Chapter 12: Gold and Expansion

Jun 10, 1858

In the morning, not wanting to leave two women and two infants alone and unprotected on the ranch, I took them into town with me, intending to put them up at a hotel in the room next to mine. The desk clerk and I both blushed when Vivian stated adamantly that the constable had awarded me everything, including them. They had no intention of staying anywhere but with me. Instead, I got one room with the biggest bed they had available.

They knew the bank their husbands dealt with, and there was no note on the property, but the rancher had more than a thousand dollars in his account. Once the constable explained the situation to the banker, I closed the account and pocketed the money.

The banker wasn’t interested in buying the ranch and said none of the banks would pay for a farm with the economy the way it was. That night I gave the women a choice. I’d pay their way home if they had family, leave them here with five hundred dollars each, or take them back to Libertyville and make sure they had what they needed. They chose Libertyville, once again reminding me that the constable had awarded them to me.

While they insisted on sleeping with me, I warned them that sleeping was all we would be doing. If they tried anything else, I would walk away and leave them with nothing. I explained that I already had seven wives, and nothing was going to happen unless my wives approved it.

I don’t know if they were shocked that I had seven wives, or if they were disappointed, but they quieted down and went to sleep. At least they continued taking care of my wound. Even with all the riding I was doing, it was finally starting to heal.

Jun 11

I spent a couple of hours wandering through shops in town this morning, looking for anything new or exciting. To the best of my knowledge, we had regular orders arriving of the things we needed. Everyone contributed to the lists we sent to St. Louis with our two boats, or with Captain Roberts. They were able to estimate what they needed in advance much better than I could guess--provided I even remembered half of the things they needed.

I was excited when I found an odd pair of boots. The Aigle boots were made by a French company. They were knee-high and made from a new, waterproof material called rubber. The first thing that came to mind when I saw them was my wet, frozen feet from when I worked in the stream panning for gold. I bought all ten pairs that he had, and sent one to James Callahan in St. Louis, asking him to order two thousand pairs of the boots in large sizes.

I also asked him to inquire if they made the boots that went even higher up the leg. If not, could we pay extra to have the manufacturer make two thousand special pairs? I wanted them to reach mid-thigh.

Satisfied that I’d accomplished something useful, we ate lunch in town and then rode back out to the ranch. While they began packing their belongings into their wagon, I rode out and spoke with the neighboring ranchers and farmers. Between them, they offered to trade twenty head of cattle for the ranch, nowhere near what it would be worth in a healthy economy, but more than I was liable to get otherwise. I warned them that I was taking the livestock and tools, and whatever the women wanted from the house.

Our men rode in just before supper. To save time, they had taken a steamboat south, bringing their horses with them. While sharing our supper with them, I noticed two of the cowhands seemed interested in the two women, and the two women seemed interested in return. They were still talking together when I crashed for the night.

Jun 12

We were up before the rooster this morning. I took the women and their wagon into town with me to book passage to Libertyville. The women seemed to be a little nervous this morning until I assured them that I was happy they were interested in the two men. I explained that I found them attractive, but already had my hands, and bed, full.

We caught a boat leaving mid-morning and arrived in Libertyville the next afternoon.

Jun 13

It was almost funny watching my wives when they saw me. They were trying to decide whether the injury to my shoulder or the two young women and their babies needed to be explained first.

I started with the wound, explaining what happened, and how I ended up with the two young women. I also explained that they were interested in two of the cowhands who would be back in a week or so. My wound was poked, prodded, and treated while I told my tale. When they finally decided that I would live, we ate supper.

My wives took pity on me and were much less demanding than usual in bed tonight.

Jun 14

I was surprised when I woke up this morning and realized that it was well past dawn. I finally realized how hard I’d pushed the last few days and didn’t get upset with myself. I’d even slept through the several roosters I usually heard because I was already awake when they began their racket. Dragging myself downstairs, I found a hearty breakfast waiting for me. When I finished, I went out to see what was going on.

Dad saw me and waved me over to a group of people talking to him. He introduced me to everyone, explaining that I was the one who made all this possible. They seemed surprised by my youth, but Dad explained that I was nicknamed “Lucky Jim” for a reason. The group of nineteen people, in five families, had just arrived and were looking for work. Since four of the families had wagons, Dad directed them to an area now designated for people who were temporarily living in wagons.

Evidently, when people moved into one of the new homes, we bought their wagons and we had more than two hundred fifty empty wagons for people to live in if needed. We also used them if we needed extra freight wagons. If a family arrived without a wagon, they moved into one of the available wagons until we had a house or apartment available. Dad explained that the wagons offered a bit more privacy to each family than the dormitories now that the weather was warmer.

I heard the distinctive signal from the Paha Sapa--three long blasts followed by two short blasts, indicating that Nathan would be docking shortly. I knew he wouldn’t be returning north immediately but hurried to the house to find the nine remaining pairs of Aigle rubber boots to give him.

By the time I got there, people were already unloading gold into wagons, and the first wagon was headed for town.

Nathan waved when he saw me, and then turned his attention back to unloading. Someone had made small, sturdy wooden pallets with sides. The gold ingots were neatly stacked on them with a wooden cover nailed over them. Each pallet held a thousand pounds of gold and made transfer from boat to wagon easy. Each pallet was two feet by two and a half feet, and eight inches high.

Other men were busy unloading the coal, much of which was now loaded into portable bins aboard the rafts to facilitate their transfer by using cranes to load the bins onto wagons. Evidently, we were now selling coal at the Libertyville docks where they hoisted the bins over the boat and poured the coal into the hopper. Our carpenters were making more of the bins, so we had enough to leave two sets at the coal mine and one set on the Libertyville docks. When they were empty, they took the bins back to the coal mine to be refilled. While Nathan supervised the unloading, I gave him the nine pairs of rubber boots to take back north next time he went, explaining what they were for.

Dad told me that the gold miners had requested permission to spend the winter working in the mine. It would be deep enough by then to protect them from the bitter cold, so Dad had carpenters, lumber, and building supplies ready to go to enclose the mine opening and the stamping mill. They intended to enclose a road between the buildings, one wide enough for two wagons to pass each other. They would make the cover like a covered bridge, designed to keep the road free of snow and mud. Aside from the winter snow that fell occasionally from September to March, occasional heavy rain all year could make the road a quagmire. Plus, they would build a barracks like we had at the coal mine and a silo for the coal they’d need each winter.

They would remodel the smelter, so the prevailing winds didn’t blow directly inside, and would make barn doors for the smelter to close when nobody was working inside. Dad had potbellied stoves ready to go to provide heat for the buildings. Extra food would go with each of the supply boats so they would have adequate food for the winter. Even the Sioux would help, drying several loads of buffalo meat for them to use for making stew during the winter.

I met briefly with all the chiefs this afternoon, explaining what land I thought we should buy next and asking if it met with their approval. They agreed that the land between the Platte and the Elkhorn River would be a good place for our expansion. It was a good place to find herds of buffalo most of the year, which was my goal. I wanted a large tract of land we could settle, farm, and use as an unofficial reservation for them, one with plenty of buffalo.

Once we all agreed, I showed it to Dad, asking him to start a survey of the area while I was gone. Using one of the survey maps of the Nebraska Territory, I marked out the area I wanted to buy. North to South, it included everything from the current boundary of the Platte River on the south to the Fifth Standard Parallel North, or about thirty miles north of us.

East to West, it included everything from the eastern boundary of Dodge County, part of which was the Elkhorn River, west to ninety-eight degrees west longitude, or about eighty-five miles wide. That was beyond the boundaries of Monroe and Polk counties, the last tier of surveyed and named counties at this time.

Based on the survey map of the Nebraska Territory we used, my rough estimate was 1.2 million acres. The survey map showed the Nebraska Territory, and all the surveyed counties to date. What I wanted was roughly three and a half counties. Dad was stunned, but agreed to get the survey started immediately, although only the westernmost part of the purchase would need surveying. Everything else had been surveyed; the information we needed was right there on the survey map.

Flo went into labor shortly after I got home, and I was summarily excused from the bedroom until she delivered. Just before midnight, I heard the squall of a newborn. A while later, I was introduced to my son Will, short for William.

Jun 16

We all arose late today, exhausted from the late night and the emotion of Will’s birth. I spent most of the day at home, content to be with Flo, Will, and the rest of my family. We did have a steady stream of visitors all day, eager to see Will and to congratulate us. I found out that both of my brothers’ wives were expecting, too. My mom and my brothers’ wives all commented about how both of my brothers had finally grown up and accepted their responsibilities as husbands and men.

Jun 17

I took time to ride around today, looking at the crops that were growing like weeds. Our soil in Virginia had been good, but nothing we grew there did as well as our crops here. Despite the fertility of the soil here, we made sure we took care of it. We rotated crops, and composted manure and bedding from the livestock, spreading it over the fields we intended to plant. Riding still made my wounded arm hurt, but not nearly as bad as it had at first.

Abram Williams, one of the former slaves, stopped by with Edwin Fitch, the man in charge of planning, planting, and harvesting the grain crops. Abram saw the sweet sorghum growing. Thinking it was regular sorghum, he became excited about possibly brewing a beer he’d helped brew while still in Africa. When he learned that sweet sorghum was different, he hoped we would grow regular sorghum next year. Edwin wanted to make sure it was okay to grow crops just to make beer. Once I learned how much beer he expected to make per acre of sorghum, I suggested starting with a hundred acres and see how it turned out, leaving both men happy.

At dinner, Wendy only picked at her food. Her water broke shortly afterwards, and I again found myself persona non grata in my own bedroom. Worn out from pacing much of the night, I fell into a fitful sleep sitting in one of the stuffed chairs in the parlor. Emma woke me shortly after midnight to meet my son Connor, named after Wendy’s father who died in the attack that left her an orphan and a captive.

Jun 18

Once again, I awoke late, but so did the rest of my family. Still, someone was in the kitchen cooking breakfast, so I snuck downstairs, used the water closet, and headed for the kitchen to find Mom and Emma’s mom cooking. “We thought you’d be tired this morning,” Mom explained. I thanked them for their thoughtfulness.

I again spent the day at home with my expanding family. Captain Roberts stopped by just before supper, having just docked an hour earlier. He decided to make this stop a short visit, wanting to take his wife with us to visit the few friends she had in New Orleans.

Jun 19

Our herd of cattle arrived today, all twenty-two hundred of them. After dropping off a load of coal, Nathan had piloted his string of barges downriver and loaded the cattle, the men, and their horses before ferrying them to where he usually unloaded. I noticed they were building a real dock there from stone and mortar and had covered the slope they normally used to drag the logs from the river with concrete to keep it from wearing away from constant use. They raised the natural bank along the edge of the river even further, making a fifteen-foot-high levee. The extra height made using cranes to unload the boat easier. It would also help prevent flooding when the river level rose. Men were planting trees all along the top of the levee, and women planted berry bushes along the side facing the river.

Dad explained the plan to continue the levee south to the current one where they were expanding the Libertyville docks, which abutted the Omaha docks. There would still be thirty-five hundred acres of fertile soil outside the levee in the flood plain. Someone suggested that we grow rice there, so they had ordered rice to plant next spring.

When the levee was complete, it would run from where the riverbank was naturally high in the north, following the curve of the river until it was directly north of our docks. Then it would run south to meet the levee where the docks were being expanded. From there, it would run west until it reached the naturally high ground where Libertyville was built. We would use the lowland area inside the levee for crops in case the area flooded despite the levee. They had already moved the livestock farther west or north to keep them safe if it flooded. The project sounded very ambitious, but Dad assured me that we had both the people and resources to get the job done.

Men started loading supplies and gold aboard the Iowa Dream in preparation for our departure tomorrow. My wives decided that Polly, Molly, and Flower would go with me while the rest stayed home to recover and tend to the babies. Knowing that I was leaving tomorrow, I spent time with the new mothers and my children.

Jun 20

Shortly after dawn, we were aboard the Iowa Dream, pulling away from the dock. Aside from her trip here from New Orleans, this was the first time Mrs. Roberts had sailed with her husband, and she was excited.

With our gold stored below decks, we had twenty men with us to help guard it.

It was a good thing we weren’t really in a hurry. This trip, it seemed like every place with a dock had someone wanting to come aboard, or someone wanting to debark. Many of the places we stopped, I’d never seen a boat stop before. In addition to passengers, they had cargo to transport, as well. Captain Roberts explained that more people were settling along the river, meaning more people wanted passage. Those people were producing goods that needed to be transported. Several boats had regular schedules to keep, so they only stopped at the big cities, frustrating people who lived in smaller towns.

To kill time, I still watched people as they came aboard, and breathed a sigh of relief when we left Kansas City with no incidents so far. A handful of men with no luggage came aboard in Kansas City, and stayed together in a group on the deck. Four men wasn’t a problem, but I still warned our guards and the captain.

Our next stop was Missouri City, and three more men came aboard without luggage. When two more men came aboard at the old site of Fort Osage, I alerted the captain again. I also awakened my guards.

The next four small towns each produced two or three men boarding the boat with no luggage. For a while, I wondered how they knew which boat to board, but noticed one of the men, one I assumed was the leader, stood in the bow of the boat each time we docked.

The extra stops slowed us down so much that we had to stop for the night in Boonville. I was surprised when the men I suspected went to sleep, and I let most of our men do the same. Still, they all slept fully clothed, with their weapons handy.

Jun 21

By morning, nothing had happened. I was more confused when no more suspicious men came aboard in Boonville, especially since the leader was standing in the bow, again. When a lone man rode slowly by the ship, I saw him look at the leader, and saw a small nod from the leader. The rider left, and the leader settled back down on the deck. We pulled away from the dock twenty minutes later, once again headed for St. Louis.

An hour later, shouts of warning indicated two boats being rowed towards us. I told my men to concentrate on the twenty men already aboard. Surprisingly, those men grabbed their rifles and each fired a single shot towards the rowboats. After reloading, though, they took cover behind the cargo on deck and turned the rifles to where the crew was firing.

Before they could get off their first shot, the twenty-four rifles of my wives and guards eliminated fifteen of the men. The others turned to face us, surprised at being ambushed. They got off three shots, all of which missed us before we downed the last five men. Four men went with me to check on them while the rest began concentrating on the rowboats. Taking a page from an earlier encounter, my wives used their Enfields and concentrated on sinking the boat with the most men still alive in it.

They didn’t sink it, but the boat suddenly veered back towards the shore. Having jumped from the sinking rowboat when the water was only knee-deep, the last of the men from that boat fell as he was wading ashore. His body drifted slowly along the bank as the rowboat finished sinking with six bodies in it. Those bodies joined their friend from the sunken rowboat, drifting slowly downriver.

I grinned viciously when I reached their leader on deck. He had been my first target, and I had aimed for his right shoulder to make sure he was out of commission, but not dead. Flower joined us, toying idly with her favorite skinning knife, and began to slice his clothing off; he suddenly became quite talkative.

His group was based in Jefferson City, halfway between here and St. Louis. Unlike earlier groups we ferreted out, they only robbed the steamboats. They would tie up everyone aboard and secure the boat along the shore as if it were loading firewood. They would escape on horses they had hidden ashore. The farmhouse where they lived only had four more men there. Those men remained behind to keep an eye on the twenty slaves they had working the farm to keep them supplied with food, and to make their group appear legitimate.

Flower didn’t hurt him, but the blood lost from his untended wound soon sent him to join the rest of his cohorts. Like the others, we searched and stripped him before unceremoniously dumping his body overboard. I was surprised they were all still using single-shot rifles. He did have a nice Navy Colt revolver, though.

Captain Roberts stopped long enough for me to locate the horses. The leader said they were two miles downstream from where the attack began. Nobody was even guarding them; the horses were simply tethered to trees.

Later, the captain let us off a few miles from Jeffersonville. Six men went with me as we went ashore and rode to the farmhouse. Despite only getting a vague description of the farmhouse, we figured out which one it was. I snuck into the woods and used my bow effectively to take out two of the four guards. With the remaining two guards covered, I shouted for them to surrender. When they didn’t, they met the same fate as the rest of their gang.

The slaves were nervous at first but calmed down when I explained what had happened. After that, they were eager to show me where the stash was. Using the key that I took from the leader after he died, we entered the locked barn. They had a nice stash, although nowhere near what I’d found in previous places. We loaded a wagon with weapons, tools, and the loot, letting the slaves sit on top of it. Those who knew how rode the horses we got from the farm. We even had two milk cows, several pigs, six mules, and twenty cattle. We sold the pigs in town. Two of my men stayed to book passage back to Libertyville with the freed slaves, the loot-filled wagon, and the remaining livestock.

The delays cost Captain Roberts several hours, but we had to stop overnight in St. Louis anyway, so it didn’t cost us any time overall.

James Callahan came to see us when he heard we’d arrived. He wasn’t expecting us for a few more days. He had already purchased six hundred pair of the rubber boots and had shipped them to Libertyville three days ago. He laughed when we told him that we had yet another adventure on this trip.