The Trail West Ch. 03

The man at the other end of the bar said, "C'mon Zeb, it's not worth the trouble. The boys'll take care of em later."

"Shut up Hank, you talk too much," Zeb said and walked back down the bar to rejoin his companion. The two men became engrossed in a heated discussion, sometimes looking down the bar at the two well armed young men.

Josh motioned to Red to finish his beer and they walked out of the saloon. Without making a point of it on the way to the door, either Josh or Red faced the two at the bar. They never turned their backs on the pair.

Once they got outside Josh said, "Let's get back. We need to tell Mr. Hobart what that one said about the others and later." Red nodded and they mounted their horses and headed for the camp at a lope. Josh had sort of loaned his horse Joey to Red for a spell; Hobart said he would provide a working horse for the young Texan.

When they got to camp, Red took care of the horses and Josh went to find Hobart. After he told the wagon master what he and Red heard, Hobart went into action. He ordered the wagons pulled into a tighter circle and placed seven of the wagons through the center. There was about 95 feet of space across the interior of the circle and the wagons would keep any attackers that got inside from shooting across to the opposite side.

The wagon trail consisted of 24 families; there were 39 men to defend the wagons counting Hobart and his men. Hobart put most of the women and all of the children in that center line of wagons, along with two of the older more steady men to protect them. Two of Hobart riders were stationed outside of the circle to protect the remuda which had been packed into the portable corral.

Josh, Red, and two other men were used as armed outriders, patrolling and scouting in a large circle around the wagons. They were an early warning system and the first line of defense. Hobart had done the best he could, although some thought he went overboard. It didn't matter what the few detractors said, he knew he had given the camp the best chance of surviving if an attack did come.

No attack came that night and the next morning Hobart keep two pairs of outriders patrolling as the wagon train got ready to roll. The outriders would continue to scout during the day's journey. Red had offered a suggestion on what to do if the train was attacked during the day.

Red suggested that if they were attacked that the wagons split into two smaller circles close to each other instead of trying to form one big circle. It would cut down on the time necessary to get a defensible position set up and the circles could help cover each other. Hobart thought it was a good plan and told the wagon drivers of the new strategy.

Josh felt that an attack would come before they got too far away from Oklahoma City and that it would come from that direction. He and Red rode a rear guard patrol and about three hours into the day Josh spotted a cloud of dust on the horizon; it could only be the raiders catching up to the wagon train.

The two friends found a rocky outpoint and set up a defensive position. Josh was riding Diablo and although the big horse was very strong and could run all day, Red would ride back with the warning because he was mounted on a quarter horse mare that was very fast for the short distance back to the wagons. The little mare could make the trip back to the wagons a lot faster than Josh and Diablo.

"Red, ride like hell and tell Mr. Hobart that they're coming," Josh ordered. He didn't consciously take command but fell into the role naturally.

"What about you? Where are you going, partner?" Red didn't want to leave his new friend to face the raiders alone.

"I'm right behind you. I'll discourage them a little," he said holding up his Henry. "Then I'll see how fast Diablo can get me back to the wagons. Don't worry, I'm not trying to be a hero but the wagons need to be ready when that crowd gets here."

Red was still skeptical but did as Josh said. He quickly mounted the mare and rode like hell toward the wagons. He planned to warn Hobart and then return to help Josh. He never got to return; Hobart ordered him to help set up the placement of the armed men and the women that would help them reload, if need be.

"Josh will be fine, Red. He knows what to do and how to do it. Now get to work," Hobart ordered. He didn't stop to think that Red was the one with battle experience.

Red helped Hobart position the defenders and had just finished setting up the reloading stations when he heard Josh's big Henry sound off 16 times; there was an answering fuselage of gun fire. He looked back down the trail, heard 6 pistol shots a short pause and 6 more shots, answered by another barrage of gun fire. He saw a small cloud of dust closing on the wagons and as Red jumped up on a wagon he could see Josh and Diablo riding hell bent for leather back to the circled wagons.

When Josh got to the wagons, Diablo didn't slow and jumped through the space between two wagons and stopped. Josh slid down off the big horse laughing and patted the animal on the shoulder with affection. He talked to him soothingly; praising the animal for doing a good job. Diablo looked at Josh, his stance and expression seem to say, "Of course I did good, what else did you expect?"

Josh laughed again and turned as Red walked up and handed him a canteen. "Damn, the big guy is faster than I thought, good thing too. They were right on my tail for a while." Josh absently reached up and wiped a bleeding cut on his cheek.

"You hit? Red asked noticing the blood for the first time.

"Naw. One of those guys can shoot pretty fair; he hit the rock I was hiding behind and a rock chip cut me a little. That's when I got the hell out of there," Josh answered.

"I guess that Remington I sold you came in handy," Red happily remarked.

Before Josh could answer Hobart yelled, "Here they come. Everybody get ready, wait until I shoot then give em hell. Josh you and Red get to the other wagons and take charge over there. Jack's a good man, but he's never been in a fight like this." He had come to admire and respect Josh and it slipped his mind that the youngster had never had this kind of experience either.

Both men nodded and trotted to the other wagon circle leading their horses. There was one blind spot with this formation; where the circles were closest you had to watch where you were shooting so you didn't fire into the other wagons; the raiders weren't restricted in that way. Josh put the most experienced men there with a warning about their line of fire.

The outlaws, about forty in number, came over a small rise and got their first good look at the defensive positions the wagons were in and made their second mistake. They attacked one of the circles head on trying to overrun the defenders and force their way through into the middle of the circled wagons. Their first mistake was attacking Hobart's wagon train to begin with.

There were seven men with repeating rifles, including Hobart, stationed at the point of attack. The fire power of these fast shooting weapons was devastating to the guerilla band. They lost more than a dozen men in that first encounter. The survivors retreated, regrouped, and tried an attack on the second group of wagons.

Five men, including Josh and Red, had repeating rifles and the others had three or four of the single shot rifles at hand. Again, the hail of bullets cut down several of the raiders and forced them to retreat. Hobart made a quick count and realized that his men now outnumbered the raiders. If I had trained men I would take the fight to them he thought, but what I've got is farmers protecting their families.

The gang was getting worked up to try another attack and Josh had the same thought as Hobart. He motioned to Red and explained what he wanted to do. The smaller man grinned, nodded his head and went to get the horses. Josh, Red, and two other men weaved their way out of the encircled wagons on the back side of the circle.

The attackers switched back to the first wagons and started to attack again, but at a different point this time. When they did Josh and his men flanked them and hit them from the side. Now the outlaws were caught in a devastating crossfire; it was too much for them and they retreated again but this time they didn't stop, they just kept running.

The riders from the wagon train that had flanked them followed the raiders until Josh was sure that the gang was really gone. He and his men returned to the wagons and helped assess the damage.

The guerilla band left 22 dead men behind; the two from the saloon, Zeb and Hank were among them. The raiders lost over half of their number; it was a terrible casualty rate. The people in the wagon train didn't get by completely unharmed; two men and a woman were killed. The men had been defending the wagons, shooting at the outlaws and the woman had been reloading for her husband. There a few minor wounds but the families had come out of the fight in good condition.

They buried their people, Hobart said a prayer for them, and they reformed the train so they could leave. No one wanted to stay at the site of the battle. Some of the men asked Hobart if he wanted to bury the dead raiders.

"No, I don't think scum like that deserves it. Let God have mercy on them because I won't," was his answer. "Strip the bodies of anything useful and let's get on the trail. We spent enough time here." Hobart was a hard man at times.

They pushed hard and past the time that they would normally have stopped. Everyone wanted to put as much distance between them and the attack area as possible. The wagons traveled until almost dark before stopping; they had made about 13 miles. The camp that night was somber with people recovering from the stress and the danger of the attack and the sorrow for the people they had lost.

Eight days and about 120 miles later the wagons stopped and made camp as usual near a stream with running water. The train was nearing the border and should reach Texas in about a day and a half if the weather held. The camp spot had good water and grass for the animals so Hobart decided to stop for a day to make repairs to the wagons and gear and give their animals a rest. He sent Josh and another man out hunting that evening to help replenish their meat supplies. They had plenty of salt pork and dried beef but it was a long way to Amarillo so he decided to stretch their supplies by taking some game.

Josh took a shotgun with him along with his Henry and his pistol and returned just before full dark with several prairie chickens, what Josh would have called grouse back in Missouri, and a mule deer. The other hunter had returned with a few rabbits.

"I guess you weren't braggin' about being a good hunter," Hobart said as he smiled at Josh.

Josh smiled and nodded then said, "I saw sign of a herd of buffalo traveling north; two or three buffalo would go a long way toward feeding us; maybe even cut down on having to buy too much in Amarillo."

"How long you think you'd be gone?"

"If we left a couple of hours before sun up, I should catch up by 8 or 9, get a couple, and head back by midday. Should be back with the train by late afternoon."

"What'd you mean we? Plan on takin' someone with you?" Hobart asked.

"I can't pack enough back on a horse to make it worth the trip. But if you sent a couple of men with a wagon after me, I could kill two or three. We could gut and bleed them and bring them back here to dress out. I don't know what our fire wood supply is going to be along the trail so maybe you could send some people over to the buffalo trail and fill a wagon with buffalo chips for the fires."

"I was thinkin the same thing myself. How do you know about buffalo chips? I didn't think there were any buffalo in Missouri," Hobart said.

"No buffalo back home. I learned about the chips from Johnny when we rode together those two days," Josh answered.

"I think you just want to get out of mending harness," Hobart kidded Josh. "Sounds like a good plan Josh. Pick the men to go with you."

The next morning about 3 AM Josh riding Sunny with Red and Jack on the wagon left the camp headed north. "Go to that big rock out croppin' and turn due north. You'll come to the buffalo sign in a bit; follow it and we'll meet up along the way," Josh told Red and Jack.

Hobart loaned his .54 cal Hawken plains rifle to Josh telling him, "It's got a mite more range than your Henry and better stopping power. It's one of the new ones and uses percussion caps instead of a flash pan. You can lay off almost two hundred yards and make your shot. Let me explain the best way to hunt......"

"Yes sir, I know," Josh interrupted him. "Johnny told me how to get buffalo, especially with a big bore like a Hawken. This should make it a mite easier."

Josh guided the wagon to the buffalo trail and rode off following the herd. He kept the big buckskin at a ground eating lope for about an hour and then slowed to a walk to let the horse rest a little. Sunny could have gone on for hours at that pace but there was the return trip to think about and Josh didn't know how far he would have to track the herd.

A little over two hours of travel brought the hunter to the trailing end of the buffalo herd. The herd was spread out as they grazed, not packed like they would have been if they were on the move. Josh retreated behind a low rise out of sight of the herd; he was still close enough to hear the buffalo feeding. He grabbed a handful of the grass which was belly high on his horse and let it flutter to the ground.

"We're up wind Sonny and if we top this rise the herd will catch our smell and maybe take off. Why don't we circle around until we have the wind in our faces and then set up a stand?" Some may have found it strange that Josh talked to his horse like he would another man, but to Josh it was just a normal thing to do. Josh continued talking to Sonny, "It'll maybe take an hour or more for us to get set up and the wagon should be close enough to hear my shots by then."

Josh remounted Sunny and began to walk the big buckskin around the herd to the right. His plan was to circle the herd until he was straight downwind and find a hill or rise to hide behind and set up a spot to shoot from. If he stayed low and didn't silhouette against the skyline he would have time to take two or three of the buffalo before they spooked.

It took almost an hour to find the spot he wanted. He dismounted behind the small rise, pulled the Hawken and the Henry and dropped the reins to the ground. Sunny was trained not to move far if the reins were hanging down to the ground; Josh had spent weeks training the big horse to ground tie. Someone would have to use a whip on him to make Sunny run off and a couple of gun shots wouldn't bother him; Josh had used the horse several times for hunting back home.

Buffalo are big, strong, and at times dangerous animals. They have bad eyesight but a very good sense of smell and are very bad tempered; therefore you needed to be downwind if you're hunting them. For all their size and strength they aren't the smartest of animals. As long as they can't smell an enemy they'll continue feeding until they smell the blood scent from injured or dead animals. And when they start running, you had best get out of their way.

The Hawken was a heavy rifle and difficult to hold on target shooting free hand for any length of time so Josh used dirt and some rocks to build a rest for the big gun. He slowly inspected the herd, chose two yearling bulls as his targets, and waited for the animals he picked out to graze closer to the hilltop. It was almost 30 minutes before his first target got within a hundred yards. Cocking the rifle he took aim at the young bull on the edge of the herd and took his first shot.

The bull dropped as if his legs had been cut from under him; the only noise he made was hitting the ground. Because Josh was downwind, behind the rise hidden from view, and over a hundred yards away the sound of the shot didn't bother the herd.

The buffalo closest to the dead animal move away a little when he went down but not seeing or smelling an enemy they soon went back to feeding. Josh reloaded the Hawken and waited for another 15 minutes for the animals to settle down again; then he took a second shot downing another young bull. Again this animal was over a hundred yards away and on the edge of the herd.

Josh could have shot several more animals without spooking them but it would have been a waste. Each of the yearling bulls would weight close to five hundred pounds and their combined weight would push the limit they could carry in the one wagon. After shooting the second buffalo he reloaded the Hawken and got back to his horse. When the major part of the herd passed he rode out to the two animals he had shot. The animals were only about 90 feet apart and he put a rope around the rear legs of one to drag them closer together.

Now the messy job began. He used his rope and horse to get the rear of the animals high enough to place some rocks under the rear of the buffalo and cut their throats to bleed them. While they were bleeding he carefully made cuts length wise along belly of the animals.

After Red and Jack got to the downed buffalo, Josh suggested they use the block and tackle in the wagon to haul the rear of the buffalo up. This would help to bleed the buffalo and give the men room to gut the animals before they had time to go bad. While Red and Josh gutted the animals, saving the hearts and livers, Jack fed the horses some grain and gave them water. Using the horses and a pulley, the men were able to get the two buffalo into the wagon and covered them with a canvas.

It was about midday when they began the return trip to the wagon train. On the way back Josh scouted in a two mile circle with the wagon at the center. It wouldn't do to be surprised by Indians or one of the guerilla bands; with only the three of them, their odds of survival wouldn't be good if they were attacked. It was slower going back but they had the camp in sight by 4 PM.

They still had the two buffalo to skin, clean, and preserve for the trip. Hobart directed some of the men to take wagon tongues and make a three legged upright to hang the animals from. The men used a block and tackle to hoist the big carcasses and then skinned and butchered them. Some of the meat was cut into roasts and steaks for eating right away.

The wagon master decided to stay one more day so they could smoke, dry, and salt the rest of the meat to preserve it for use later down the trail. The people not working with the meat or doing repairs on the wagons and gear were sent to gather more buffalo chips.

Two days not traveling gave everyone including the livestock a much needed rest. The wagon train broke camp on the third morning and began the 300 hundred mile trip to Amarillo. If the weather stayed good they could make good time across the flat plains. There had been a little rain here and there but nothing that slowed the wagons down very much.

Josh had been riding Diablo more and more and the big horse was becoming all that Hobart hoped he would be. The rotation for Josh's mounts now consisted of a day on Sunny, then Diablo for a day, Joey for a day and then back to Diablo. He spent a lot of extra time training Diablo to ground tie and teaching him to be calmer.

Red had been riding horses from the remuda that belonged to Hobart. When they chased the guerilla band off they kept the best of the horses that belonged to the raiders that were killed and turned the rest loose. Red was given first choice of the animals to use; he chose two and now he rode one of those. One of his horses was a big gelding, almost as big as Diablo.

For twenty one days the train made good time and on the afternoon of the twenty second day arrived on the outskirts of Amarillo. Hobart led the wagons to the far side of the town and made camp just off the trail going on to Santa Fe. He told everyone that they would hold up for the next day and leave the following morning.