THE BORDER EAGLES

by Swordwriter

Richard Rodgers is a Regular Army officer serving with the U.S. Mounted Rifles, during the war with Mexico. Kate Beckett-de Duarte is an Irish-Mexican widow. They meet in Mexico city during the American occupation. Rick saves Kate and Lanie from attempted robbery and rape. They fall in love but must overcome many obstacles from her family and society. Set mostly in Mexico and early

16. Chapter 16

THE BORDER EAGLES

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

LIVING THE DREAM

EPILOGUE

Flashbacks, Rancho Agua Dulce, 1868-1913

Kate and Rick had a full and successful life. Enjoying the fact that not only were they successful, in fact, wealthy and considered one of the prominent families of not only Los Angeles but all of California. In 1892 James retired from the army and took over management of the rancho.

It was much smaller now, only encompassing ten acres centered on the hacienda. The rest had been sold off or leased out for agricultural use over the years as the valley became more populated. The family money had been well invested in commercial property, cattle, oil and gold.

With Rick now retired, He and Kate spent much of their time traveling, seeing not only most of the country but parts of Europe as well. Kate was especially thrilled with a trip to Ireland to the town where she was born.

Rick was one of the first in Los Angeles to own an automobile.

Kate passed away of natural causes in 1912 at age 89. Rick followed her in death in 1913, three days after his 90th birthday.

In 1878 Robert Rodgers was elected to the city council of Los Angeles. Robert Rodgers Junior joined the law firm in 1880 and a few years later he and Malcolm opened a second office in downtown Los Angeles.

Senator Rhys was not just a senator. He was a shipping magnate, owning a large company with offices and facilities in New York and Boston. He wanted to expand his business to the west coast and did so Opening an office in San Francisco and one in Los Angeles in 1870. Two of his sons worked in the east coast offices. John in New York and Harold in Boston.

San Francisco and Los Angeles 1872-1915.

In a discussion and a process that lasted for six months, Senator Rhys convinced David and Sam into resigning their commissions and taking over the west coast offices, David in San Francisco and Sam in Los Angeles. They worked under the existing managers for two years until they fully understood the business and were ready to take over. They were both very good managers and the businesses flourished. The San Francisco facility handled mostly passenger service while the Los Angeles facility was mostly a freight operation. Kate and Rick were delighted to have their grandchildren close enough to see often, although it was Gerald and Hope far more than Katherine and Frederick.

In 1890 The firm opened a facility in San Diego that handled both freight and a coastal passenger service Gerald and Fred managed that one, Gerald the freight and Fred the passenger line. Katherine and Hope both married well.

. Fort Leavenworth Kansas July 1876

In the aftermath of the battle of the Little Bighorn in June of 1876, there had been a rush to punish the hostiles and destroy their ability to fight. An entire battalion of the Seventh Cavalry had been wiped out although not the whole regiment. Already understrength, it was no severely depleted.

The Army rushed to rebuild the regiment, but a major problem was a shortage of officers experienced with the frontier. James found himself called into the General's office.

"Lieutenant, there is an urgent need for an engineer on General Terry's staff. It is temporary, but carries the brevet rank of captain. Do you want it? You will have to leave, within the week."

"I do, sir, but before I accept it, I want to discuss it with my wife."

"Very well, but get back to be before retreat."

Melinda saw it as a great opportunity and agreed to it, with the proviso that he promised to be as careful as possible as he could be while carrying out his mission.

The mission lasted six months, at the end of which, James had done so well that General Terry saw the brevet withdrawn and James' rank as captain confirmed. He was a captain at twenty-eight when many captains on the frontier army were in their forties. After the campaign, James returned to Fort Leavenworth as post engineer the former engineer forcibly retired.

Fort Leavenworth Kansas, April, 1878.

Proving that twins tended to run in the family, Melinda was delivered of fraternal twins Alexander and Abagail. The couple would go on to have two more children. Leland in 1881 and Frances in 1883 James remained at the fort until 1880 when he was transferred east to Fort Monroe where his father-in-law, now Major General Garnet was commandant.

Rancho Chula Vista, December 1877-March 1878.

Sadly, Don Luis and Elenora passed away within a few months of each other. Don Luis first, at eighty and Elenora at seventy-eight. Vincente hired Raoul away from Rick to run the rancho for him as he was still a senior partner in Duarte and Rodgers. Malcom was a partner and they had hired another young man as a law clerk. In the same year, Lorenzo Carino passed away leaving the rancho to Robert and Claudia, Robert hired a foreman to handle the physical aspects of running the rancho while keeping all legal and monetary aspects firmly in his hands

Fort Monroe Virginia, May1882.

On the tenth anniversary of his commissioning, James was promoted major and named post engineer. James went on to have a successful if not spectacular career, retiring as a colonel. Keeping up the family tradition, Alexander Rodgers followed his father and grandfather in attending West Point, graduating in 1900 as a second lieutenant of artillery. Abagail married on of Alex's classmates. Leland also chose a military career, graduating from Norwich n 1903, commissioned into the cavalry. Frances graduated from Bryn Mawr, became a high school teacher and married a fellow academic.

Rancho Agua Dulce. 1872-1890.

Malcom graduated from Harvard and studied law, clerking for Robert, until he was ready to assume the full duties of an attorney in 1875. That same year, he met Laura Dayton at a church social. Like both his father and his brother he was a handsome man and very charming when he wanted to be. He courted Lura or eight months before he convinced her to marry him. They would have two children. Trace and Clorinda. Trace would follow his father into the practice of law. Clorinda, as was most common for women of the time married a man of her social class.

And now, dear readers this concludes The Border Eagles saga, I hope that you have enjoyed reading it.

Please review.

Swordwriter