The Two Sams: Men of the West. F. M. Worden

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СКАЧАТЬ Some had dug into the ground like a prairie dog. He saw men digging water wells and some were putting up wind mills. It all looked strange to Sam. The whole country had changed.

      When he rode into St Louis, the town had grown to be a city. It truly had become the gate way to the west. He never thought it would look this way. The whole town had changed.

      He rode thru the town and to the rear of the Hawkin gun shop. Knocking on the back door, it was answered by Jake Hawkin who recognized him right away. Anyone would have thought Sam was his son, the way he carried on. All the men in the shop came to welcome him. Jake had become one of Sam’s best friends. He thanked Jake for sending a new rifle by Old Gabe. He told him it saved his life too many times to count. “I’ll keep the rifle until my dying days.”

      Jake asked all about the mountains and trapping. “I’ve seen places I never thought existed.” He told of the New Mexico country, the Apache Indians and his capture by them, How he was saved. “The rifle you gave me saved my life. The Apache chief liked it so much he let me live. He said I must be a great warrior to have such a fine piece.” Jake smiled and told Sam, “I hoped it would do good by you’s.”

      Then Sam told him of the Gila wilderness. “It’s a great place. Hot as hades in the summer but nice and warm all winter.” He had to tell of the big canyon he had seen. “It’s miles across and it’s so deep, if you throw a rock in it you will never hear it hit. A river runs in the bottom. The colors in that canyon, I ain’t never seen before. Jake I tell ya, it’s worth the trip just to look at it.”

      He then talked about his time in the Rocky Mountains. “There’s forest that it takes days to ride thru. Valleys with clear cold streams are every where. It is a wonderful place to be.”

      He told of the men he had worked and lived with for so long . “I’ll never have such fine men around me again. They’re true friends. I’ll always remember them.”

      Sam told Jake he was going home to see his folks. Jake tried to tell him, his home won’t be the same. “Time waits for no man. Nothing will be the same.”

      Sam stayed in town a few more days while he sold his horses, tack and camp gear. He would never part with his Hawkin rifle. With his war bag in hand, he paid for a ticket on a paddle wheeler going south down the Mississippi and got off at Memphis. Then he walked and hitched rides all the way back to the Tennessee Valley. Along the way he stayed in several towns at night. Cross roads that became towns while he was away. It was great to get a hot bath, a hair cut and shave.

      Arriving home he found his Pa and Ma had passed on to their reward several years ago. His older brother David had married and had sole possession of the farm. Not being welcomed with open arms, Sam was hesitant to stay, but his brother talked him into spending the winter.

      His brother’s wife didn’t cotton to him at all. She made it plain he was not welcome every time she spoke to him alone. His stories had his brother hanging on every word. She may have been afraid her husband was getting the itch to go see the west.

      In the spring Sam said his goodbyes and went back to Memphis. There he got a job as roustabout again, loading river boats on the docks.

      During this time he had the good fortune to meet a beautiful southern belle, Elizabeth Moore. Her Pa owned the dock Sam worked on. He fell head over heels in love with her. She being only 16, her Pa didn’t approve of any relationship with a man so much older. Sam was twenty-six years old.

      Sam and Liz as he called her, became lovers. They would meet down on a path by the river. Liz fell for Sam and against her parent’s wishes she wanted to get hitched, but the only way was to elope with him .They did in the late summer. They went west into Arkansas, were married by a justice of the peace in a small town.

      They moved on to Fort Smith. Sam found a job in a livery stable. Not satisfied with this work, Liz and he decided they wanted to try to buy a farm. Having heard farms were selling cheap down south in Louisiana, Sam and Liz traveled south into the Red River country south of Shreveport. They found just what they were looking for.

      With 1,000 dollars in a gold coin from his trapping. He made a deal for a farm that had been abandoned by two brothers, whose Pa had died. Wanting no part of farming the brothers were more than willing to sell the farm cheaply.

      The property was in bad repair. Sam and Liz were delighted with what they had purchased. The house was a two story structure, half rock half wood. From a back porch that covered the back of the house a large kitchen was entered. It consisted of a large fire place and a stair way to the upper rooms. An open door way led to the parlor. Off the parlor to the right was a large bedroom. Up stairs was a long room having been used as bedrooms. The house was well furnished.

      The place suited Liz just fine. Left of the porch and a few feet out, an old well still had water. Under the porch a cistern could be seen through the cracks in the floor. Back from the house a few hundred feet stood the best structure on the place. A large half rocks, half wood beautiful built barn. There were well-built wood pens on both sides of the barn. On behind the barn a few hundred feet nestled in a group of trees was a small cabin built of logs in bad need of repair.

      East of the house, a small orchard with peaches and pear trees. On beyond the orchard, a cow pasture of about thirty acres, well fenced and showing new grass growth.

      The whole place couldn’t have suited them more. A happier couple could not be found in the entire country. Fix up and rebuilding started immediately. The south field was plowed and prepared for planting sugar cane. The southeast field plowed and planted in sugar beets. All together it took several months to get organized and to make plans.

      During this time they met their neighbor to the east. One Bill O’Reilly. A man of some advanced age, who became a very dear and trusted friend. A man who took this couple under his wing. He fell in love with Liz and made no beans about it. He admired Sam and wanted to help the couple all he could.

      His farm was the show place of the whole county. He had untold acres, a beautiful home and many slaves. He had lost his wife to some unknown sickness and had never totally recovered. Liz and Sam gave him a new lease on life. He often sent his darkies over to help, even before he was asked. Sam got a long find with them. Sam tried to hire help, but the only ones he could find and uses were poor white trash or scallywags. They would steal and lay around and get nothing done. He had to try to do something. The farm was starting to do well and it was too much work for just the two of them. What to do was a dilemma .He asked Mr. O’Reilly what they should do. He suggested they should buy some slave help.

      A slave auction was held in Shreveport the first Saturday of every month. Sam objected. He didn’t want to own another person, but O’Reilly convinced him. “It’s not bad if you treat em right.”

      Sam and Liz gave it a lot of talk and finally decided they must buy a man slave. With only five hundred dollars, Sam was gonna try to buy a helper the next auction day.

      Sam and Liz lay awake a long time that night talking about the buying of a slave. Liz asked Sam to try to get a kind and gentle man. “I don’t want no darkie we can’t trust and have to be chasing after all the time.”

      The first Saturday in March, Sam hooked his mules to the spring wagon and drove to Shreveport. A three-hour trip.

      Entering the town of about six thousand people, he passed a feed store, blacksmith shop, hardware store, a tavern and many other small stores. Then he saw the slave auctions big signs that read SLAVES FOR SALE - CHEAP SLAVES - BEST PRICES WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI.

      Sam drove onto a wagon yard not far from the auction house. СКАЧАТЬ