The Scarlet Thread (30 page)

agree. Kavanaugh has an affinity for Indians and

little use for his own kind.

James said Kavanaugh has agreed to go with us

to Oregon. He said John MacLeod was surprised

and pleased. He said—Kavanaugh knows this

country like the back of his own hand.

All the ladies are Impressed with him. They

think he is Very Handsome and Mysterious. The

men ply him with constant questions. I wonder

sometimes if James and the others are not having

second thoughts about this madness of going west.

It is raining again today and making mess of our

camp. Last night, the wind blew rain right into

the wagon. It is too wet for a cookfire. I wish I

was at home at Aunt Martha’s with my children

cuddled into that big brass bed.

I asked James what we would do if the children

get sick. He says we got Doc Murphy. What if the

wagon breaks down? He says we have spare parts

and the wheels are made of osage orangewood.

What about Indians? He says Kavanaugh knows

what to do about Indians. James says I worry too

much, and I say he doesn’t worry enough.

We ate cold beans and hard biscuits tonight.

I kept thinking about Betsy’s fine cooking and

that warm kitchen. I wonder if I will ever know

those Comforts again. By the time we get to

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Crops. We will all starve by springtime.

I wonder if any of us will be alive in a year.

$85.00

Cotton duck covers . . . . . . . . . . .

100.00

4 teams of oxen . . . . . . . . . . . . .

200.00

harnesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

25.00

6 barrels of flour . . . . . . . . . . . . .

25.00

600 pounds bacon . . . . . . . . . . . .

30.00

50 pounds chipped beef . . . . . . . . .

8.00

50 pounds lard . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2.50

100 pounds dried fruit . . . . . . . . . .

6.00

50 pounds salt and pepper. . . . . . . .

3.00

100 pounds coffee . . . . . . . . . . . .

9.00

200 pounds beans . . . . . . . . . . . .

8.00

75 pounds rice . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3.75

10 pounds of saleratus . . . . . . . . . .

1.00

5 pounds mustard . . . . . . . . . . . .

1.00

150 pounds sugar . . . . . . . . . . . .

7.00

powder, lead, shot . . . . . . . . . . . .

20.00

30 pounds tenting . . . . . . . . . . . .

5.00

matches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1.00

50 pounds candles . . . . . . . . . . . .

3.30

3 pounds castile soap . . . . . . . . . .

2.00

100 feet heavy rope . . . . . . . . . . .

4.00

45 pounds bedding. . . . . . . . . . . .

22.50

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $572.05

Savings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

854.22

-572.05

282.17

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Share for captain/scout

MacLeod and Kavanaugh . . . . . . . .

-44.00

Savings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

282.17

-44.00

238.17

Members

John MacLeod
Wagon Company to Oregon

Territory

Scout—Mister Kavanaugh

James and Mary Kathryn Farr
—Illinois/ farmer

children: Joshua, Henry, Beth, Matt, and

Deborah

Virgil Boon
—Pennsylvania/ cooper

Judge Skinner and wife Mary—
Carolina/ lawyer

Reese Murphy
—New York/ doctor

sister: Susan

Cal Chaffey
—Maine/ farmer

Mary and Marcus Sweeney
—Ohio/ blacksmith

Mittie Catlow
—Illinois/ farmer

son: Calhoun

Franklin and Paralee Sinnott
—Missouri/ merchant

children: Frank and Patricia

Werner Hoffman
—New York/ farmer

son: Herbert

KaiserVandervert
—Massachusetts/ tailor

Ernest and Winifred Holtz
—New York/ wheelwright

children: Ernst, Louisa, Alicia, Gottlieb

Melzena and Arbozena Pratt
—Alabama/

seamstresses

nigra servant: Homer

Wells and Nellie Doane
—Missouri/ baker

children: Robert, Harlan, LeRoy

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Paul Colvigne
—Delaware/ teacher

Binger Siddons
—Indiana/ farmer

Oren and Aphie McKenzie
—Virginia/ farmer

Dunham and Celia Banks
—Connecticut/ shoemaker

children: baby Hortense

A. J. Wrigh
t—Tennessee/ harnessmaker

Wyatt Collins
—Vermont/ farmer

Cage Bake
r—Kentucky/ farmer

Ruckel Buckeye
—Ohio/ hunter

Artemesia and Athena Hendershott
—Georgia/

drayage

brother: Apollo

Stern Janssen
—Sweden/ sailor

Matthew Odell
—Illinois/ gunsmith

Less Moore
—South Carolina/ gambler

Payment rendered in advance to John

MacLeod—$800.00

Payment rendered in advance to

Bogan Kavanaugh—300.00

The sun has finally come out. We were busy all

day repacking to John MacLeod’s instructions.

Our flour is now stored in canvas sacks instead of

barrels, 100 pounds per sack. Our bacon supply

is repacked in boxes, 100 pounds each. We surrounded the bacon with bran. JM says this will

prevent the fat from melting and keep the bacon

from spoiling.

I am too tired to write more.

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It is raining again. We have moved to higher

ground. Everyone is Wet and Cold and Agitated.

JM says we will not move out until the grass is

four inches high. Right now, our stock is feeding

on what grass there is which is not much.

No one is happy, not even James who had this

fool idea of going to Oregon.

I long for home. I cannot think about Aunt

Martha, Betsy and Clovis without crying.

James bought a milk cow for $20. Beth will have

charge of it. Joshua will help herd the stock the

company has bought from the common fund.

We have been on the trail three days. We left

Courthouse Square at sunup May 12. There are

twenty-eight wagons in our company and

fifty-eight souls counted among them. We crossed

the Missouri border and left the United States of

America. The only law and order we got now is

what we have agreed to among ourselves. We

have traveled over muddy roads past a great big

blue mound and then crossed Bull Creek. Heading due west, we saw a sign saying The Road to

Oregon. We had a hard crossing at the

Vermillion. A. J. Wright lost a wheel coming

down the steep bank.

Crossing creeks is always trouble. Near the

mission the Shawnee Indians helped me while

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smooth crossing though my heart was in my

throat the whole way.

Franklin Sinnott has two wagons, one for family and supplies and another loaded with goods he

intends to sell in Oregon. He is driving it himself

and leaving his wife Paralee to drive the other.

She is scared of driving and with good reason.

She is not much good at it and Very Fragile.

When we were at the Wakarusa, she pulled out of

line and waited. Franklin yelled at her something

fierce, but she would not get back behind and follow him across. She would not budge. He had to

come back and drive the wagon across himself.

He was so mad, he made her get off and walk.

Little Patricia screamed for her mama all the way

across the river. Paralee came across in a bull

boat with a Shawnee.

We crossed the Kansas and have followed the

Little Blue for three days. James is letting Joshua

drive the wagon. I am thankful. It is easier on a

body to walk.

Someone pushing a wheelbarrow followed us

all day yesterday and today. MacLeod said it was

probably a Mormon and went out to see. I can

see the glow of a campfire in the distance.

Artemesia and Athena Hendershott have asked

Kavanaugh to share their supper. They are very

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nice ladies. Perhaps he will take a liking to one.

Apollo would be delighted to see one of his sisters

wed.

John MacLeod just returned and told James it

is a woman out there. He told her she is a fool and

should go back, but she said it is a free country

and she can go where she pleases.

It is beyond my thinking why any woman

would choose to go to Oregon let alone work so

hard to get there.

I wonder who she is and why she is so Determined to leave Civilization behind.

James said the woman following us is French and

from New Orleans and I am to have no discourse

with her. I asked him why and he would not tell

me. I said I would talk to whom I please and he

said I would not. I asked how he come to know so

much about her and he said Kavanaugh told him.

I told him it was his rotation on guard duty and

he should go. Ruckel Buckeye and Apollo

Hendershott are also on duty tonight. Kavanaugh

told us from the start the Indians have a fondness

for stock and the men must keep their Eyes

Open. James was mad enough when he left the

fire that he will have no trouble staying awake.

We have reached Alcove Springs. There were

so many wagons, we felt we were right back in

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better forage for the animals. I spent the afternoon washing clothes.

I can hear fiddles playing on the night air.

James wants to dance. He has not said so, but

I can tell because his foot is tapping. He keeps

looking at me and waiting for me to say something.

I would like to say something, but he would not

like to hear it.

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14

T H E I N T E R C O M O N S I E R R A ’ S D E S K B U Z Z E D . S H E

pressed the button. “Yes, Arlene?”

“You have a call on line two.”

“Thank you.” Sierra pressed the button, thinking it was the

counselor she’d been trying to reach. “Sierra Madrid speaking.”

“It’s Alex.”

Her heart leaped, and then crashed when he got straight to the

point. “The house is yours. My attorney says I’m making a mistake, but I want you to have it. I’ve already had the deed changed

over into your name. Same for your BMW. You’ll get the papers

certified mail in a day or two.”

His voice was so cold, her fingers felt icy around the telephone

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