most of the household furnishings that we wanted to take with us. When we
started loading, we discovered they needed another wagon. I got them
another team and wagon. The boys got an neighbor who was a widower to drive
the extra wagon. He wanted to leave and go west and live near his own
family. His grandson, age 14 would drive the extra livestock and oxen.

I hired a driver, Jeff Temple, for my third wagon. Jeff had lost everything
in the war. He had a young wife, Judy, and absolutely no money. I bought
them some clothes and bedding and completely outfitted them will all the
other necessary essentials. I made them a promise that when we arrived in
Oregon that I would set them up with a place of their own.

I thought I would claim land under the 1862 homestead act and buy the boys
two farms, one for each of them because they were under age and could not
homestead.

Jeff and Judy could claim land also. I would have a house built and equip
the farm and house, so they could start life anew. Meanwhile, they could
cook and eat with the boys, Mr. Smith, his grandson, and I. We became one
large family with five loaded wagons.

We were just going to wait and see. We were not in a hurry. Oregon was
still a long way off and anything could happen. We might even find some
land that we liked before we made it to Oregon. Since money was not a
problem, we could settle anywhere if we found a place to our liking. In
fact, we didn't need to apply for homestead land grants, which would
probably be a lot more work to establish our homes and farms. However, none
of us were afraid of a little work.

We loaded everything that David and Samuel wanted to take into the
wagons. We took all of their kitchen paraphernalia, all the large steel
cooking pots, two large copper kettles which were big enough for bathing
and washing clothes. We loaded a large iron pot which had a tri-pod which
could be used over an open fire for cooking and to heat water. There was
also several cast iron cooking pot and skillets, Dutch ovens, bedding, our
clothes, food supplies, and other household miscellaneous items.

The boys were among the more fortunate, they had photos and other personal
memorabilia. They loaded their mother's organ in the wagon with the farm
equipment. With everything loaded, we headed for Missouri, where we would
join a wagon train going west.

*****

We were glad to leave our past and bad memories behind. We had each other
for company and could assist each other when need be. We made a pack not to
remember the past and especially not to talk about it. All we wanted to do
was forget, of course, we would carry the memories of our loved ones
forever in our hearts. Nothing could ever take that away.

*****

We joined a wagon train. Most of the people on the train were from the
South. I paid for all five wagons. We usually stayed by ourselves because
those from the deep south were very bitter and didn't want to associate
with `Northerners'. They were very determined to make our lives miserable.

The wagon train left St. Louis far behind and we were making good progress
on our westward movement toward Oregon. The towns were getting fewer and
fewer. The people were also decreasing and were living farther and farther
apart. So far, we enjoyed beautiful spring weather and had suffered no real
hardships. Indians had not been a problem. We had lots of fodder for our
animals Things were certainly looking good.

We crossed the Continental Divide and started down the other side. One day,
just before making camp for the evening, we came upon three wagons stopped
along side the trail with no animals of any kind . We knew right away that
something terrible was wrong and the owners were in trouble.

I was driving the lead wagon in the train. David and Samuel were right
behind me in their wagons. The Temples and Mr. Smith followed. We stopped
and ran over to the wagons.

We found a Negro woman, Betty and two children, Jacob and Lisa, all covered
with blood huddled under one of the wagon, more dead than alive. The woman
asked us for a drink and told us to look in the other wagons. I knew right
away that all three were in terrible shape.

We gave them a small drink of water, by now, a crowd from the wagon train
had gathered. Soon the people started shouting for us to leave them and
return to our wagons. Samuel challenged the group and refused to leave. The
wagon master told us that they were going to leave us and go on without
unless we left immediately. He said that we would have to fend for
ourselves because we had wasted too much time already.

"Look, Mister! These people are in no shape to travel and can't be left
alone. We are their only hope and we are staying. We would like to have our
money returned as we are leaving the train!" I yelled.

"You had better reconsider! You won't be able to survive without us. These
people aren't worth all the trouble they will cause," said the wagon
master.

"I hope the whole lot of you rot in hell. These people are human beings and
need our help. I would rather stay with the these people and take our
chances than travel with a bunch of bigots such as the likes of all of
you. We are going to give them all the help we can. .I would rather take
our chances for survival than travel with a bunch of worthless, heartless,
cruel people that you are. . I pray for your souls but I think you all are
going to need a lot more than prayers. I just hope that we are not too late
with our services. I pray that we can help these poor people. I hope we can
give them another chance on life. Now, I'll go with you to get our money!"

"You signed on for us to take you to Oregon. I can't return your money."
the wagon master replied

"Oh, yes you can. It was you who said you were leaving us and going on
without us. You are breaking the agreement we signed with you. You are not
living up to your end of the agreement." I wasn't really concerned about
the money, but I just wanted to let him know that he couldn't push people
around and get away with it. After much mumbling and grumbling, he agreed
to refund our money.

Three other families, (Myers, Manning, and Long) ,all from the North, said
they were staying with us. Much to our surprise, two Southern
families(Watson and Quinn} wanted to join us. They said they wouldn't
support the South during the war and had suffered because of it. All the
families told the wagon master the same thing that we had already told him
and also got a refund.

Boys would you move our wagons up here, please. Thanks Boys! You that are
staying with us, just pull your wagons out of line and bring them up here,
also. I will get busy helping these people. I am glad that we came along
when we did. I don't think they could have lasted much longer without our
help."

*****

Sarah Myers, Elizabeth Manning, and Donna Long had started washing the
dried blood from the woman and children`s faces. The helpers were giving
them little sips of water.

I went the next wagon and found a man, Larry Brown, his wife, Mary, and two
teenage girls, Joan and Cindy, all very near death. I called Mary Watson ,
Susan Quinn, and Judy Temple to come and help. They were to put some water
on a washcloth and squeeze a little water in each of their mouths. Soon
they were able to drink little sips at a time.

I went to the next wagon to check of the ones inside. I found a priest,
Father Matthew, two young Indian men, Adam and Luke and a young negro man,
Joseph. I guessed the young adults were about my age, which is 27. All of
them, the priest included looked like they had been severely beaten like
all the others, and had been left for dead. With a lot of special care, I
thought that they might get lucky and survive. Thank goodness, everyone was
still alive. I gave thanks and praised the lord. I had my hopes up that we
could pull them all through. I put Jeff, Mr. Myers. And Mr. Manning tending
those in this wagon.

I asked Oren Watson and Clark Quinn to take charge of the animals and
prepare the camp for the night.

I sent David and Mr. Long to gathered some wood and start a fire so that
the women could start making some beef broth for the injured. One of the
teenage girls confirmed that they had nothing to eat or drink for three
days. We had to get a lot of liquid and nourishment into their bodies and
quick. Dehydrations and starvation had already started.

Tom Myers, Don Long, and Charles Manning pulled two wagons together. They
took the canvas off one of the wagons and stretched it between two wagons
to make shade and protection for all the injured. We made beds under the
canvas. Now all that was left was to move the wounded and put them on the
beds.

"David and Jeff, would you please get the large iron pot with the tripod
and fill it with water and put it on the fire to heat. Thanks! I want to
clean everyone and see how bad their wounds are and if they will need
stitches or have any broken bones. Samuel, take the older children and
gather some herbs to put on the cuts. Leave the younger ones and we will
watch them. You know which herbs I want. Hurry!"

"Jim, you sound just like a doctor. I certainly hope that you are because
we will probably need one before we reach our destination," said Tom.

"Yes, I have gone to medical school and have my license but I have never
had a practice. I went to work in my steel mill and I got a lot of training
during the war. I want to get a good farm in a community that needs a
doctor. So that I can do both."

When Samuel and the children returned, I had him crush the sagebrush,
rabbit brush, wild onions, and other wild herbs into a fine powder. I sent
him to my wagon to get some dried carrots and bring my medicine kit when he
returned. He also striped some bark from an elm tree growing near by and
crushed it also. He put all of this into a kettle with a small amount of
water and milk. He began steep them over the fire. He continued to mash the
ingredients. Finally, he added some old hard biscuits to make a thick paste
for a poultice. I would use the poultices to draw infections or pus out of
the cuts and breaks in the skin. I had Donna go to my wagon and bring back
a bolt of white muslin. You can't miss it. It is just inside the back
flap. She was to tear some strips to be used for bandages.

"Let's put the women and girls together and put a curtain between them and
the men. I want to start cleaning them and get them into clean clothes . I
just hope we can find some in their wagons. If not they will just have to
`borrow' some of ours".

*****

Mary and Susan started cooking the evening meal, a huge pot of stew and
biscuits. The other women finished cooking the beef broth and now came the
task of feeding all the patients. Each Adult was told to take a bowl of
broth and go to one of the wounded. Everyone was cautioned to give only a
very small spoonful at a time and to go very slow. I didn't want any
choking or scaled mouths. Their bodies had to get use to having food in
their stomachs. Again, another reason for slow feeding. All the helpers
were to talk with their buddy and were to gather as much information as
possible without prying and causing them to be uncomfortable. Poor Father
Matthew! Robert Long just about talked his ears off but Father Matthew
enjoyed it and relaxed and even had a smile on his face.

I had one of the Indians, Adam, and to my surprise, he spoke very good
English. Adam and Luke had attended a missionary school back east not far
from St. Louis. Father Matthew had been instrumental in getting the two
Indian boys to go to school. They had completed their stay and
training. Now they had a very good education. Father Matthew joined a
cavalry unit headed east. He went to the school to got them and they were
on their way home when misfortune over took them.

My buddy and I were very close to Father Matthew and Robert. I heard Robert
ask, "Father, Can you tell me what happened here. We need to know, and
maybe we can find the guilty ones." I thought to myself. Robert, keep it
up. You're doing just fine. I hope you pump him for more information.

"Robert, are you sure you want to know. It will not be a pretty story and
may be rather scary."

"Oh, yes! I want to hear it all. It can't be any worse than what I have
already witnessed. I saw and heard some terrible things during the war. I
guess you can say that I had to grow up very fast."

"Only if you are okay with all of this. By the way, just how old are you?"

"I am only 12 but my dad says I am going on 30."

"I think he is right. That young man with the doctor has a brother. Four
days before you arrived, he and three of his friends arrived in camp with
bad news for us. They had overheard bad guys talking at the fort. Evidently
they did not know that one of them spoke English. He is the brother to that
one over there. I wanted to send him back East but he didn't want to
go. They knew where we were and came to warn us."

"However, it was to late for us to do anything." He said that a bunch of
bad white men were coming and would hurt us and maybe even kill us. They
would arrive in a day or maybe two. I asked him if he knew who they were. I
already knew before he answered. There was a group of renegade raiders from
Mississippi who live near the fort and my mission. They have been making
trouble for anyone from the North and anyone of color. Nothing serious just
making life uncomfortable for them. Just plain no good. They would hit
small wagon trains and move on.".

Robert was not going to let up. "Father, I can tell by looking at all of
you that you all took terrible beatings including the women and
children. Evidently you were left to die. What happened to the Indians that
came to warn you? Where are your horses and livestock? Why did the bad guys
leave before they had finished you off?"

Good Boy, Robert! Keep up the good work.

"Hey, one question at a time. Doc, are you listening to all of this. I must
say you have a live-wire in this one."

"Yes, Father, I am. He is just asking the questions that is bothering all
of us. We need to know what we are dealing with if we are going to help
stop this kind of activity and abuse. So Please continue!"

"We did not want the bad guys to get our horses and livestock because then
we would really be in trouble. We had our Indian friends drive all of them
into the hills and find a canyon in which to hold them until we built a
large fire and put green boughs on it so as to send up a lot of smoke. They
would then return with our livestock. Needless to say, we never got that
done. I don't know if they are still waiting or not." Father Matthew paused
and took a deep breath. "We took all our money and valuables over to that
dead tree, dug a hole and buried everything. Then we erased our tracks and
evidence of our work."

"Please continue. I know this is very hard but we really want to know what
we are dealing with," I said.

"Our tormentors and there were 6 of them arrived and held us all at gun
point. They wanted to know where all our animals were and we told them
Indians had driven them off and taken all our valuables with them. This was
not a lie because in actuality Indians had driven them off and helped bury
our valuables," chuckle Father Matthew.

"Our hands and feet were all tied and they started beating and kicking
us. I receive a hard blow to the head and passed out.. I was out for a long
time. When I did regain consciousness, they were all gone and we were all
untied. I don't know why they untied us but they did. I think maybe they
believed us to be dead or dying. The women and girls were not
violated. Thank God!"

"Father, Why were you traveling with such a small amount of wagons?"

"We were with a larger train. The rest of the train turned to head south.
We were already close to out destination and thought that we would be safe
since we were known to the Indians in this area. They are Adam and Luke's
people."

"Father, I think you should rest for awhile and we will start tending to
your needs," I said.

"Donna, Judy, Elizabeth and Sarah, I would like for you to clean the women
and girls. I mean off with all their clothes and their bodies washed with
warm soapy water from head to toes. If you find any cuts that need stitches
just let me know. We will put the concoction that I mixed on all the
infected areas with clean bandages. Thanks, Ladies! Tom, Jeff, Don and I
will take care of the men. After they all have been cleaned, I'll dress the
wounds stitch the large cuts and put the bandages on. Are you ready? Then
lets go to work."

"Father Matthew, how are you going to feel when I strip you naked and start
washing your entire body, including your privates."

"Jim, You are a doctor and I am a man in need of medical attention. I may
be a priest but I am also a man. I have no quarrel with that. Just make me
feel better."

"I hope that I can! I will give it my best shot." I cleaned Father Matthew,
sewed up his wounds, applied poultices and bandages, gave him some medicine
for the pain, and covered him with a blanket and moved on the next victim.
We would clean all their wounds, stitch the bad cuts, put poultices, and
dressing on their open wounds.

For the next hour and a half, my helpers and I worked steady and until at
last the patient had been treated and in clean clothes. I gave every one
something to ease their pain. The caregivers and their patients were almost
completely exhausted.

It was time for our evening meal. Soon we were eating and discussing the
events of the day. Our wounded, had improved enough to join us and we were
able to discover more of the details of the beating. Betty's husband had
evidently been taken with the tormentors. His fate was still unknown.

That evening Charles Manning, who is a minister, led us in a worship and
prayer service. Every one including the wounded received a big up lift. It
appeared that a big burden had been lifted from our shoulders.

After the service everyone decided to go to bed early. The men, including
Samuel and David would take turns on guard duty and keep the fires burning.
Nights can still get quite chilly. TBC