June 23, 1847
When I looked at Leaping Fox, I realized that he did look like one of the boys
from the wagon train. His clothing had been torn and bloodied from his
beating. After his clothing was removed it was thrown away. His
hair had been trimmed while he was still unconscious. Claire and
Elizabeth had cut up some of their old clothing and made his new shirts and
given him new leather pants to wear. The only thing that he was still
wearing from his original clothes was his moccasins. With my obsessive
compulsion to be clean he had probably washed himself more in the last two
weeks than he had in his entire previous life.
I turned to the guide, "Translate for me."
I spoke to Leaping Fox's father, "This is Leaping Fox, your son. He
is of the Oglalla Sioux and is not white. His hair has been cut to show
sorrow for his inability to defend his sister from several men. His fight
was worthy of any warrior. He was hardly alive from his battle when I
found him, and you can see his major wounds are in the front as a warrior's
should be. To be defeated by overwhelming odds is no disgrace as long as you
have struggled to the end. Can you think of a warrior who could have
lasted alone against such odds?"
The guide repeated my speech between my sentences. Again I almost
understood the words. Leaping Fox's father remained standing and I was
unable to read his face. I didn't know if he agreed or felt that I was
full of shit. I was beginning to worry what was going to happen when
suddenly Claire impatiently spoke up.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Come greet your son. Men!" She
pulled Leaping Fox out from behind her and gave him a small push toward his
father.
The guide said something after this and slowly, every male in the area began to
laugh. Claire became indignant with the laughter and hit me on the
shoulder causing me to lurch forward.
I asked the guide what he had said when we managed to stop laughing.
"I just repeated her sentence and used her Indian name, She Strikes
Hard."
Leaping Fox's father then stepped forward and held out his arms. Leaping
Fox joined his father and told him something too fast for me to understand.
Leaping Fox's father replied, then turned to the guide and spoke.
The guide translated:
"You are welcome in my camp and I offer to protect your wives and children
if they come to my camp. Leaping Fox tells me that you had nothing to do
with his injuries and the theft of his sister. He asks that you and She
Strikes Hard keep looking for his sister and pledges to help you until she can
be returned to our people. I have given him permission to stay with you
until she is returned. He has shown his spirit in battle and must
undertake his spirit journey when we return to our medicine man.
Afterwards he will join you."
He stopped and waited until I could answer. I looked at my wives and got
small nods in return. I turned to the guide and had him translate.
"We will look for his sister until she is found and returned. We
will welcome the presence of such a brave warrior during our journey."
I turned to Elizabeth and took her rifle, powder horn and the bags containing
the caps and bullets. I turned to Leaping Fox.
"I give you this rifle to help you on your journey to your camp and your
return to us." I removed the knife from my belt and offered it to
Leaping Fox's father.
"I hope this knife will help you on your journey and I promise to protect
your wives and children if they come to my camp. If I break this promise you
may use this knife to take your revenge for my falsehood."
Leaping Fox's father spoke to several of the other men and one left to return
to the main party of Indians. Shortly afterwards, we saw a horse being
led by him toward the wagon train with something on the back. He threw
the bundle off the horse and pulled a rider from behind him. It was the
black girl we had seen and the bundle was a collection of scalps of both white
and black men. Leaping Fox's father spoke to the guide again.
"We have found my daughter and our enemies are dead. We will welcome
you if you wish to join us in our camp. You have proved that you are not
an enemy of the Oglalla Sioux and are welcome in our lands. I give this
woman."
With that he picked up Leaping Fox and the bundle of scalps and placed them on
the horse. The girl he left laying there. Without any other words
he rode off. Soon afterwards the hillsides were empty.
My wives and I looked at each other and then in unison turned toward the
girl on the ground. Claire was the first to move and picked the girl up
and hugged her. The girl began crying and Elizabeth joined them and
placed her arms around both. She looked at the men standing around and
with a biting tone in her voice uttered one word.
"Men!"
June 24, 1847
Last night I was kicked out of my wagon by my wives and told to sleep under the
wagon. When I protested, I was unceremoniously told that if I was good I
'might' be welcome to get back in the wagon tonight. I was told that
the girl, whose name we found out was Louise, didn't need to see any men that
night. This morning I asked for some clean clothes and was handed them
with the injunction to keep out out of the wagon until I was told to enter.
I saw Elizabeth and Claire get out but saw no sign of Louise. When
I asked what was going on last night, both women looked at me as if I were
stupid and refused to answer. Later that day Claire had pity on me and
told me the reason Louise was crying was because she thought she had been
returned to slavery. It took all night to convince her this wasn't true.
She was sleeping and Claire expected her to remain asleep until tomorrow.
The wagon master decided that we needed to move yesterday and we made 16 miles
towards South Pass and are no longer over the Ice Slough. We have left
the lands of the Sioux and have entered the lands of the Cheyenne. So
far we have not seen any of them and the guide seems satisfied about that.
He told the men at the morning meeting that the Cheyenne are easily
affronted and tend to demand more than most tribes to keep them from harassing
the wagon train.
I was informed that my presence was no longer required on the night guard, but
I was to act as the train physician if anyone became hurt. I again
repeated that I was no doctor and I was told that they didn't care. I
guess that I have to accept that I am going to be the doctor for this train.
I just hope they don't expect me to do any surgery. I only have the
vaguest idea where most organs are.
I was expecting to see this narrow pass through the mountains, but the South
Pass is miles wide. For the first time we are beginning to see most
streams flowing to the west instead of the east. We were told by the wagon
master around the noon break that we are now in Oregon Territory. The
people in the train gave a loud cheer upon hearing this but quickly sobered
when the wagon master reminded everyone that we still had a thousand miles to
go to reach Oregon City.
We found the remains of the slave wagon today. The bodies had been
stripped and the wagon train was directed well away from the site. I was
informed that I and several other men were detailed to bury the bodies and see
if there was anything we wanted to take with us. We were told to look especially
for papers in order to identify the bodies. When we arrived we found
there were of course no animals left. The horses were gone and the oxen
had been killed. The wagon had been set afire but it had only partially
burned.
When we checked the wagon we quickly found bills of sale for the slaves
and several leg and hand irons. There were some foodstuffs remaining but
most of it had been ruined by vandalism or animals. I began to look for
identity papers for the slavers but found only two letters that had first names
only. I also found several blank bills of sale without any names on them,
which made me question if the black men had really all been slaves in the first
place. It wouldn't have been the first time that blacks were taken into
slavery regardless of their real status.
During our search I had checked the bottom of the wagon to see if they had a
secret compartment in their wagon similar to ours. I was unable to find
it until I got to the front of the wagon. Under the front seat I found a
small box in a hidden compartment, that when opened was found to be full of
gold and silver coins. I slipped the box into a barrel of flour and told
no one of the find. When I emerged from the wagon I showed the men the
papers I had found and claimed the barrel of flour for myself. As I had
the least food in the wagon train they agreed. Others took the harness,
wheels and the wagon cover while one man took all the iron he could find,
including the restraints. We teased him about that as his wife had a
reputation as rather a shrew in the train. We rode back to the wagon train and
returned with extra horses and transported the items back to the wagon train.
I met Louise upon my return and found that the men in the slave wagon had been
taking freemen into slavery. Louise told me that she and her brother were
freemen living in Missouri when the slavers ambushed them. They had been
stripped and their manumission papers burnt. She stated that she and her
brother had tried to escape several times. He had been killed the last time
they tried by the man who had whipped her, Wyatt Dugay. She identified
the other two men as Cole Dugay and Charley Benson. She was only able to
tell me the first names of the black men as that was all they were called by except
'You'. Louise told me that she and her brother were the only family each
had as their parents had been sold years ago to other people and she had no
idea where they ended up.
I was happy that the slavers were dead but regretted that the black men also
died. I promised myself that I would still keep slavery out of Oregon one
way or another. I just wish that there had been some way to free them
without death being involved.
When I asked my wives if I could sleep in the wagon tonight, Elizabeth told me
of some of the conversation they had yesterday with Louise. I learned
that the slavers and some of the black men had repeatedly raped Louise while
she was a captive. She feared most men now and was in no shape to sleep
in the same place as a man, let alone one who would be making love to his
wives. Elizabeth offered to join me under the wagon but stated that there
would be no loving until they thought Louise could handle it. When I
asked how long that would be, they looked at each other and shrugged. As
half a loaf is better than none, I accepted her offer. I hope this
doesn't last too long.
June 25, 1847
I am dreading the next week. Elizabeth started her period yesterday and
Claire should be starting either today or tomorrow. I remember last month
when she became so unstable. I guess that I have to learn to live with
it. She is too good a woman to give up because of one or two unpleasant
days a month. I felt much better after waking up with Elizabeth in my
arms. I am finding it hard to sleep by myself. I didn't realize how
addicting it would be to sleep with a woman you love in your arm. When we
woke up I saw Louise already at the fire making breakfast. We both told
her she didn't have to do that.
"I know, but if I'm not doing something, I'm just brooding about my
brother and the past. There's nothing for me in Missouri anymore and I
don't know what I'm going to do by myself." She began crying softly.
I remained by the wagon, unsure of what to do. Elizabeth grabbed my arm
and pushed me toward Louise.
"Get over there and hold her!" she directed.
"But" was my brilliant response.
"Move!" she ordered.
So I went to Louise and held her. She began crying in earnest and Claire stuck
her head out of the wagon to see what was going on. Elizabeth went over
to her and began whispering in her ear. I wondered what that was about,
as I held Louise. Gradually the sobs became more broken and finally she
lay limp in my arms. Picking her up, I carried her to the wagon and passed
her up to Claire. Louise appeared asleep and I expected that she was exhausted
from her reaction.
Elizabeth grabbed my arm and pulled me to the fire.
"What was that all about?" I asked.
"What?"
"The whispering and the order to hold her."
"Oh, I thought she needed a good hug from some kind man."
"Why do I get the feeling that isn't all that's going on?"
"Have you noticed that Claire wasn't moody yesterday or the day
before?"
"So?"
"We always start our monthlies on the same day and she always gets moody
the day before."
I was unable to understand what she was talking about and was beginning to get
upset.
"If you want to say something, then say it. It's too early in the morning
to stand here guessing."
"She didn't start her monthlies"
Suddenly I heard Claire call out of the wagon, "Elizabeth!"
It's funny, but until I heard Claire call out Elizabeth's name I really had no
idea what she meant. Then suddenly it hit me. Claire might be
pregnant! The next thing I knew I was sitting down on the ground with
Elizabeth holding on to me and Claire chewing her out for saying anything.
I stood up and grabbed Claire.
"Is it true?" I demanded.
"I don't know. It might be but I won't be sure for another
month."
I kissed her tenderly and stood there in a daze. I might be a father
soon. I didn't know whether to be thrilled or scared to death. I
looked at the wagon and saw something I thought I wouldn't see for a long time,
if ever. Louise had a smile on her face a mile wide.
June 26-July 3, 1847
I have gradually come to grips with the idea that I might be a father. I
have been alternatively elated and depressed. The idea of a child of ours
fills me with delight, while the thought of what could go wrong frightens me to
death. There are no obstetricians in this period and I would trust myself
to deliver a child better than any doctor we could find. The doctors now
are still using bleeding to reduce fevers, and mercury as a medicine.
There is no way I'm going to let some quack touch my wives or children.
Louise seems to be slowly coming out of her shell. She is becoming more
animated and has began to talk to the other people in the wagon train.
She is still running into prejudiced people but most seem willing to
treat her as a human being. I have found my status as the train doctor to
be useful there. She seems perfectly content to follow my directions and
I have had her help me with the people who come around for treatment of their
cuts and bruises. They have become accustomed to having her give them
instructions on how to care for themselves. This seems to be helping her
as well. She has become more confident in her speech and manner. She no
longer seems to be afraid of being around men. I find myself feeling
attracted to her, and there is no doubt in my mind of the love/lust between her
and my wives. I have finally received permission to return to my wagon to
sleep. I'm glad that Elizabeth is a small woman, otherwise there is no
way four of us could fit in here. It's still tight but possible.
Louise is usually either on the outside of Claire or Elizabeth in a
separate blanket.
We have restrained our lovemaking to hugs and cuddling for the most part, with
sex in our few moments of privacy. I don't think our arrangement is a secret
any more to the others in the train, but as long as we don't shove it in
anyone's face, they seem to be discretely ignoring it. I have had several
of the men make comments about being greedy for having two wives but have
played dumb, like I have no idea of what they are talking about. I know
that Louise knows what is going on but she is the soul of discretion and hasn't
even hinted about our arrangement to any of us, let alone anyone else.
We have been going through the South Pass and it has remained as wide as it was
in the beginning. The travel is easy with us making 12 or more miles a
day, though from what I understand the snow melt may soon make the rivers rise
to more dangerous levels. When or if that occurs then our daily distance
will drop dramatically. We will need to cross the Green River soon and the
guide and the wagon master have been warning us that we need to be extra
cautious not to miss the crossing as it will certainly mean a disaster for
whoever gets off the crossing.
July 4, 1847
We have arrived at the Green River and the wagon master has decided to hold the
wagon train on this side until the guide can remark the crossing. The
yearly ice melt has begun and the wagon master has warned us that we can expect
to move much more slowly in the coming days due to flooding. The water level is
about shoulder high, meaning the wagons will float if there isn't enough
weight. We have borrowed three more water barrels to use as ballast for
the crossing. We have used much of the food we purchased at Fort Laramie
and would have been almost completely out except for game and the plant food we
have been taught to find by Leaping Fox. Many of the other families are
in a similar condition, as they need to save the food they do have until they
can get a crop in. We have the barrel of flour I got from the slavers'
wagon but we decided to keep that untouched until we must open it.
We celebrated Independence Day with speeches from the wagon master and the
wagon captain. We had races and some of the men played their instruments
as we danced. Several of the boys made a bonfire out of the abandoned
furniture we have begun to find by the trail. We have no fireworks but I
did contribute the flare I have been carrying since I got here for the celebration.
Some of the boys were making small packets of gunpowder in paper and
throwing them into the fire to explode until the wagon captain assigned the
worst offenders to pick up fuel for the main fire for the next week.
We have seen many abandoned items by the trail that we could have used but setting
out in the open since the last winter has damaged most. The wagon master
said that we should be able to find things in better shape that have been
abandoned in the Great Northern Desert. As we haven't had a lot of weight
for the oxen to pull they are in good shape. I worry about the wagon
though. The wood is in good shape but I think the iron wheel rims are
going to need replacing before we reach Oregon. We also need to find more food
to buy. Fort Bridger is coming up so we should be able to pick up
something there.
For tonight, we are going to relax and just enjoy a day without
traveling. Louise is going to be visiting another family tonight. For the
first time since she arrived it will be just us alone in the wagon. We
have already made plans for the night and I have told everyone that I will see
no one except for a life or death emergency. I received a lot of kidding
about that from the men but for a night without visitors it's worth it.
July 5, 1847
Last night became rapidly strange soon after we went to bed. We began to
make love with each other when I was called to handle a cut one of the boys
received when his ax slipped while cutting wood. For a while I was afraid
that he had cut an artery but I was able to stop the bleeding and sew the flap
of skin back together. Luckily his mother had laudanum and I was able to
make a solution that knocked him out. I directed his mother to make sure
he didn't move for at least two days and to keep the leg clean and dry or he
might lose it. I had already had experience with this boy before and knew
he was a handful so I told her to be sure he was drugged with the laudanum for
the next two days to be sure he followed my orders.
I had returned and we again began to become aroused when another visitor
appeared. One of the women, Emma Kroener, thought she was having
contractions and might be giving birth. I had already seen her three
times in the last month because of false labor pains so I wasn't too concerned
about this time. Imagine my surprise when I arrived and found her in the
middle of birthing an eight pound baby boy. I had one of the other
children get Louise to assist me and we proceeded to deliver the baby. By
the time she had produced the afterbirth and I felt she was as comfortable as I
could make her, it was nearly midnight.
I returned to my wagon and found both of my wives asleep. Turning around
I found Louise behind me.
"Can I stay with you three tonight? I don't want to wake up the
Parkers again."
By this time I had given up any thought of lovemaking and was ready to sleep.
I told her it was OK but she'd have to sleep next to me since Claire and
Elizabeth were asleep on one side and I didn't want to wake them up any more
than she did the Parkers. Louise gave me a strange look and agreed.
I got undressed and crawled under the covers next to Elizabeth. Soon
afterwards I felt a warm body pressed up behind me. I soon felt myself
drifting off.
Early the next morning before daybreak I found myself with my morning
hard on buried between the legs of a woman and my hand on her breast. Half
asleep, I started kissing her belly and touching her body. Claire seemed
different this morning but seemed eager to respond to my attention. I
slowly kissed up to her breasts. Gently rubbing her breasts I felt the nipple
become hard . I licked under her breasts and taking a nipple in my mouth,
gradually started to suck gently on her breasts. Spitting on my fingers I
began reaching down and touching her clit. I felt her pussy become wet then
even wetter. Using two fingers I began moving them in and out until I
felt her beginning to breath hard and her body stiffen. Rolling her on her back
I raised myself on my arms and began pushing my dick into the wet tunnel. I was
beginning to really become aroused when I realized that the pubic hair I was
brushing against seemed different. The woman's body was beginning to push
back when I raised my hand to touch her neck and felt curly hair. I
recoiled and bumped up against someone in back of me. I heard her murmur
something and realized I was in the middle between Elizabeth and Louise.
I started to sit up when an arm grabbed my neck and pulled me back down.
Whispering into my ear, Louise said, "I knew what was going on all the
time. Why do you think I was naked?"
"But what about my wives? They'll kill me if I hurt you."
"We've been talking about this for the last week when you're not around.
They gave me permission to seduce you." She gave me another bump to
make our pubic bones meet.
"Am I ever going to have a say about my own sex life around these
women?" I wondered to myself.
I gave up and resumed my movements. Soon I began to hear her muttering to
herself and as she began to become more aroused, it became louder until I
kissed her to keep the noise down. Finally she screamed in my mouth as
she climaxed tipping me over into my own. I shot load after load of cum
into her until I felt I was about to push myself through my erection, and
collapsed next to her. Louise gradually came down from her arousal as
well and we lay silently next to each other, intimately touching each other's
body.
From behind me I heard voices whisper, "Good job!"