Give Your Heart to the Hawks - Winfred Blevins by Winfred Blevins

Author:Winfred Blevins
Language: eng
Format: epub

Jed sent word to the mission of his presence and of the cows he had killed. He didn't plan to go in. It was too far, and he suspected there might be more political trouble. An overseer from a nearby farmhouse came into his camp, though, and invited him to spend the night. He was handsomely treated, and he traded, with what was left of the supplies they had shouldered across the desert, for enough horses to get his men mounted.

His party was reduced, though. Virgin had been injured in the Mojave villages ruckus, so Jed left him behind with instructions to catch up in San Francisco. Galbraith, a free trapper, chose to stay in this paradise. Resting five days, Jed wrote the kindly Father Sanchez about what he was doing, presuming that Sanchez would inform Governor Echeandia. Then, with six men, he rode north through the San Joaquin Valley to the Appelaminy and his stranded brigade. They arrived on September 18. A remarkable journey in just over two months. And ten men dead on the banks of the Colorado.

Rogers and his companions had gotten anxious. Jed had promised to be back by September 20, and he barely made it. And after four months of waiting, they didn't get a speck of supplies. Instead of bringing traps, horses, powder and lead, and trading goods, he came empty-handed—except for the bitter news of the massacre.

But the brigade had had a fine summer. No Indian trouble. Deer, elk, and antelope as thick as huckleberries in June. A pleasant climate. The place lived up to its name. The Indians were scarcely Indians: Not only did they not steal, their chief actually returned a stolen horse and some lost traps. He would bring them meal and berries, and the trappers would give him fresh meat, which was something a of a rarity for these red men. Some Spanyards had ridden out and asked some questions, but they went away without making trouble after Rogers told them that the party was stuck.

Now Jed had to have provisions. He could trade the plews stashed all summer on the Appelaminy. So he took three men and rode to the mission at San Jose, a three-day journey, and presented himself. Father Duran, the president of the mission system, merely took Jed's horses, let him do without food for two days, and made him wait until word could go to and come back from Governor Echeandia. The father was suspicious of Americans who fished about the country; he thought they might sway the Indians from the true faith. After two weeks of waiting impatiently, led and his crew were taken under guard to Monterey, the residence of the governor. They were clapped in the guardhouse for a day, and then led confronted Echeandia. Why did you come back? Echeandia demanded. Why did you return by a route which you told me was all but impassable? Why didn't you come straight across to the Appelaminy, instead of the long way

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