How Life Can Change

It was the spring of 1880 about 25 miles north of Little Rock, Arkansas. My family had came to the area of the Flying S ranch about 1800 and settled here on about 10,000 acres. My father James Scott is the 4th generation to own the ranch. He met, courted and married my mother Marie Scott in 1854 and needless to say they did not wait to have a family because I came along in February of 1858. My name is Alexander Scott I have blonde hair and blue eyes like my mother. My father has always loved to read and so I was name after Alexander the Great. I have grown in to an impressive sight of a man stand six feet three inches tall and weighing over 220 pounds.

My family lived through the War Between the States and did not get involved because my father did not own slaves and was not going to fight or have someone make him fight for slavery. Thus the confederate army did not like my family and when the union army showed up on our land they did not either but the left us alone because we did not get in to the war. So, when northern reconstruction started the union regulators stayed away from our ranch unlike most of our neighbor who lost everything they owned because they fought in that damned war.

Now I am 22 years old and the oldest of four children. In my family the first born son of a generation has his life planned out for him before his is ever born. That plan has and will always be to grow up learning to run the ranch and when his father passes or retires take over ownership of the Flying S ranch. I have two brothers and one sister. Arthur is now 21 years old who stand 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 200 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. Leah is now 20 years old who stand 5 feet 5 inches tall with blonde hair and blue eyes and if I might say so is a fine looking woman with many suitors. Now for momma's baby Edward is now 18 who stand 6 feet 1 inch tall with blonde hair and blue eyes. Well I thought my father was going to follow the same plan as his father when it came to the ranch but dad decided to do things differently. So as my siblings and me were going up he decided that we all could learn to run different part of the operation and then when he passed or retired we would run the ranch as a family instead of the way it had been in the past. It also happens that this was the first generation of our family to have more than one child make it to adulthood.

My father decided at the age of 12 that we were old enough to start learning how to do to some small things. Even then we were held accountable for our success in the projects that he had us do. At first it would be stuff like feeding the animals every day and cleaning stalls, but as time went on he started giving each of us more and more responsibility. We all were allowed to try and do different things go with running the ranch. Father let us try to see what we were good at and what weren't so good at. It turned out that we were all pretty good when it came to cattle which are good for us since that was what we did, but it turned out that Leah had a head for numbers so she did the books and kept up with money side of things with help from mom. Arthur was the best at figuring out where and when to plant crops for winter feed as well as a hell of a green thumb when it came to a garden. Edward did something no one saw coming when he went and took some money no one knew he had and bought some hog to raise. He said it was away to make more money for the ranch and also away to have more meat for the family during the winter. Ed turned those two hogs into a very big part of our operation and it has grown from just hogs to sheep and goats and chicken and roosters. All of which we have come to eat or be able to sell some for very good money.

Then my father did something that my mother hated and always held it against him because she said it took the innocence away from her babies. At the age of 15 my father taught all of us including my sister Leah to shoot a hand gun and a rifle. Now I am not saying that he meant for us to become gun fighters but he wanted all of us to be able to handle ourselves should trouble find us. So when one of us would turn 15 father would take us to town and buy us a handgun and rifle for our birthday and then teacher you how to use it safely.

Now around the ranch my mother and sister dressed just like one of the guys wearing pants and boots because as my sister was so fond of saying, "a dress just is not away to ride a horse or carry my handgun." So the only time that either of my mother or sister wore a dress was going to church or town or on the odd occasion that we had company come over but if that stayed the night then they would get a shocking sight when the next morning mom and Leah would be in there pants. Now with all of the background taken care of I can get on with the story.

Well it had been rumored in town the railroad was buying up land as fast as it could and they were coming our directions but my family was not going to sell. On June 18, 1880 father at breakfast told all of us kids to take the herd of cows in then big field and move them to the upper pasture for the summer that day. So after breakfast we all went and saddled making sure that we had all of our weapons as we would be gone overnight from the house. Just as we got to big field to pick up the cows a shot rang out from the house and all us turned and at high gallop ran back to the house to find both of our parents dead. We sent a ranch hand in to town to get the sheriff and bring him out while we buried our parents. It was not until after we had them buried that Ed saw a note nailed to the front door of the house. The note read," Your family would not sell so we killed them and if you will not sell then we will kill you to. You have until tomorrow morning at 10 to decided because we will be back then to do what we have to get you land," Signed by Thomas Boring. It was not long after finding the note that the sheriff and our hand got to the ranch. Sheriff Jones had grown up with my parents and was upset and when he saw that note but was powerless to do anything about it. The sheriff told us that we had better just sell out to the railroad because they would just take your land anyway. That made me mad and I pulled a pistol on him and told him to get off our land and never come back on it, because of he did I would shoot him dead.

At dinner that night none of us felt like eating but we know we had to eat. As we did eat we talked about when our parents would want us to do and it was decided that we were not going to sell out and if they wanted a damned fight they would get one hell of a fight. So after dinner all of checked our weapons and make sure our horses were taken care of and then we decided we had better keep a watch over ourselves while we slept so we each took 2 hours shift with me having the last one. By four A.M. all of us were awake and breakfast being eaten. At daylight we quickly did the chores around the house as no one wanted to be caught away from the house with what was supposed to be coming.

My brothers and I were just coming back in to the house when Leah yelled there were riders coming. I told Art and Ed to cover me from the window in the house while I talk to them but be ready to shoot first and ask questions later. When the riders got about thirty yards away I told that was close enough. Are you Mr. Boring? A tall lanky man said, yes I am. Then he asked are you going to sell?

I said hell no! And then drew my pistol and shot him in the head. At the point his two comrades stared to draw weapons but before they could my family started shooting from the windows. Needless to say they did not do to well as far as carrying out their threat in the note. All four of us tied them to their horses and then we rode in to town to take the dead bodies to the law.

While in town my family and I were approached well dress man in a black suit. He introduced himself as Mr. James Smith. Mr. Smith said that he was sorry for the way Mr. Boring had tried to take our land and would like to let us know that they railroad would only be passing by our place. As such the railroad only wanted to be a small piece of ground from us. Mr. Smith said that apparently Mr. Boring had wanted your place for himself so that he could sell the land to us plus keep your ranch. I asked Mr. Smith how much of our land would they want to buy and where at on our property they wanted to buy? Mr. Smith said, "They wanted to buy on the west side and only about one hundred acres." I asked how much they were will the pay for those acres. Mr. Smith said, "five thousand dollars." I told Mr. Smith to give us some time to think about it and then in three days come out to the ranch and we would have an answer for him. My family and I then thanked time and rode home.

At dinner that night we all set down start to discuss the idea of maybe selling 100 acres to this Mr. Smith. I brought up that it would make getting our cattle to the railroad a hell of a lot easier. It would also mean that a lot of the other rancher would be able to relax and then we could go back to living a normal life on our place just as our family had done for eighty years. After much cussing and discussing it was decided that we would sell if they would pay seven thousand five hundred, because they were dumb enough to have a man like Mr. Boring and then want to ask us to sell after killing our parents.

Three days later about 10am after doing all of our chores we were walking back in to the house when I saw Mr. Smith riding up to the ranch house. I ask him to come inside and we could talk. Mr. Smith said, "Yes, let's get inside out if this heat and see if we can't do business, after everyone was inside comfortable with something to drink. He asks have you mad a decision. I answer yes. Mr. Smith asks well? I holed out just a little to make him uncomfortable. Then answer yes we will sell one hundred acres for the price of seven thousand five hundred dollars. Mr. Smith then says, I offer five thousand dollars. I say the price is higher because your company had a man like Mr. Boring working for it and so to make it were we can stand do business with your company it will cost your company more money. Mr. Smith thought about it for a minute and said ok we will pay that amount but it will take me and few days to get the money. I said ok have the papers drawn up and then we will have our lawyer look over them and then we can finalize the deal if he clears your papers. About two weeks later we finalize the sale with Mr. Smith and start the rest of our lives.

To be continued.......