Facing the Storm Along the Oregon Trail (2 page)

Chapter Three

Camping at Chimney Rock

WAGON AFTER WAGON
pulled off the trail and found their places as they would be camping for the night, and the work began. Families would be preparing their supper over camp fire while the men would be checking their stock, seeing that they were fed, watered and in good health.

As Emily prepared their meal, her thoughts ran to her mother as she would prepare their evening meals and she hoped that she could make her mama proud by the meal she would be serving up. Her Amish values remained in her heart and many of the Amish traditions she would be keeping for the rest of her life, and cooking for her family would be one of them.

Amish women took much pride in serving their families and it was a joyful event for them. Emily’s mother had brought her daughter up to be a fine cook and being the woman’s duty, Amish girls learn very young how to prepare family meals.

As the smell of bacon fat filled the air, Benjamin found himself hurrying around with his chores so that he could enjoy the meal his sister was preparing. Sitting by the fire and chatting about their future, time just slipped away and it wasn’t long until it was time to settle in for a good night’s sleep, and as they cleaned up their last dinner plate, they said good night to families nearby and they crawled inside their wagon.

As the starlit sky lay above the scene, peace fell upon Emily and she closed her eyes and fell into a quiet sleep.

WAKING TO THE
sounds of laughing children, Emily peeked out of the wagon and saw three tiny children sitting by their camp fire. Hurrying to get out and greet them with a cup of cocoa, Emily’s skirt got caught on the side of the wagon and she came barreling out.

With a brush here and there, she found herself being embarrassed more than hurt and she laughed as she rubbed the head of a tiny girl that had ran over to help her to her feet. Emily rewarded the tiny girl’s kindness by placing a cup of hot cocoa in her hand and the child just beamed, knowing full well that she had found a new friend for her journey as well.

Another meal for the morning and then they would be on their way.

Captain Swallows rode up and as she handed him a hot cup of cocoa, he thanked her, shook his head and moved along. Looking back the Captain reminded Emily that if they had anything they needed to do, they should attend to it because they would be heading out in about fifteen minutes.

Fort Laramie would be their next stop and there they could resupply their needs.

Chimney Rock also stood for something. It meant that they would now be journeying through rougher terrain, leaving the prairies, heading westward toward the Rocky Mountains. Its tall peak was shooting upward as they loaded up their wagons with children of all ages and adults, and as they continued to look back, they could see its brilliance standing so erect and high for miles and miles.

They watched below them as the ground they’d been on became rugged and their climb got steeper.

There were no more prairies where they could roll along at a good pace. They would travel from there expecting to arrive in Fort Laramie and this is where they could resupply and get any repairs done that might be in need. This is also where they could shoe their oxen.

Fort Laramie would be a place where they could rest their weary bodies and get rejuvenated so that they could take off once again. It seemed that there would always be a landmark ahead that would push them onward, giving them the continued strength they needed.

And for those who were Christians, they always had God leading them on and filling their needs along the way.

Chapter Four

Rustlers on the Trail

REACHING FT. LARAMIE
, the journey had gone smoothly and the wagonloads of families welcomed it with open arms. One by one they would pile out of their wagons looking weary, covered with dust from the trail, and spirits tired but still optimistic.

Children and adults alike had run out of energy by the time they reached the Fort, and they spent their time relaxing in the stores and the restaurants, as well as taking their long awaited baths in rooms that were available.

After enjoying warm baths and good food, they were now prepared to pull out and travel on. Hopping up alongside of Benjamin, Emily took her seat, full of vigor and fun as she teased Benjamin about what they would see up ahead.

Benjamin, staring down at his sister shook his head with disbelief at how quickly she could always be refreshed and said “You are just like mama, always a smile on that face. How do you do it? Please tell me.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s something I’ve done Benjamin, it’s more what the good Lord does.”

“I guess you’re right, but it seems women are very blessed in that department.”

“That’s because it’s the woman’s job to be the one to uplift her family,” she teased.

And, the whole train began pulling out, waving their hands in the air at the shop owners as they wished them well along the trail.

Independence Rock would be a next major landmark ahead of them and it stood as the symbol for the celebration of being half way to Oregon. Many people that had traveled the trail before them had written or carved their names and dates into the rock, as their group would as they pass by.

But, they had a way to go before reaching it. So, they settled into their journey, laughing and sharing memories of their parents and their Aunt they were headed to see. The wagon filled with many children still trailed behind them in line and looking back to get a glance of their happy faces was a delight for Emily and she would describe everything they were doing to Benjamin as he drove on.

AFTER HOURS ON
on the trail, the train had decided to pull over to make their lunch time meal and as the children poured out of their wagons, the adults were scurrying around to get their preparations in order.

Benjamin drove the oxen over to some grass that was surrounding them and while he was busy, Emily was finding ways to build up the fire. She went to the wagon to get her collection of buffalo chips and she at once began putting them in the hole to make her fire.

About that time she heard a whistle and jumped up and there was a hairy-looking man standing face to face with her. She immediately pulled back but tripped over some brush and fell upon her back.

Being left wide open and vulnerable, this man came upon her and raised her to her feet. “Well, look what we have here--a little, pure, young thing like you, out here on this dusty trail,” he said as his hand stroked her face. About the time that Emily was about to panic, Benjamin hollered out and came around the wagon, holding a loaded shotgun.

“Mister, I don’t know who you are, but you had best take your hands off of her, or I’ll blow your head off”.

“Whoa boy, what are you being so violent for? I am just admiring this beauty. Isn’t she pretty?”

“Like I said Mister, take your hands off her and do it now!”

There were two other men with this man and each was still sitting on their horses, but as one began slowly climbing down off his horse, Captain Shallows walked out from behind the wagon with a shotgun in his hand as well.

“Like the boy said, take your hands off the girl and ride on out of here.” the Captain ordered.

“No need for violence men, surely you see how a man could not resist touching such a pretty thing,” and as he slowly removed his hand from Emily’s face, before anyone knew it, he raised his pistol and shots rang out.

As Emily turned to look towards the Captain and Benjamin, her worst fear came true. Benjamin sunk to the ground, grabbing his leg. Other men had come to their aide and they had been behind wagons and it turned into a shootout that left the three rustlers dead.

But, Benjamin had been shot in the leg and as Emily ran to him she screamed out for someone to help her brother.

Several people ran to her side but there was confusion among them due to them being told that they were a married couple. As the Captain and another young man named Cal, carried Benjamin over to their wagon, the Captain asked Emily “I thought you just called him your brother?”

“Yes sir, I did and he
is
my brother. But, Benjamin thought I would be safer if I was to be a married woman, so we said we were husband and wife. This is my brother, can you save him?”

“Well Emily, we sure are going to try,” and the man Cal and the Captain laid him down beside the wagon. Many women came around to help as well as they stood by with clean water and linens.

The Captain had experience with bullet wounds and as he worked on Benjamin, Emily stayed right by his side praying and lifting up her voice to God to save Benjamin.

For what seemed like hours the Captain worked over Benjamin and he finally was able to remove the bullet from his leg and the cleansing of the wound and wrapping his leg began. As the Captain watched the women tend to Benjamin, he pulled Cal to the side and explained that now all they had to do was to wait and their hardest job would be keeping infection out.

“With wounds like Benjamin’s, there’s always a great chance for infection, losing his leg or even his life. We’ll need to settle in for the night here and wait until morning to take off.”

“Captain Sir, what do we do about these men here that are dead?”

“Nothing. Let the dead bury their dead. We are moving out and leaving them there.” The Captain walked on over to Emily and informed her that they must move on down the trail and that he would see to it that her brother would be made comfortable as possible inside the wagon and that he was going to assign a young man to travel along with her.

“Miss Emily, I need to talk to you about your brother and his condition before we head out. His wound has been tended to and I removed the bullet. But, what we have to watch for now is infection--do you understand?”

“Yes sir, you mean that it could become infected and he could lose his leg?”

“Yes Miss Emily, he could--or even worse, his life.” And with those words Emily began to sob heavily and the Captain reached out and took her in his arms, comforting her.

“Miss Emily, you seem to come from strong faith and this is one of those times that will try that faith. I am assigning a young man to drive your team here and this will allow you the time to watch over Benjamin and you give out a holler at the first sign that he doesn’t look right, you understand?”

“Yes Captain. I do understand and I will.” The Captain shook his head and began preparing the back of the wagon, making it as comfortable as possible for the rough trail ahead. Several women brought thick blankets from their wagons offering them to Emily so that they could make Benjamin a comfortable bed to lie upon.

One man brought a bottle of whiskey and said “I know that you don’t approve of whiskey ma’am, but if he is in much pain, I don’t think he will mind the whiskey being offered.”

“Thank you sir, and you are probably right,” as she took the bottle into her hand and placed it inside the wagon in a small corner. Emily gathered up her belongings that she had taken out of the wagon earlier and as she started to hop up into the wagon, the young man who would be driving her team offered his hand.

As her eyes met his, the tenderness she saw was something that she found herself in need of and she thanked him kindly and allowed him to lift her up into the back of the wagon.

Chapter Five

Their Names upon the Rock

HALF WAY TO
Independence Rock Benjamin’s eyes opened, but he was in so much pain that he couldn’t even speak. As Emily sat over him, she remembered the man and what he said about the whiskey and she reached over and took the bottle into her hands.

Lifting her brother’s head enough to take a drink, she told him that he would be drinking whiskey only for this occasion and she tenderly raised the bottle to his lips. Cal sat up front listening to Emily talking tenderly to Benjamin and he began thinking about his own brother who had been in a fire and lived for a few days, then eventually died from his injuries.

Before this happened to his brother, he had nearly walked away from God, but had held on. Before his brother’s accident, Cal’s parents were attacked by Indians as they were making a trip to see friends in need, and they were killed.

It seemed that after losing his little brother as well, that it was the last straw for him and he walked away from God and never looked back. Here he was, once again wondering why God would let such things happen to good people like this Emily and her brother. It made him stiffen up even more as his thoughts ran wild inside his head.

Benjamin spent much of his time sleeping and when he would awake, he would be suffering so much pain and would be given whiskey and then fall back into a sleep. Emily stayed close by his side and watched over his wound for any signs of infection.

They had days ahead of them to travel before they would be coming to Independence Rock and for the most part they had entered rocky ground which was very rugged and the wagon would jiggle around so much that it would wake Benjamin to more pain.

The Captain would make his rounds, passing by to check in on Benjamin to be sure there was no emergency. As they drew closer to Independence Rock, Emily could see a change coming over her brother and she grew very concerned for him.

It seemed that when he would awake, he would still be very unstable and was no longer signaling for the whiskey or for a drink. He became quieter with each mile that went by and she began checking his wounds even more.

One morning as she raised the linens that covered him, she noticed some dark spots appearing on his calves that were not there before. Not knowing what this was, she became alarmed and hollered to Cal up front. “Cal, I think you had better call for Captain Shallows.”

“What is it Miss Emily?”

“Benjamin is not looking well and his leg is turning dark.” Cal knew that this was serious and he whistled and hollered at the wagon ahead of them and told them to get the Captain quickly.

Within a few minutes the Captain was by Emily’s side and as soon as she pulled the blanket back, the Captain gasped. Infection had set in and the Captain had seen his too many times in his past. As his eyes shifted to Emily he tried with everything he had to remain calm, but his eyes told it all and Emily began to cry hysterically.

The Captain immediately pulled her to the side and explained to her that there were things that had to be done now and he needed her to be strong and to remain in strong faith. The Captain motioned for Cal to pull the wagon over and he sent another man from a wagon on his horse to go and to tell the train they would be stopping for the day and would then be camping just ahead at Independence Rock.

He knew what had to be done and he knew that travel would be out of the question for at least a day and a night. He ordered part of the wagon train to go on ahead to Independence Rock, put another man in charge over them, and he asked Cal and a few others to stay behind with them.

As he took Emily by the hand, he led her off to the side and told her what would be happening now in order to save her brother’s life. As he broke the news to her, the dear girl sobbed uncontrollably for a good ten minutes and then he left her alone to spend some time with the Lord in prayer.

The Captain got everything he would need all together and went out behind one of the wagons and said a prayer himself for steady hands and wisdom for what he would be doing.

IT WAS A
very long afternoon and several of the people that had stayed behind could not handle what was taking place and they had to be taken out and away from the scene. But Cal and Emily stood by, ready and willing to help the Captain with the grievous task before him.

After making sure he had everything he needed along with lots of clean boiled water and linens, he began his chore. As Emily looked at all the things that sat by the Captain, she began to feel herself get weak.

There were knives that had been put in the fire. There were a couple hot iron rods that they kept in the fire--and there was the whiskey bottle. Emily had never been around anything like this so this was very devastating and scary for her.

She was thankful that Captain Shallows knew what to do and was there with her. Also sitting beside the Captain was a hammer and a big knife, and she had no idea what they were for. As Emily sat there holding her brothers hand, the Captain once again warned her that this might not be something that she could take and that she needed to let someone know if she began to feel weak or sick and she nodded and agreed.

Benjamin by this time had went into shock so far that he was not responding to the Captain, but the whiskey was kept close by. The Captain with a prayer in his heart and a set of steady hands began cutting into Benjamin’s leg and he very quickly was able to get this done without complications.

As he was about to grab the hammer and the knife, he instructed one of the men standing around to take Emily for a walk and get her out of there. Not wanting to leave her brother she insisted that she stayed, but the Captain told her that he would be able to do his job better if she were not there.

Cal immediately offered to take Emily away from the scene, and the Captain agreed and the other man stayed with the Captain instead. Leading Emily as far away as he could, Cal began talking with her to calm her down.

She found herself needing to talk and she shared parts of her life with Cal and further explained why the two had claimed to be husband and wife instead of brother and sister.

The operation took a couple hours before the Captain would send for Emily to return and when he had gotten all the way through the surgery, he then sent another one of the men to get Cal and Emily.

She was very excited to run back to see Benjamin, yet she was very afraid as well. Cal, taking her hand, led her back to the camp, holding her up as she got near her brother. Benjamin of course was unconscious and the Captain had finished his grave task and he was sitting by the fire looking as if he was ill.

Walking over to the Captain, Emily ran into his arms crying and thanking him for what he had done to try and save her brother’s life. The two just sat there after she had thanked him, without saying a word and as Cal watched on, he began realizing just how precious this young girl was and how capable she was of such strong love.

His eyes fell upon her and it was hard for him to stop looking at her. The Captain explained that Benjamin would be out of it for the day and probably the night as well, but that she and Cal should sit by his side, taking turns taking some sleep themselves.

Pulling out their bed boards and blankets, they both took their place around the fire and pulled in close to Benjamin and as Cal took the first watch, Emily finally fell asleep.

MORNING CAME
and Benjamin was looking just like the Captain expected, still unconscious and he explained to Emily that this was normal and to not expect him to awake anytime soon. The longer he was out, the more he would be able to rest without going through the pain.

She was to keep her eyes on the wound and to see if he had a fever arise and to let him know of any such changes. Morning turned into afternoon and soon darkness was falling upon them.

During this time, Cal and Emily were spending much time together huddling over her brother and sharing conversation. Emily could sense that Cal had given up on God from his own past experiences of pain and she wanted desperately to share Jesus with him, but she knew that she would have to ease this onto Cal.

Pain does horrible things to a person, especially when they have suffered tragedy after tragedy. She knew that God would give her the patience of Job and the right words to say when the time was right. And, for now, just his friendship and he being there with her was enough for her.

As the darkness rolled in, there was a sound that startled Emily and she woke Cal up, asking him to check to see what was moving out in the grassy area. As Cal started to check it out, two Indians appeared on horseback.

Cal was startled and began to grab his shotgun, but one of the Indians held up his arm showing they were not armed and was not there to hurt them. Emily couldn’t believe her eyes. All she had ever learned of Indians was that they would attack.

The two Indians walked over and looked down at Benjamin and they spoke to each other for a few seconds. One of the Indians leaned down and raised the blanket and asked to see the wound. Emily then lifted the dressing off of her brother’s leg and the Indians eyes grew big.

One of the Indians told Emily that they had something that would take care of that infection and would help with the pain. This Indian spoke English and this was quite shocking to Emily. But, she was willing to try anything and she just felt like she could trust them.

Agreeing with them and accepting their help, she nodded her head. They took off and rode back into camp within minutes and had in their hands what looked like plain old weeds to Emily.

As they bent down, they wet the leaves of this plant with their saliva and then sprinkled it over the wounds. When they had covered the entire wound, they handed the plant to Emily and explained that she must put it on his leg four to five times a day and to not wash it off.

She nodded her head and thanked them, offering an evening meal to them, but they said they must be on their way and they told her that his leg would heal if she did as they had said. Emily assured them that she would follow their instructions and told them that she owed them a debt for life.

IN THE MORNING
Emily couldn’t believe her eyes, but Benjamin was awake and she ran over to him hugging and kissing him. He asked her what had happened and then he himself remembered what had taken place.

As his eyes followed downward, he asked Emily to lift the blanket and she refused. She was so afraid this would send him back into shock when he would become aware that he had lost a leg. Benjamin assured her that he already knew that he had lost it just by the look on her face and to raise the blanket so that he may see it for himself.

So, Emily slowly raised the blanket with tear-filled eyes and even though Benjamin knew that he had lost his leg, it took him by surprise and he burst out crying. By this time the Captain had arrived and he assured Emily that her brother’s reaction was completely normal and he needed this time in order to grieve his loss.

He told her that it would be best to give her brother some time alone and let him work his way through this and that he would be sitting right outside the wagon to be sure he would be alright.

Emily then was taken away from the wagon and she and Cal went for another walk.

After Captain Shallows checked Benjamin out he decided that it would be best if they got back on the trail and that Benjamin would be fit enough to travel. He gathered up several of the men, asking them to relay the news to the rest of the train. He asked Cal if he would mind still driving the Whetstone wagon, and Cal by this time was very glad to.

Ahead of them was Independence Rock which would signify that they had made it half way. And even with the delay of Benjamin getting shot in the leg and the time it took to care for him, they were arriving in good time.

Emily jumped in the back of the wagon to watch over her brother and enjoy being with him. While they traveled on Benjamin told Emily that he was proud of her and her strong faith she was able to keep during his event. While they talked and discussed how God provides and takes care of all things to those who trust in Him, Cal was hearing every word up front.

He could not understand this talk after all the two had been through. But, he listened and Emily knew quite well he was listening and was hoping that his heart would now begin to soften towards God. She knew too well about his past and what he had shared with her, and she was very worried about his stance he had now taken on God.

She continued to talk with Benjamin, praising God all the while for His hand in the healing of his wound.

As they looked ahead they could clearly see why everyone had said that those who traveled the trail before them left their mark on the Rock. It was gigantic and beautiful and she could not wait to carve her and Benjamin’s name in it. As the wagons pulled up around in a circle, there was a hush that came over the people.

Everyone seemed to just sit and stare at it and each one was soaking in their own thoughts of their journey they had traveled so far, realizing that yet they still had only come half way.

This sent excitement to some and dread to others.

But regardless of which way their thoughts went, they were all feeling blessed to have gotten that far. Each wagon unloaded adults and children and walking hand in hand they all walked towards the Rock in front of them and before anyone began to carve their name into the stone, they quietly walked around reading other names that had come this way before them.