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| Widow's Country House courtesy photobucket.com |
The first night after the
wagons had parted was quite lonely for Morgan. He wandered about the camp
talking to friends he had made, but his mind was elsewhere.
He couldn't believe that a
little fourteen year old girl could affect him so. What made him angry was that
at times he came close to tears and that threatened his He-Man status. While he had missed his mother it was never
anything like this.
During the days his mind had
to focus on what he and Virgil were doing but at night the loneliness would
return. There was a lot of danger in killing these animals for meat. These
buffalo didn't take kindly to being shot, and the bears didn't go down easy. They usually would get a few rabbits and
squirrels and the people would argue over who got them instead of the meat of
the larger animals.
They had reached the point
where some of the stock was worn out. When they pressed against their yoke or
harness it wasn't done with the same power as before. You would see them
stumble and have a hard time keeping their balance. For the teams of horses,
the weak horse would be released out on his own which in most cases they would
lay down and die but for the oxen they would be killed for meat.
On the level ground it didn't
make that big a difference but when they hit the upgrades and mountains they
had to leave one wagon using the extra oxen on the other wagon.
The horses was
different when a horse was turned out one of the out riders would put his horse
into harness and they would continue on. Finally they reached the Sierras and little by
little made their way through the passes till one day they reached the top.
Morgan was thinking about his trip around Cape Horn , and the stormy weather they went through and
concluded it didn't compare with his trip overland.
When it came to cooking
Virgil had picked a winner for his wife who was a marvel at fixing food. Morgan ate with them as often as possible. Cooking for three wasn't any more work than
for two. Her good cooking put a
different attitude on the hardships they endured.
Morgan wondered if Bessie
knew how to cook like Virgil's wife, as he thought he concluded probably not.
It was about a day and a half till they would reach
Virgil told his wife he would
find a place to live and would have it ready when she got there. This sounded
good to her for she had driven her wagon for almost six months and wanted to be
shed of it.
There was much to do when
Morgan and Virgil got to town, the first thing was to eat and then find lodging.
There were no rooms to rent because of
all the miners in town, but Virgil found a small house on the outskirts of town
for sale by a widow. He thought she
wanted too much for it but took it anyway. He had to borrow some money from Morgan to pay
for it because she wanted all cash. She had
enough of all this gold mining business, and was going to live with relatives
in Oregon
The next morning they set out
looking for men who had struck it rich and peddled their jewelry to them. The
men were willing to pay whatever they asked for it, and by noon it was all gone
and they had a pocket full of money.
Their next item was to buy
the necessary equipment for their mining needs. They were out near Virgil's new
house when they saw an old miner with a pack mule and some mining gear. They
learned he had made out well and was leaving for home. They asked him if he was
willing to sell his gear and he said he would sell his gear, pack mule and more
importantly his gold claim for there was still a lot of gold there but he was
wore out.
He said they might have to
run off some claim jumpers so be ready for that. They paid him and they were now
in the mining business.
Morgan and Virgil rode out to
meet the wagon train and collect Virgil’s wife, and for the first time in six
months he and his wife slept in a real bed.
To be Continued
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