What Once We Loved (58 page)

Authors: Jane Kirkpatrick

Tags: #Historical Fiction, #Fiction, #General, #Christian, #Religious, #Historical, #Female friendship, #Oregon, #Western, #Christian fiction, #Women pioneers

BOOK: What Once We Loved

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“Truth be known,” Tipton said, taking the bread from Elizabeth. “I've learned by studying Chita's Spanish that the word
companion
means with' and ‘bread.' The word
bread is
pan.' Isn't that interesting?”

“And the beginning of words like
companion, compassion, and communion
one time meant “the exchange of burdens,'“ Mazy told her.

“I guess that's what friends do together, exchange burdens, so we can carry them together,” Elizabeth said.

Elizabeth had pit-roasted camas bulbs in a clay jar, and she passed them now. Ruth bit into it and found the taste sweet. “These are good,” she said.

“Oltipa told me how to fix them. And gave me some yellow jacket larvae. It's a delicacy, but I didn't think any of you would appreciate it.”

“You can tell Ma about them,” Mariah said. “She can serve them at the station and tell people they're tasty nuts.”

“But I suppose the best thing about going back,” Mazy said, “was that I finally understand the message in that old trail song. You remember, Suzanne. The one you accompanied with your harp that says:

“Tm not afraid of lightning or the wolf at my door

I'm not afraid of dying, alone anymore.

But when journeys are over, and there's fruit on the vine

I'm afraid I'll be missing what we left behind.' “

The women had begun singing as Mazy recited and when they finished, Mazy said, “I don't miss what I left behind anymore. And the
fruit that's on the vine of my life, right here, well its sweeter than I ever could have imagined. So much is within my reach.”

A silence settled over them. It would be broken later by firecrackers brought along to help celebrate Independence Day. But for now, as Elizabeth's eyes rested on the faces of those she loved here in this new place, she knew full well the truth of Mazy s favorite psalm, and felt blessed beyond measure. “Even in the wilderness times, the Lord does know our lot,” she said. “And he always makes our boundaries fell on pleasant places.”

AUTHOR'S NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

No writer writes alone. Though it is impossible to acknowledge all those whose words and research help a story grow, a few must be mentioned for
What Once We Loved.
My sister-in-law Barbara Rutschow provided information about dairying and horses, kinship and courage. My brother Craig continued to remind me of the meaning of family and pursuing one's passion. Clancy Rone, a fine writer in her own right, perused class notes, old library books, and oral stories of southern Oregon and Jacksonville in the early 1850s to help me create an authentic time and place. Then she read an unedited manuscript too. Dave Larson, a horseshoer extraordinaire, offered advice about calked shoes, mules, and strong women. My husband, Jerry, never failed to insist that I eat and take the dog for a walk; gave constructive feedback and provided unfailing encouragement. He is my earthly light, a constant gift of unconditional love.

The many capable women of my essential circle offered their presence, modeled kindness and a willingness to risk which served as inspiration for creation. Grateful thanks go to friends (you know who you are!) and family, the staff of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Indian Reservations Early Childhood Center, and our church fellowship in Moro who tolerated my schedule and loved me anyway.

Special thanks go to you, the readers, who left messages on my Web page, came to signings and presentations, and told me what you hoped would happen for the
All Together
women. I cherished your suggestions, incorporated some into this story, and pondered them all and your willingness to take the time to share your thoughts with me. WaterBrook Press editors Lisa Bergren, Traci DePree, and Laura Wright inspired greater things than I thought I had to give. My thanks go to the entire WaterBrook/Random House team for commitment to quality and worthy stories. My agents, Joyce Hart of Hartline Marketing and Terry Porter of Agape Productions, all continue their belief in me for which I'm grateful.

Many details in
What Once We Loved
are true, as we know them. Californians and Oregonians have an early intertwining history that now spans three centuries including efforts as early as 1853 to form a new state from portions of both. The winter of 1852—53 was one of the worst in both northern California and southern Oregon record as noted in book two,
No Eye Can See.
However, the ice storm of that year that affected freighters from Crescent City arriving to save the town, actually occurred in January of 1853, not 1854 as I portrayed it. I hope readers will forgive my vagaries of weather. I've lived inside a silver storm like the one described, finding sunshine just a hundred feet above the pewter fog and crystal. Such storms, though rare, are real.

Dottie Smith's books on early Shasta County also provided details of Indian and Chinese life in northern California. Unfortunately the specific massacres mentioned did occur. The laws permitting annihilation of native people and the purging of Chinese are true.
The Dictionary of Early Shasta County History
and
The History of the Chinese in Shasta County
provided verification of the indentured status of Indian people in California by non-Indians and the discrimination of the Chinese, especially young women, along with efforts to assist them. In the Shasta area, there were local people who provided paid, protected work for Indian people as Mazy did. Ms. Smith also documented that, like Mazy and Elizabeth, at least one woman owned her own business in Shasta County as early as 1852. Women lived in mining towns; they had varied occupations. JoAnn Levy's works about women in the California gold rush offered information about the Rays and the Sacramento Theater as well as details of mining life. There is no evidence that the Chinese were protected and moved out of California via the theater; but the underground to protect them did exist in California and Oregon, and there is no reason to believe creative use of the arts would not have been employed as Esther, Suzanne, and Tipton envisioned.

In February 1859, the Chinese were expelled from California. The Act for the Government and Protection of the Indians known popularly as the Indenture Act was repealed in 1864 but continued to force natives into bondage well into the years after the Civil War.

The book
The Table Rocks of Jackson County: IsUnds in the Sky
, compiled and edited by Chris Reyes, provided detail not only of flora and fauna but also about the early Takelma and Rogue River people of southern Oregon. Stephen Dow Beckhams book
Requiem for a People
offered context for settlers seeking a new life in the land occupied by Indians on the California coast and in southern Oregon territory in 1853-54. The photography section of the Oregon History Center shared images of early Jackson County that inspired. There was a Baptist circuit rider that helped lead the Table Rock Baptist Church in 1853, but his name wasn't Burke Manes, a fictional name I just liked. Historic street and business information about Jacksonville came from
Jacksonville Oregon: The Making of a National Historic Landmark
by Bert and Margie Webber and from Barbara Hegne s book
Settling the Rogue Valley, the Tough Times
—
The Forgotten People
, which also provided records of women in the mining region and people of color in the Rogue Valley including the detail that the 1853-54 school term lasted only a month with the entrance of one lone African American girl. The Cole brothers had a cabin on Cottonwood Creek in the Siskiyou Mountains that later became Colesteins Stage Stop, which is in service today as a bed-and-breakfast. Photographer Peter Britt did come to Jacksonville in 1852 and planted a vineyard. Today the region is known for its lush orchards and vineyards nourished by a temperate climate and rich soils; and an international music festival is held yearly in Jacksonville, bearing Peter Britt s name. Visitors are welcome there as well as in historic Jacksonville. The entire town was added to the National Historic Registry in 1966. Shasta City, Crescent City, Sacramento, and Cassville, Wisconsin, are additional communities that offer rich opportunities to rediscover histories we didnt know we'd lost.

The Table Rocks of southern Oregon lure visitors still today. The views and vistas from their rim rocks confirm that wherever we allow, the Lord does know our lot and makes our boundaries fall on pleasant places.

Thank you again for following these women. It is my hope that you found nurture inside their stories and that their journeys have added to your lives.

Sincerely,

Jane Kirkpatrick

You may reach Jane at 99997 Starvation Lane, Moro, OR 97039 or by visiting her Web site at
http://www.jkbooks.com
.

If you would like to obtain a guide to help facilitate discussion of
What Once We Loved
with your book group, please visit
http://www.waterbrookpress.com
.

What Once We Loved
Published by WaterBrook Press
12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80921
A division of Random House, Inc.

Scripture quotations are taken from the
King James Version.

The characters and events in this book are fictional, and any resemblance
to actual persons or events is coincidental.

eISBN: 978-0-307-55328-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication
Data Kirkpatrick, Jane, 1946-
  What once we loved / by Jane Kirkpatrick— 1st ed.
     p. cm— (The kinship and courage historical series; bk. no. 3)
     1. Female friendship—Fiction. 2. Women pioneers—Fiction. 3. Oregon—
Fiction. I. Title.

PS3561.1712W48 2001
813′.54—dc21 2001039016

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Table of Contents

Cover

Other Books By This Author

Dedication

Cast Of Characters

Chapter 1 - Poverty Flat

Chapter 2 - The Fog Of Indecision

Chapter 3 - Severing

Chapter 4 - A Jack-Of-All-Trades

Chapter 5 - Stands Of Hope