Chapter 11

Sierra Madre

While we go west I review the overall situation and I make some changes to my plan. Fifty-four of The Cause’s leaders are dead and two are no longer working for them. Tom is disgusted with what he’s seen of The Cause since his arrival in 1855, and we’ve spoken about his commitment to them. He’s now committed to finding a wife and living out his life in safety, if he can. That leaves only sixteen active senior members to worry about and they’re all from the lower tiers because the top two tiers are now all dead with most killed by me. Now I’ve about three hundred people depending upon me because of my personal entourage growing while we move, and I’m now very concerned about getting them settled in a permanent residence soon. So I study the maps for a good place to build my hacienda and to start a small town.

I select a good area in the mountains that’s both very open and safe. It’s about twenty miles west of the Rio Grande, almost opposite the Fra Cristobal Mountains, about thirty miles north-west of Santa Barbara, and about fifty miles south-west of Fort Conrad. So I’m set up in a real good situation near the middle of my main area of concern.

Having found a suitable place I head us toward it by using the maps from 2005 to guide us while scouts check the way is open and safe. The journey takes about a week to reach the chosen spot near where some fair sized creeks meet.

This is a good sized plateau in the mountains as it’s high enough above the plains to give us a nice bit of cooling from the mountains, it’s protected from the worst of the weather by the mountains rising above us, with easy access ways to the lower lands via passes to the east and south. My maps indicate good trails through the mountains to both the north and west as well. We’ve plenty of room on the plateau to run lots of stock as well as crops, so we should do very well here. We’re off the main travel routes for the war parties and bandits until they learn we’re here, but we should be ready for them with very good defences before then.

Once on-site I select a good spot for the main settlement where we can use one creek as a moat on one side and a steep ridge on another. We set about building a small community from scratch. The first thing I do is stake out the hacienda in a strong defensive position and identify areas for the later construction of barns and similar buildings for the general layout of the small town. Ben is very useful in the planning stages and in working out how to do things the easiest way by maximising the use of mechanical means to do the work within their current technology. The main construction material is adobe, but I’ve lots of beams and planks I bought to build the hacienda’s second level floor and the roof.

Sandra shows some previously unexpected talents in organising the coordination of the work crews when we set about building four houses and the hacienda at the same time. Some of the men are busy looking after the stock where the extra horses and cattle are kept in nearby canyons with rope corrals while we build split rail fences for them.

While most of the people are busy building the new community I have small groups of men out scouting the area. They check for bandits, Indians, and suitable trails through the mountains while they hunt to keep our bellies full of meat. Hunting is very good in the area.

In only three months we have a good community of the hacienda, sixty-three family houses, two large barracks, five shops, a cantina, and numerous outbuildings. Everyone is busy working at something they like doing. Some of the houses are out from town because many people have set up as share cropper farmers. Many of the slaves are surprised I allow them to do so too. During this time I make several trips to Santa Barbara and Doña Anna for supplies and materials. I find both of the towns are doing much better and growing well now the heavy yoke The Cause had provided is gone. Our community and ranch are doing well too. Bright Rabbit and Enerida are very happy to be pregnant, so are many of the more recent brides. Some of the older women are also surprised to be pregnant again, making their men very happy too. Each trip to town results in more families and single men returning to work for us, many of the new families set up well away from the town as share cropper farmers and all are doing well. Three of the Great Dane bitches have also littered, so we’re growing in all respects. Donna takes on training the pups while Ben and Mary run our little infirmary.

The Desert Dogs now number one hundred and thirty-five fully trained and armed men with another forty under training. I hope to have four troops of sixty-five men available within the next few months. Jesus now runs my hacienda under the guidance of my wives. José is the Captain of A Troop, Ramón is the Captain of B Troop, Rafael is the Captain of Training, and I’m the Colonel commanding the whole militia.

One night a tribe of Mescalero Apache arrives and tells of wandering groups of whites attacking Indians for no reason. I promise to look into it and six of their young warriors join me as scouts for the Desert Dogs. When I ask if some will do this I’m happy to be surprised by the large number of volunteers. Chief Long Snake organises a contest to select which six will join us. During the contest on tracking he tells me High Eagle is making a name for himself as a warrior of note and much wisdom who’s already helping to plan some retaliation raids against the Comanche, which is a task usually reserved for the older warriors.

With my people set up in a safe haven I prepare to take a patrol around our lands to check for trouble.

This first patrol is to carry out a number of purposes. The first is to give B Troop a sort of shake-down patrol as the majority of my original guards are in A Troop because they’re my premier unit. B Troop has most of the new men with some experienced men as officers and sergeants to lead the men. This patrol will give them field experience as a unit and see how they handle the life of a trooper, especially if we run into any trouble. I take only six of the Great Danes with us - Mars, Loki, Thor, Mercury, Venus, and Helena. Donna thinks a couple of the other bitches are in pup and I wish to leave the two experienced leaders behind to protect the hacienda and my people. The second purpose will be to train some of the officers and men to work with the Great Danes for scouting purposes. The third is to check the area. Fourth is to visit the banks between Santa Fe and El Paso, starting with Santa Barbara and adding Santa Rita, to collect and sort out orders from each other to pay on the other banks in our area. Thus acting like a clearing service for them. Fifth is to pay a courtesy call on the military commanders at the four main forts of Fort Fillmore, Fort Defiance, Fort Conrad, and Fort Marcy. In the process I also expect to have to deal with five more of The Cause’s people. I want to get this first patrol in because it’s getting late in the year and I want all of this done before Christmas.

The whole trip should take us about thirty to forty days, depending on how things go. So we’ve a number of pack horses along with plenty of rations, blankets, tents, and ammunition. Because of the patrol length and the supply horses I include several more men as messengers and logistics staff. The trip length will depend on how the weather is while we’re out on patrol. Once I have a good idea of the lay of the land I’ll probably be breaking the patrols up into half or less than that. But we do need to get one full patrol in before Christmas. Already the snow is here and it’s probable we’ll get much more snow before Christmas. While I’m away José will be going to town for supplies with most of the wagons and A Troop to make sure we’ve enough supplies and food to see us through to March, if need be.

Lawyer Shenanigans

On my first visit to Santa Fe I set James Peters up as the Managing Director of Rome Investments while I’m the Chairman of the Board and principal stockholder. This is to allow him to get on with running the business without having to check all of the daily decisions with me, but I’m still in a position to give general policy decisions. This seemed a good idea at the time and it has turned out to be a brilliant idea.

When I made the deal with the government people in Santa Fe to buy all of the land I was told I could buy it all for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, except for the land they’ve already sold to private owners. When I uncovered all the corruption in the Governor’s office it turned out the approval for the sale had been given by some of the local people of The Cause who thought I was buying the land for The Cause because they’d been told to expect the purchase. As part of his office cleaning on learning of the corruption the Governor had all of their major actions reviewed. Many went to court because they weren’t exactly legal and action is started to reverse them. Peters was contacted about the sale of the land because it’s well below its real worth. Letters are exchanged between the Governor’s office, Peters, and me.

After a few months of negotiations Peters is able to get the sale fully ratified after some changes are made. For the money already paid we get full title to a quarter of the original purchase, including the area for the hacienda and nearby share cropper farms, and we’re granted a twelve year lease with full rights to the rest of the land with a ‘first offer right’ to buy at the end of the lease. Also, should the government put any of the land I don’t buy up for homesteading at the end of the lease the people who’re farming the land will have their time working on the farm counted against their homestead requirements so this should see them end up as the owners of the farms later. This serves my purposes because I’ve control of the land until after the Civil War ends, then I can just let it go its natural course. The federal agency that has to sign off on the final deal has no problems with this set up because they’ve already spent the money and are worried I’ll pull out of the deal and want it back.

Because of all this work with the Governor’s office Peters gets to know the Governor and others in power very well. He uses these contacts to organise some extra things without telling me. In early September I’m in Doña Anna for a supply run and to visit friends when I meet Peters in town with a couple of people from Washington he introduces me to.

After two days of discussions and pressure from Peters, and a few others, I give in and let the Washington people swear me in as a Federal Judge for the Territory of New Mexico based in the Sierra Madre and as a Deputy US Marshal with the right to swear in Deputies as needed. This means I can’t collect bounties because I’m now a law enforcement officer. Another aspect is I can’t be the judge for any matter where I acted as a US Marshal. The real surprise is a charter from the Governor authorising Rome Investments to raise a private militia to assist with law and order enforcement in the Territory of New Mexico.

This last item is significant because we’d established the Rome Militia, the Desert Dogs, as a private security force like a militia to enforce security on the land we control, all legal. But this charter gives us the same rights as a regular Army unit across the whole Territory. This is a major increase in our authority and responsibilities since we’re now morally and legally bound to respond to requests for help from the local Sheriff, the Army, Town Marshal, Governor, and all of the other civilian authorities within the territory.

The formal letters of final approval with all the seals take a few weeks to come through. They arrive in the last week of October so I’ve got them to carry with me on the first patrol. I can show them to all the relevant authorities in our patrol area. I later learn they’ve all been informed by the people in Washington so they already know to contact me if they need our help.

First Patrol

We set out on patrol in the middle of the first week of November. There’s some light snow on the ground but nothing to hinder us, just enough to make us take care while riding over the ground and not the beginnings of a road we’ve created. Initial heading is almost due east.

With three scouts out, one in front and another several miles each side, we’re conducting a visual sweep of an area almost twenty miles wide. It’s not a fine sweep and small groups of less than ten or so can easily hide from us, but I’m concerned with large groups. Anyway, I don’t think any group larger than four or five could hide from the scouts. Each scout party is a Mescalero Apache and a Great Dane. Each day the scouts get up early to ride out to get ahead of us, they’ll report back at night or before then if they find something important.

We turn south several miles west of the trail between Socorro and Santa Barbara and sweep the area beside the road while checking the traffic on the road. When we near a farm or ranch or village we detour to it to check up on the inhabitants. When we reach the towns with the banks I need to visit I head in with a group of ten men while Ramón leads the patrol. We then catch up because the patrol goes slower while we’re in town. Most of the patrol is conducted at a trot or canter.

The first item of real business is just outside of Santa Barbara. When we top a ridge we see a camp with a family group of Mescalero Indians near a stream about four miles ahead. We’ve diverted a bit to check them out because it’s mid-morning and it’s normal for a family group to be on the move at this time of day so our scout reported them before scouting beyond them.

Topping the ridge we see three gringos on horses talking to the old Indian in charge of the group. One of the gringos pulls out his pistol and shoots the Indian in the leg. The gringos laugh and they ride off.

We hasten to the spot. I send a sergeant with ten men to follow and keep an eye on the gringos while I check on the wounded man. The family group consists of an old man, Proud Wolf, and several children, the eldest being a fourteen year old girl. They’re camped there because one of the girls is ill with a fever after being cut a few days earlier. The eldest boy is about ten and he’s lifting his bow and arrows when we near them. Proud Wolf speaks to him and he lowers his weapons, but it’s clear he’s not happy with any more gringos coming near them.

On reaching the camp I dismount and get my medical kit while Ramón speaks to the Indians in Spanish. I must be getting better with my Spanish because I can follow what they say. After a few minutes Ramón convinces them to let me treat them.