Author's Note: A new story. Well, not really a story, but a vignette - a long one, but a vignette nonetheless. It deals with the things that happen on September 7, 1885, from the moment after the explosion of the red log, to the moment Doc and Clara return home, from Doc's perspective. I hope that you like it. I initially wanted to include more but I couldn't get it as well written and exciting as the first part. Therefore, I'm leaving it at this. Hope you like it.
Disclaimer: I don't own BTTF III. I don't own I or II either, but they aren't really mentioned in this story. I also don't own Emmett L. Brown, Clara Clayton, Marty McFly, Marshall Strickland, Seamus and Maggie McFly, Clayton/Shonash/Eastwood Ravine, the steam train, the DeLorean, the hoverboard, the 'End of Track' sign and the '1/4 Miles' sign, as well as the rails and the smoke coming out of the train after exploding. I also don't own the Presto Logs, the mention of Buford Tannen, Hill County, the city of Hill Valley and all the houses inside it. They belong to their respective owners, but not to me. Got it? Go read the story then.
When Your Future Lies In The Past
A Back to the Future vignette by
EmmettMcFly55
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1885
08:23 A.M. PACIFIC DAYLIGHT TIME
HILL VALLEY, CALIFORNIA
If I survive this, I'm never ever going to travel on trains again!
Dr. Emmett Brown clenched himself to the train with all his power. Or, in fact, to the bar that made him not fall onto the ground and in his death. Somehow, he managed to think of this as irony. After all, just minutes ago, while driving the train, he'd remarked to Marty 'I wanted to do this in my whole life'! Well, that life was about to end soon. For the third time in a row, he was facing death. Then again, it being on a train was new, though. With both the Libyans and Buford, he'd been standing motionless and shocked when it occurred. Now, he was hanging onto a bar in complete fear at seventy-plus miles per hour, chugging through the landscape of exterior Hill Valley. He could see the faint surroundings of Clay…Shonash Ravine in the distance.
Emmett looked around, analysing his situation. On the left, there was Clara, hanging only on her dress which was the thing that kept her from falling down – and ripped more with the second. Slightly to his right was the boiler he'd put his (way too strong, as he now realized) Presto Logs in, and it had just exploded and was currently shooting red steam and wood blocks into the air. The inventor wouldn't consider it that weird if the whole thing broke off and fell on the time machine. And finally there was the DeLorean, with Marty McFly inside, which had lifted up from the tracks (the front, at least) and was causing Marty to be in a rather unenviable position as well. And that all at the speed of, what, seventy-five miles per hour, while Marty was just thirteen miles per hour away from making the temporal transit which would cease all hope for Doc and Clara. The ravine was, let's see, half a mile away, and at 75 mph, that would mean they had about 24 seconds before falling into it, if the respective ledges and dress didn't give away first.
Yes, this situation sure was great.
Emmett Brown held on, as he saw in front of him the DeLorean hit the train tracks again, and was back in it's condition of being pushed forwards on solid ground… tracks. Well, anyway, Marty would get out of this situation safe. He himself would most likely meet an entirely different fate. The inventor winced, for what seemed to be the hundredth time in his life wishing that he had never hit his head on November 5th, 1955. Where had the thing that, according to Young Emmett, would help all mankind, brought him so far? To devoting thirty years of hard work, to losing all his fortune, to getting in major problems in 1885, 1955, 1985, 2015… and the losing of his one true love yesterday evening had been the last slap. The time machine had to be destroyed – but not at the costs of their lives. Which was the thing that seemed to be about to happen. The scientist sighed deeply, preparing for the end. His hands would give up sometime…
At that moment, Emmett heard Marty's voice reaching out to him. "Doc!" the young teenager called, desperately. "I'm going to slip you the hoverboard!" As the scientist looked at him, he could see his friend holding out a pink thing that he couldn't identify for a moment, then recognized it as just what Marty had told him through the heavy winds and the noises the old steam train, still moving along at around seventy-five miles per hour – it was the hoverboard, the floating variant of a skateboard that Marty had brought along on their trip to the year 2015, and that had come in handy when rescuing himself from a certain Biff Howard Tannen, who'd been out for revenge on Marty McFly because of the fact the teen had stolen the sports almanac. The board had come in handy then, and it would now. The inventor felt himself cheer up for a moment, until he noticed what lay ahead of them – the track sign. "Marty!" he screamed, as loud as he could. "Watch out!"
The teenager ducked just in time, in a semi-dramatic move, and the track sign, which cheerfully announced that the end of the track – and with that, the ravine – was just a quarter mile away, got blown into pieces as it hit the fast accelerating DeLorean time vehicle. Emmett saw the pieces of the sign fall on the ground, and watched as the train moved past them at an amazing speed. Another alteration to history – originally, in 1888, the townsfolk was going to find out that the distance was in fact 1/3 mile, and they'd sue the mayor for it. This time, the mayor's money stayed with him, as the sign was broken in 1885, three years before. He really should've thought this through more carefully, but that wasn't of the matter right now. The scientist then looked at his girlfriend again, who was still screaming for help. He called a 'hold on' back, but found soon that it was no use, as he himself started to feel the sweat increase on his hands, as well. Within seconds, he'd fall to the tracks, and this all would be over…
"Doc!" Marty's loud call took Emmett Brown's attention back to the matter at hand, and at the pink hoverboard. "Catch it!" The inventor had just enough time to nod wildly, as the teenager released the board. The pink thing cheerfully moved backwards – or was it a matter of the train moving forwards to catch up with it, or a combination of both? – and the scientist held out his foot, hoping that good luck would be with him this time around. And, fortunately, it was. The strap on the hoverboard was caught by his right foot, and the inventor managed to set both feet on the board, thereby ensuring his safety. Great Scott, if I missed that chance… He moved around, carefully holding on to the metal bar, and began making his way towards Clara, still screaming that she should hold on, but internally simply hoping for the best.
For a moment, Clara's destiny seemed sealed. The pink dress finally decided to give up, and dropped it's contents to the ground. Clara screamed, and Emmett instinctively reached his hand out – and caught Clara from underneath. Relieved, he pushed her upwards along the train, then carefully put his other arm also around her, therefore removing her – and him, for that matter – completely from the support of the speeding locomotive. He could hear Marty yell excitedly in the distance as the couple flew away from the train, Emmett holding Clara in his arms. He carried the brightest smile he'd ever had. For now, everything was all right with the world. Smiling, he grinned at Clara, happy to have found love – and survival – in the Old West.
The sound of electricity shooting through the sky nearby reminded him of what he'd been doing before Clara showed up. The recently met couple moved towards the ravine, in time to see Marty shut the door. Doc caught a brief glimpse of his best friend, who had just put his cowboy hat on his head again. Electricity covered the DeLorean, and the inventor estimated the current speed of train and time machine at… what, eighty-five? Eighty-six, perhaps? Anyway. Both of them watched on as the two vehicles approached the 'End of Track' sign. The train's consistency in speed continued to amaze him – after all, he'd thought for sure the thing wouldn't be as fast now the boiler, which the train ran on, had exploded. Well, this proved the Presto Logs – the red one, specifically, which was still in the process of getting sucked up by the locomotive – were really effective. Emmett decided not to think about that, right now, and instead focused on the time machine, which was almost impossible to see due the lights around it. The blacksmith-scientist estimated the speed at still increasing while being pushed along. Approximately eighty-seven miles per hour, most likely… eighty-eight…
Just mere seconds after that, the hoverboard was knocked backwards a few feet, almost making Emmett and Clara lose their balance, as the DeLorean time machine, just inches before the End of Track sign, semi-exploded in a bright burst of electricity and a ball of fire, displayed by white lights, and a loud shattering sonic boom sounded as it vanished over a hundred years into the future, leaving behind trails of equally white and yellow fire, that shot over the tracks, even a few feet over the end of the rails, before vanishing into nowhere. Before either of them could react, the train, which had been just a few feet behind the DeLorean after all, hit the blocks of wood that marked the end of the route, destroying it completely as it smashed through it, and then, the old steam locomotive travelled the last few feet of the journey that was still on tracks and finally almost cheerfully looking it went over the edge, hissing and steaming loudly as the sudden lack of tracks made itself clear and the locomotive fell down into the ravine, still exploding everywhere, and finally hit the ground in a ball of fire, as smoke shot up to over the edges of the ravine – even to close to where Emmett and Clara were standing. The inventor was narrowly able to avoid it by hovering back again. "Great Scott" he whispered, in complete amazement at what had just happened. I would've been in that, along with Clara, if Marty hadn't slipped the hoverboard towards me… Great Scott kid, you might've…no, you have just saved my life. I'm sure that everyone, including you, would consider this to be very heavy!
"Golly" Clara agreed with him, as both blacksmith and school teacher hovered towards the edge of the ravine, stopping a few feet off it. "I don't believe I've ever seen such an explosion before in my entire life!"
Emmett nodded. "You're absolutely right, I don't believe I have either. This is absolutely amazing. Yet – we might've been killed." He went off to calculate the scientific possibilities, which Marty would've called 'science lecture mode'. "Granted, theoretically, if we were able to jump off shortly before the train hit the bottom of the canyon, we could've made it, as the drop wouldn't be too huge. Then again, there is the fact that a sudden displacement in speed similar to that, from approximately ninety to our own drop rate, which is based on our weights, might've given us quite a shock to our system. Then still, when I went to rescue you with the hoverboard, we also had a sudden displacement in speed, decreasing to be specific, which does not appear to have affected our systems. Granted, that might've been because of the rush of excitement and all those other combined feelings pressed together inside our brainwaves, which was caused by…"
"Emmett?" Clara asked. "You can set me down to the ground again."
The scientist blushed. "Sorry" he apologized as he set his girlfriend – Great Scott, he'd never thought about something like that, having a female mate to share his life with, applying to him! – down to the ground, next to the hoverboard, and then stepped off the board himself. "I was just speculating the possibilities – I guess I was too much in shock from everything that had happened to really realize that I was still holding you. You're not that heavy, you know."
"I suppose I should consider that a compliment" Clara said, smiling at him. "Well, Emmett…" She blushed a little. "Thank you. Thanks for saving my life, while I deserved not to be saved, as I slapped you last night. I'm sorry for not believing the time machine was real. Now I've seen it with my own eyes, though." She stared down at the pink board. "What's that, anyway?"
"It's a hoverboard" the inventor explained, realizing Clara had never seen it before. "It's from 2015. Marty and I picked it up there when we had to rescue his son from going to jail. The poor kid was victim of a set-up by Griff Tannen."
"Tannen?" Clara asked, not having noticed the name 'Marty' by being too surprised about the name that later appeared. "As in Buford Tannen?" She shivered. "The outlaw that tried to shoot you to death last Saturday and would've succeeded, had your friend not interfered?"
Emmett nodded. "That's the one" he said. "I suppose I should explain this to you later, but right now, I'm just a little too shocked from everything that has happened, and tired – I was up the whole night, the story of which I will tell you later on." He sighed. "I'm sorry, I hope you can understand…"
"It's okay, Emmett" Clara said, smiling. "Honestly, I would be shocked, too. If you need to relax, I can take you home…" She stared at the place the DeLorean had just exploded, and just couldn't restrain herself from asking a question. "Emmett, is…is Clint really gone? Gone from this time, I mean?"
"Clint?" the inventor asked, scratching his head. It had been a long night, and he didn't quite recall who was 'Clint'. He then realized. "Oh yeah, Marty's alias. He couldn't use his real name here, as he's the great-great-grandson of Seamus and Maggie McFly – notice the resemblance with Seamus?" Clara nodded. "He's even named after Seamus – Martin Seamus McFly. That's the whole reason he couldn't use that name." He paused. "Anyway, yes, he's gone. To 1985. October twenty-seventh, 1985, actually, at eleven A.M."
"Would it be wise for him to appear in broad daylight?" Clara asked. "If someone sees the time machine… well, I'm sure that one of Buford's family members wouldn't handle it responsibly."
Emmett wondered if he should smile or wince, realizing just how right Clara was. "Oh, I know" he said. "I know. But that ain't going to matter, anymore. At 11:11, the eleven A.M. train is going to smash through it, and I am sure that not even Marty would be exhausted enough to still be in the DeLorean at that time, and in eleven minutes, he can't possibly move it either. It's perfect." He smiled broadly, not realizing at that moment that the train might as well be early.
Clara frowned, apparently not having realized the 'early' possibility either. "Why would you want to destroy something like a time machine?" she asked. "I mean, it sounds like something fantastic, something right out of a Jules Verne story. I'm sure that whatever happened can't be bad enough to destroy the machine for. I mean, why destroy, or even throw away, something that is still working?"
"You already gave yourself the answer" Emmett told her. "Remember what you said about the Tannen family stealing the time machine, and I said I knew that already?" Clara nodded. "Well, I knew because it had happened once before, and the sight we saw then wasn't a pretty one. That, and an incident happening before that, made me certain of the decision to destroy the time machine. I would've gone through with it, hadn't a certain lightning strike hit me right after we did the mission of fixing what Tannen screwed up… I mean, what Tannen caused to go wrong. That lightning bolt sent me right back to January 1st, 1885, without any way of fixing the time machine." He smiled. "But I said what I said, and I must keep my promise. I'll tell you the whole story, later today. Right now, I guess it would be about time to head into town again."
"You're right" Clara nodded, sighing. "We should tell Marshall Strickland what happened. Well – not exactly what happened, but the fact something happened. We'll have to come up with a good cover story for this." Her mind raced, as she started to think. "Emmett, how did you get your hands on this train, anyway? It doesn't seem to me like the engineer would just give it to you, especially with those people boarding it having to go to San Francisco and other places along the line…"
The blacksmith blushed. "You are absolutely right, my dear" he said, his face turning red. "Well, I have to admit that I sort of over-reacted. It was just that the train was about the only way Marty and I could push up the time machine and get ourselves home. According to Marty, who'd just come from 1955, Buford Tannen was going to shoot me to death by Monday. Therefore, we had to get out of here as soon as possible, and the train was the fastest way to get the DeLorean… the time machine up to 88 miles per hour. That's the speed necessary for travelling through time" he explained, to a puzzled Clara. "It had ran out of gas earlier, the story of which I will tell you, eventually. Anyway, we wanted to push it up with the locomotive. In fact, that was the very reason we were out there on Friday when you were headed towards the ravine, but that is not of the matter right now. So, the train was the only way, so I panicked a bit, and let my mind not run clear. We, Marty and I, therefore hijacked a train – I know, that isn't going to get me into a good position here, but at that time, I still thought I'd be out of the Century within an hour – and we used it to push up the time machine. Again, if I'd thought things through more clearly, I would've somehow found a way to let those people get another train or method of transportation, so that history would run it's normal course, but unfortunately, I was in quite a bit of a hurry at the time." He wiped some sweat off his face, as the whole thing was just starting to fall down on him. "Great Scott, I'm going to get sued… hold responsible for the train wreckage, I mean…"
"You'll be all right, Emmett" Clara said, patting him on his back while finding a way to calm the inventor down. "This sure is one of the golliest things I've ever heard in my life, but I'm sure that we'll get out of it all right. We both managed to survive getting off a train at more than eighty miles per hour which was within a quarter mile range of the deepest ravine of Hill County – we can sure handle Marshall Strickland and his questions about what happened!" She smiled at him, and kissed the scientist on the cheek. Emmett blushed at that showing of affection. He certainly wasn't used to it.
But still, her optimism made him cheer up again, or at least a bit. "You're absolutely right" he said. "Great Scott, I didn't think we'd survive that train crash! Once the red log hit, I was sure we were going to get killed." He sighed. "But, now I'm thinking of it, maybe I should've thought that before as well. The logical probability of us managing to get to the time machine in time,…" he snickered a bit at that double saying of the word 'time', "…was near to zero. We were already a little over seventy miles per hour when we got contact with each other. Assuming that the red log wouldn't have gone off, or would've been delayed, we might've made it to the DeLorean at eighty or something, maybe at seventy-five already, but I was scared to make the jump earlier on, and that was when both machines were only at forty-five, and this was thirty miles faster." He sighed. "Marty made the right choice, slipping us the hoverboard. Now, I survived, and I still have the love of my life to accompany me." He smiled warmly at Clara, who blushed. "I don't think that I would've been happy in 1985 anyway, having no one to hold me company but Marty. It's better this way, even though I would've liked for all three of us to get to the car in time, it might as well be happier for us how it finally ended up turning out. The Old West is my favourite historical era, it has been ever since I started loving cowboys and horse riding when I was just a little boy at age six or seven, and I wouldn't want to risk removing you from the present and taking you to a time you are not familiar with."
At that moment, Marshall Strickland and his men rode up to them. The inventor managed to kick the hoverboard aside and cover it with some grass, before the men arrived and stopped to a halt next to them. Emmett stared at them, a little nervous. "Hi, Marshall" he greeted the man. "How are you doing? Why are you checking this out, today?"
The Marshall frowned. "Because, Emmett, I got a report this morning" he said, voice as dull as always. "Apparently, at approximately eight-ten A. M., the train from Hill Valley to San Francisco was hijacked by two men, one tall and one short. The men overpowered the engineers in the cab, and forced them to stop the train right before the switch track that comes after Coyote Pass. They then took the train and the first wagon with wood blocks, and left the passengers behind. They then rode off in the direction of Shonash Ravine. Since Mr. Eastwood and you were both sleeping at the abandoned silver mine, which is where the spur leads past, just yesterday, as well as the fact that you are here right now, makes me more than a little suspicious about your role in this." He stared directly at the inventor. "Or are you saying that I don't have a reason to doubt you, Emmett? I know that you're a respected blacksmith in town, but that doesn't mean you can be trusted on anything."
"No, I'm not implying that at all" Emmett said, still smiling a little which was more from the exhaustion and the fact that he was safe than from real happiness. "What I am saying, however, is that you first should listen to my story." The Marshall nodded willingly, which gave the inventor the urge to tell said story. "You see, Mr. Eastwood – Clint – and I were indeed here yesterday, as we slept here. This morning, as you most likely have heard from your deputy, we headed uptown, where Clint had a showdown with Buford Tannen. I was already there, having had some trouble with Clara here the night before, and Clint was trying to persuade me to leave. As you most likely have heard, Buford arrived, and Clint, who had hoped not to have to do that showdown, had to do it after all. He managed to get out of it quite well – he knocked out Buford Tannen with several punches in the face, after he had taken away Buford's ability to shoot him by wearing a stove door as bullet protection – and we rode out towards the Coyote Pass, as we were late for the train, where we wanted to leave Hill Valley on. It was too dangerous to stay, even with Buford Tannen arrested, and we didn't want to waste a train ticket and wait when we could always try to board the train by the pass. When we were almost there, though, we saw the wagons standing still, and with the train itself in sight in the distance, and we realized that, most likely, the train had been stolen by someone. We went after them, as Clint told me we shouldn't just let this happen, and I agreed. So, we managed to chase after the train, and get on. There, we discovered that the men had also kidnapped Miss Clayton here, and she screamed to us to rescue her. Relieved that she was all right, and wanted to think over our relationship, I went to help her while Clint tried to beat up the robbers. Finally, I succeeded untying her, and luckily, one of the horses, which had run ahead, was there, so we managed to jump onto it just intact, lucky to have stayed alive. However, Clint went on to fight, as did the robbers, not realizing that the train was headed towards the ravine. I tried to chase after them, but it was too late. My horse didn't go faster than 30, while the train was already at 60. Therefore, the train fell into the ravine, the robbers and Clint in the end finally realizing what was going on, but by then, they couldn't save themselves anymore. The train crashed, and Clint died." Doc managed to fake a few tears easily, and he surprised himself with the fact that the tears were actually for real, and that he was sort of crying, now. Not as much from the 'fact' that Clint had gone into the ravine, as well as from the fact that Marty, his friend was most likely gone forever into the future. After all, the possibility of catching up with the teenager in 1985 was very small – Great Scott, 165…166 wasn't an age one would reach easily, not even with two or three rejuvenations! Most likely, he would never see his friend again – unless Marty managed to go back in time before the train hit. But that chance was very small. He'd have to be satisfied with the fact that he had Clara. Things could've been better, but now, he was happy with his new girlfriend, the only true love of his long, exhausting life. He smiled at her, and kissed her for a short moment, then blushed. "Sorry" he excused himself to the Marshall and his assistants. "Was that enough information, or is there anything else you need to know that I can provide to you?"
"No thank you, not at the moment" the Marshall said. "I think I know enough for now. I'm sorry about your friend, Mr. Brown, Miss Clayton. I hope you'll recover from this terrible loss, soon." He frowned at Emmett for a moment. "I'm going to need you for more information soon, Emmett. You're not quite done with this trial yet. With the robbers gone, you do remain our main suspect." He then turned to his assistants. "All right, let's go. We got a matter to investigate." The entire crew of the Hill Valley 'police' rode off quickly, Emmett watching behind them as the sand blew high up as they passed, then finally settled down on the ground again, as an indicator that told them that Marshall Strickland and his helpers were out of sight, and headed back to Hill Valley. Maybe, he should do just that. He would, if there wasn't the feeling that Clint – boy, it felt a bit strange to call his friend 'Marty' again after the speech he had given, in which he'd had to call the boy Clint all the time in order to avoid suspicion – might as well show up in the time machine to rescue him. Granted, as he'd just admitted to himself, that chance was very small, but he kept hoping. As long as there was the possibility that Marty would catch up to him, he shouldn't panic.
The inventor looked at his wristwatch, as in a way to check the time. He saw that it was about 8:40, now. Great Scott, had it just been little less than an hour when Marty had first showed up at the Palace Saloon? It seemed much, much longer. Well, that was what the human mind could do to you. He smiled faintly, then looked at Clara, depressed from the undeniable fact that if Marty would arrive, he'd already done it. Maybe that was just it – the kid had just arrived from another direction, and would come to visit them in the day. He therefore could just relax, knowing that, if anything, Marty should come to him, and not the opposite around, so that he wouldn't have to wait for the kid to get him, at least. No matter how long it would take Marty to fix the time machine, he knew where the blacksmith shop was. In fact, he could be there right now, and all Emmett had to do was go home and see his friend – even though the inventor figured that he'd better go to the school teacher's cabin first, to calm Clara down a bit – and, after catching up with Marty, then go back to the future with him… and Clara. There was no way he was going to leave Clara behind after all that had happened.
"Shall we go to the town now?" he asked Clara. "I mean – we've been hanging around here for a few minutes now, and I don't know about you, but I'm up to the walk towards Hill Valley. When we're at your cabin, we can speak things over a bit. It'll be a long walk, about a mile or two, maybe two-and-a-half, but it'll be all worth it in the end." He smiled at her.
Clara blushed. "Well, we won't have to walk" she said, surprising the inventor a bit. "I came here on horse – how else did you think I managed to make it here so fast? He was parked in front of your shop, so I think he's one of yours. He should still be wandering in the woods up there. If we can find them, maybe he'll be able to carry both of us all the way to the cabin."
"Clara, you have wonderful ideas" Emmett complimented. "Let's go find my horse." The two of them set off to walk down the tracks, and at the spot Clara had originally climbed on, they started heading into the trees nearby. This way, searching wasn't as easy as in the open, but they had luck, since after a few minutes, they managed to find the horse, who was happily eating grass. "Hey, Archimedes!" the scientist called out, happy. "That's my horse all right. Archimedes, named after the great scientist who discovered the balance between displaced water when a boat goes in it, and the weight of the part of the boat that is under water." He walked over to his horse. "It's all right, Archimedes. It's me. Emmett."
The horse looked at him, and started neighing happily at seeing his master. "It's all right, Archimedes" Doc said, patting the horse's back. "It's all right. Look, it's me – it's Emmett." He turned towards Clara. "Clara, you go sit on him. Do you need any help? He can be a little wild with strangers, sometimes…"
"I'll be fine, Emmett" Clara said, smiling, proving that by jumping on the horse easily. Archimedes stayed calm, even as an impressed Emmett applauded. "Good job" he said. "I didn't know you could do that."
"In the 1880s, you learn that kind of things easily" Clara said. "I take it from your reaction that women in your time don't know how to ride a horse?"
"Most of them don't, no" Emmett nodded, also jumping onto the horse. "Makes me get the feeling that you're special." Clara blushed a bit, as Emmett pulled on the cord that hung around the neck of the animal, therefore starting it to move. The inventor smiled, holding his girlfriend in front of him, as the horse started running towards the school teacher's cabin, exterior Hill Valley.
Today, up until now, had proven to be an exciting day. He'd never thought he'd meet Clara again, not after last night. But here he was, holding Clara and riding through his favourite decade. So what if he was trapped without a time machine hundred years before his own time? He had Clara, and that was all that mattered. And with that conclusion, Emmett Brown gave his girlfriend a kiss. Clara seemed startled, but smiled after a few seconds. That caused Emmett to smile too. Things weren't too bad after all.
When your future lies in the past, you will just have to make the best of it. And Emmett Lathrop Brown, scientist, inventor and blacksmith, was certainly going to do that.