HOME IN THE MEADOW
CHAPTER FOUR.
On the Oregon Trail, early to mid-summer 1854.
On the morning following the battle and the raid on the Indian's camp, Benoit rode boldly back into the camp. He was carrying a white flag. He had lived for a time with a larger band of the same tribe and knew their language and customs. He raised his right hand.
"Hau. I come to speak with your principal chief and your elders."
One of the older braves hushed the angry muttering of several younger warriors. "Come with me. Your horse and belongings will be safe."
He man led Benoit to a tepee somewhat larger than a family tepee and they entered. A large, dignified, older man rose to his feet. His hair was iron-gray and his forehead deeply lined. He wore a headband with a large moonstone centered on it and three eagle feathers in his hair. He spoke.
"I am called Gray Eagle. I am the principal chief. What do you here?"
"I am called Jacques Benoit I speak for my chief of the wagon train. I ask that you call the elders to council that we may discuss matters of mutual interest."
The chief agreed and called in the elders. They all sat and the chief said.
"The white man wishes to speak to the council will we hear him?"
"Let him speak."
"Thank you. I lived among the people for two summers. I was given the name Black Fox. I know your customs and traditions. So I have to ask how proud hunters and warriors who hunted the bison and the elk to provide for their families, who only made war when an enemy threatened you, could stoop to base banditry and murder and attacking ones who meant you no harm? Also because of these rash actions more than ten tens of warriors are now dead and many more wounded. We raided your camp last night to teach you a lesson and to ensure that you do not have enough warriors to attack innocent people again. It is even worse that the trail does not encroach on your hunting grounds.
If the people had approached us honorably to trade, as has been done before we have many good things to trade."
"But you killed many warriors when we first came to you."
"Yes, we did, after one of yours killed our wagon chief."
"We had to avenge our dead warriors."
"And what did that get you? Only more dead warriors, while we only suffered two dead and five wounded, all of whom will recover.
Greed and foolishness caused there to be grief in many lodges, for many moons to come."
The chief nodded.
"We were led astray, as you say, by greed and the false promises of three white men who lived among us as brothers."
"Do any of these yet live?"
"One, he is wounded."
"Turn him over to me and I will see him punished for his lies."
"What will you do with him?"
"He will be tried by us and hung as a renegade."
"Bring your wagon chief to us and we will smoke the pipe of peace, together."
"We will do so, but we will also bring two tens of our fighting men with us to ensure that no hot-headed warriors try something stupid."
"It will be so. Go and get your wagon chief and your warriors."
Benoit returned to the wagon train and told Rick the results of the meeting. Benoit said.
"Indians are impressed by finery. The chief and his councilors will dress up in their finest regalia. Do you have anything nice and flashy? The Indians won't be impressed by your formal suit. They find it dull."
"I swear I never would have thought of wearing it again, but I have my old dress uniform packed away, including the sword belt and saber."
"Get it out and put it on. The Indians will be very impressed by those fancy gold epaulettes."
"Better bring some trade goods as gifts. A few knives, some mirrors, a pot or two and the like."
"Very well. Go see Roy and make the choices. Don't tak too much as I still have to sell to our people."
Rick went to his wagon and opened a trunk and got out the uniform.
Rick took a quick sponge bath, shaved, trimmed his moustache, and dressed. He checked himself in Kate's large mirror. He was proud that he could still fit into his uniform. The dark blue tailcoat with yellow turn backs, The fringed gold epaulettes and gold lace trim. The sky-blue trousers with double yellow stripes on the legs. A tall black shako with a gold six-pointed star. Black boots, black sword belt with a gold buckle.
To top it off, the M1840 Dragoon officers saber. It wasn't all finery, however. He added the holstered Navy Colt to the sword belt and put the two Dragoon Colts into the pommel holsters and the Sharps carbine into its' saddle scabbard. Kate grinned and said.
"You look so handsome in that uniform. Hurry back as son as you can. I have a feeling that it will be a very warm night."
Rick mounted and led his twenty volunteers out of the camp, Benoit, Esposito and Demming among them. They reached the Indian's camp and entered without incident. He was greeted by the chief and the went into the council lodge.
"Welcome to our camp. How are you called?"
"I am Captain Richard Rodgers. I was a war chief of "pony soldiers" but now am chief of the wagon train." Benoit translated for him.
"Among us you will be called War Eagle. We were foolish and greedy. We did not behave honorably. That caused much grief among our lodges. We are sorry and now wish only peace with the wagon people.
"That is well, Gray Eagle. Let there be peace between our peoples. As a gesture of goodwill, we will return five muskets captured from you warriors on the condition that they may only be used in hunting or defense from your enemies."
"Let it be so. Let us smoke together and exchange gifts. They smoked the peace pipe, they exchanged gifts. Benoit had found a very fancy large Bowie knife as a gift for Gray Eagle, a pot and mirror for his wife and rest distributed among the elders. In response, Rick was given a buffalo robe, beautifully beaded at the shoulders and cuffs, a dress of white doeskin for Kate, several furs and beaver pelts and two complete deer hides tanned and bleached white. The chief explained.
"We do not have a coat big enough for you, so we give you these hides so that your woman can make one for you." After the presents were exchanged, Benoit informed Rick that they were expected to share a meal with the Indians, which turned into a mini feast, with the Indians providing the best they had. Rick later said that he felt a little awkward about eating so much badly needed food.
Benoit said.
"To them, a little bit of hunger is a lot better than failing in hospitality with the resultant wounded pride." Rick and his men bid farewell to the Indians and returned to the wagon train.
Kate was waiting when Rick dismounted. She spoke.
"Stay in that uniform until tonight, my Darling. I want to give my returning warrior a warm welcome home." The children spent the night with grandmother and grandfather Beckett while did indeed welcome him three times.
The following morning, it was time to deal with the renegade. He was brought out wearing buckskin trousers and an old woolen shirt, his hands bound behind his back, a dirty bandage around his head, confining his greasy red hair. The wagon council was assembled, with Jim Beckett acting as an advisor. Rick opened the trial.
"What is your name?
"Red Bear." (He was a burly man)
"Your real name."
"That's the name I answer to."
"Very well Red Bear, you participated in an attack on our wagon train. Do you deny this?"
The man spit. "Hell no. You people mistreated me all my life, just because I took things I needed to live and put me in jail. So, when I got out, I joined some mountain men, but they kicked me out with just my rifle and a week's grub. The Indians took me in and let me live with them. I hate you all."
"So, you admit to being a thief and a renegade. You stand convicted by your own words. What is the verdict of the council?"
The men put their heads together for about fifteen minutes then one man that they had chosen as their spokesman said.
"Guilty. Hang him."
Red Bear was taken outside the camp, his arms as well as his hands bound. A rope was tossed over the limb of a sturdy oak and Red Bear placed on a horse, the noose tight around his neck.
Rick said. "Any Last words?"
"Yeah, Go to Hell."
A hard slap to the horse's rump, left Red Bear swinging in the breeze. He was cut down and buried in an unmarked grave, with no rocks covering it. He was a thief, a liar and had turned on his own people. Let the scavengers do their thing.
Rick came back to the wagon and poured a large glass of whisky.
"God, I hate having to do that. It leaves a foul taste in my mouth."
"I know, my Darling, I know. You are a good man who had to do a distasteful thing for the safety of this and other trains.
Apparently, the Various tribes had a grapevine that said leave this wagon train strictly alone unless they wanted to approach peacefully to trade. Among the tools, pots, pans, and clothes that Rick had stocked up to trade with the people of the train, he'd stalked in a lot of items to trade with the Indians. A couple of plain serviceable Bowie knives, but mostly everyday working knives and a few kitchen knives, small pots and pans, mirrors, large steel needles, heavy duty thread, a bolt of brightly printed calico cloth some brightly colored glass beads and a few other sundry items.
About two weeks after the battle, as the train stopped for the noon rest, they were approached by a large family of Indians wanting to trade. The group consisted of an old man, an old woman, three adult men, four women, two teen-age boys, three pre-teen girls and one absolutely stunning girl that looked to be fourteen or fifteen. One of the adult men said.
"I speak good English. We want trade. Rick and Benoit walked over to them.
"You want to trade?"
"Yes. Heard you have things to trade."
"We do. What do you want and what do you have to trade?"
"We want food, hunting been bad. We have good buffalo skin, two beaver pelts, a fine pony and girl." He said pointing to the teen-age beauty,
"She good cook, does what told, make good wife. Life is hard, cannot feed her. She not our child."
"I already have a wife and we do not buy people." The Indian shrugged.
"You not buy her, we leave behind. She die."
Kate had heard Rick going out, so she followed, overheard, and pulled Rick aside.
"Do you think they would really abandon her?"
"Yes, they would, or sell her to someone like McGuire."
"You cannot let either one happen. Buy her, and we will free her, quietly, later, letting McGuire think she belongs to us." Rick quietly agreed.
"Very well, we will trade, let us talk. As they sat, Kate put large bowls of beef stew in front of them as well as hunks of bread as well as mugs of beer. (Sorensen had two kegs in his wagon) She then went about organizing enough food to give the Indian family one decent meal. Enough families contributed so that the Indians got a good meal, without anyone doing without lunch.
"What is it you need and want?"
"We want salt beef, flour, corn meal, steel knives and cooking pot and fry pan. Want to sell girl. The rest we trade." Rick had no problem with the food supplies, as he had all the supplies from Sorensen's wagon, also his large skillet and a two-quart pot so no supplies were coming out of his own supplies except the knives, and he had a large number of those. The deal was made. One hogshead of salt beef, fifty pounds of flour, a twenty-five-pound sack of corn meal, the pot and pan, five knives, a couple of mirrors, a small sack of beads, some needles and thread and a few yards of calico cloth. It was all the Indians were able to carry. The salt beef was loaded on one travois, the flour and corn meal on another and the rest distributed among the members of the group. Then the dickering began about the girl. The Indian said that the girl had the value of five horses. Rick countered with two. They settled on three. He asked Black Elk what he considered a horse worth. Black Elk said twenty dollars. Rick countered with ten. They settled on fifteen.
Rick paid forty-five dollars in silver for the girl. The deals made, the Indian's rode off. Rick took the girl over to Kate. "Do you speak English?"
"Small English, much French." Kate was delighted.
"I speak French." Kate and the girl began to talk in French.
"Oh, thank you, thank you for buying me. Black Elk would have left me to starve if he could not sell or trade me. As it is, I have not had a good meal in ten days. I will be a very obedient slave to you."
"What is your name?"
"Vivienne. My Papa was a French trader and my mother a Cree. My Papa taught me French as he was a schoolteacher in his youth. He taught me French, taught me to read and write and my numbers. My Maman died when I had four years. My Papa and I came to live with the people five years ago. Papa died last year, and Black Elk took me for his slave."
"We do not keep slaves. Kate said. We bought you to keep you from being abandoned and safe from a bad man on this train who would make you his slave and abuse you. You are free, but to keep you safe you must pretend to be our slave. We will pay you one dollar per day. You will pay my husband back what he spent to buy you. Does that seem fair to you?"
"Truly, I am not a slave?"
'Truly. You are a free young woman. If you want to work for us, you will live with us and help with cooking, cleaning and help watch the children. We will provide food, clothes and a safe, warm place to sleep."
"If I am free, can I become a second wife?"
"No, among our people, a man, even a great chief can only have one wife."
"How does one wife handle all that is needed?"
"She just works hard. If her husband has a lot of money, she hires help. That is what I am doing with you. Do you want to work for me?"
"Oh yes! Very much."
"Do you know what a contract is?"
"Yes, my papa taught me many things. A contract is an agreement written on paper."
"Yes. My father is a lawyer. A man of laws. He will write a contract and I will translate it into French. It will be a simple contract saying what we will pay and provide and what your duties will be. Then if you think it is fair you will sign it. If not we bargain until we are both satisfied. Do you think it fair that you pay my husband back?"
"If I am free, yes, it is very fair. If you are providing all I need, what do I need money for?"
Kate said.
"I will also teach you English, both spoken and written. Since you already read and write French it will not be hard. First, we shall get you bathed, and into clean clothes. While we are doing that, my father will write the contract."
The girl was slender so one of Kate's dresses would fit her, Kate chose a very high-quality dress that Josh had bought just before they left New York. It was chocolate brown, that Kate didn't like, but would suit Vivienne's coloring very well. She also got out one pair of drawers and a petticoat. Unfortunately, her shoe size was half a size larger than Kate's, so moccasins would have to do for now. Kate would ask around the train to see if any woman had an extra pair of shoes to sell. As it happened, she didn't have to ask very far. It turned out that Lanie had a pair that would fit the girl. She had them as a gift, but they were the wrong size and she was happy to sell them to Kate. They fit Vivienne a little loosely, but some rolled up cloth in the toe fixed that. It took Vivienne a few days to get used to wearing shoes after the soft ease of moccasins.
The train was getting ready to leave again, so the bath would have to wait for the evening meal. That evening, Kate and Lanie set up a canvas screen, got out the washtub, and drew water from a stream. They heated the water and Kate bathed Vivienne and washed her hair. Surprisingly, she was lice-free. Kate instructed her on the use of drawers in lieu of a breechclout and the use of petticoats.
While Kate was bathing and instructing Vivienne, Lanie and Johanna prepared the evening meal which included fried ham slices and potatoes, reconstituted peas, and dried apple tarts with cream, coffee for the adults and milk for the children. There were several milk-cows with the train, so fresh milk and cream were no problem.
After supper, Jim Beckett wrote out a simple contract and Kate wrote it out in French telling Vivienne that she needed a last name to put on the contract and did she remember hers?
Vivienne said that she wasn't sure, because her father had mentioned a couple and she didn't like the sound of either one.
Kate said that many people came out west for a fresh start and she could choose any name she liked. Vivienne then said.
"I want to be Vivienne Morningstar." Kate said.
"That is a very pretty name." And that is what was written on the contract.
Rick realized that Vivienne couldn't sleep in his, Beckett's or Roy's wagon so he had Sorensen's wagon moved in between his and the Beckett's wagon and hurriedly fixed up for the girl's use.
Kate realized that Vivienne would need more than one dress and went around to the wagons with teen-age daughters and asked if any of them had spare dresses that they would be willing to part with for cash or trade goods. She was able to acquire two everyday dresses and one nice one. All would fit with just a little alteration.
Ten days later, McGuire came over to Rick at noon break.
"Hey Rodgers, I want to buy the Injun squaw from you. I will give you fifty dollars in gold for her."
Rick glared at him. "First of all, if you talk to me, you call me Captain Rodgers. Secondly, she is not for sale and even if she were, I would never sell her to you. Third, your wagon is towards the back of the train, so if I see you, one of your sons or your friends, within twenty-five feet of any of my personal or family wagons I will thrash you or them. to a fare thee well. If it's after dark, I will shoot to kill. You have been warned in public."
"You cannot talk to me like that!"
"I just did. What are you going to do about it?"
"You just watch your back. Me and the boys will get you!"
"That is a clear threat. Made where others could hear you. As soon as we reach the nearest fort or settlement, you are off the train. In the meantime, I will be armed constantly as will my people. If you approach me in any way, you or any of your filthy family or friends do, you or they will be shot."
Muttering under his breath, McGuire scuttled away.
A few days later, Abraham Wheeler came up to Rick just after supper.
"May I speak with you, Captain?"
"Surely Abraham. What is this about?"
"Last night I was out for a walk, and I heard your name in an angry tone by McGuire. He and his sons and cousins were all drinking and sitting around their campfire. They were all staring into the fire, so I did not think they would notice me, so I crept a little closer so that I could hear what they were saying. They said that in three days it would be a moonless night.
They would creep in and kidnap the Indian girl and leave money so you could not claim that she was stolen. They also said that if you tried to stop them, they would "fix' you."
"Thank you, Abraham, you have done me a great service. I shall not forget it."
"If there is trouble, I would like to stand with you. There are seven of them."
"I would be honored, but that is not a decision I can make. Go talk to your father."
About half an hour later, Christopher Wheeler came to talk with Rick.
"Abraham told me about the upcoming trouble. Both he and I will stand with you."
"You do understand that it might come to shooting?"
"Yes, we understand."
"Very well. We meet tomorrow night to plan."
The following night, the meeting was held. Rick chaired the meeting. The others were: The Wheelers father and son, Jim Beckett, Benoit, Demming, Esposito, Roy and Joe Montgomery Kate and Johanna.
Rick said.
" The way I see it, there are nine armed men in our group opposed to their seven. I am hoping to diffuse the situation by talking but be ready to shoot on a moment's notice. Jim, I want you to hang back with the women. Kate, I want you Johanna and Vivienne to stay out of sight in our wagon. Before you do that, I want Vivienne to leave the lantern on in her wagon and pretend to undress, then blow out the lantern and get to our wagon. The rest of the men will spread out around the wagons and under cover.
I will be in Vivienne's wagon. When the McGuires approach I will challenge them. On the first word of my challenge, all of you cock your weapons and sing out "Ready!" Understand. I hope that shooting can be avoided, but if it becomes necessary, do not hesitate. Any questions?"
There were a few, but it was pretty much cut and dried.
To cover for the meeting, in case they were being observed, the Wheeler women brought dishes of beans with bacon and a big meal was prepared and it looked like it was just a family and friends supper which made the meeting appear to be just the usual after dinner talk.
Two days passed and the time for action was at hand. A piece of equipment that fit well with Rick's plans had been found among Sorensen's gear. It was a Bullseye lantern, a lantern that projected an intense light through a special lens. It would serve to blind McGuire, while keeping Rick in shadow.
As Rick got ready, he belted on his .44's as well as setting the 12-gauge shotgun by his side. After a late supper, Rick sneaked into Vivienne's (Ex Sorensen's) wagon and lay down out of sight, his weapons at hand. Vivienne entered the wagon, lit a lantern, and began removing her dress, then blew out the lantern. She quickly redressed and exited the wagon, quickly sneaking into Rick's wagon. Rick's men took their places.
Sure enough, about half an hour, Rick could hear footsteps and whispering. Rick lit the bullseye lantern. He drew one of his .44s and stepped down out of the wagon, swung up the lantern and caught a shocked McGuire square in the center of the beam.
"Halt right there, McGuire and drop your weapons," At his first words, his men all cocked their weapons and sang out "Ready."
McGuire was venal, greedy and a bully, but he wasn't stupid. He immediately dropped his large Pepperbox pistol and a Bowie knife.
It would have ended there, if not for one of McGuire's drunken, stupid cousins. He slurred out.
"Damn ya, Rodgers I'm gonna poke that Injun slut an' ya ain't gonna stop me." He fired a shot at Rick, but the ball went high and wide.
Two rifles roared and Jonesy fell, dropping his musket, dead just moments later. After that there was a fusillade of rile fire and three more McGuire's men went down. One of his sons, another cousin, and a nephew. McGuire dove to the ground. The other two sons dropped their guns, fell to their knees, and screamed. "Don't shoot." Mc Guire groveled.
"Please don't kill me."
"On your feet, all of you. Chris, check the causalities." The cousin and the nephew were dead, the son badly wounded. He would lose his left arm, as the bones were shattered, and amputation would be needed to save his life.
"Three dead, the kid will lose the arm."
"McGuire, you filthy whoreson, your stupidity and lack of any morals has caused three needless deaths. You should have listened when I refused your offer. I wish I could hang you for that, but these idiots went along with you of their own free will. All three of you place your hands behind your back. Benoit, get some rope and bind them. Demming, collect their weapons."
By now, the shooting had awakened the whole train. People were shouting questions. In a booming voice, Rick shouted.
"All of you be quiet and call the council together. There is no cause to be alarmed, we are not under attack."
The council arrived and Rick addressed them.
"Some of you witnessed McGuire's offer to buy Vivienne and my refusal and my warning what would happen if he approached my wagons by night. He did not listen and tried to steal what he could not buy. I took precautions. Tonight, he tried. And I have eight witnesses that one of his men fired first, trying to kill me." Now, because of this, three people are dead! I leave the decision up to you about what to do."
The council deliberated for half an hour then their spokesman spoke.
"We would like to hang McGuire, but that family has already lost three members already and a fourth who will be useless for a long time and the women folk will need someone to take care of them, so this is what we recommend. First, McGuire must pay the money that he wanted to use to buy the girl as a fine. Thirty to you and twenty to the train's common fund. Second, we search their wagons and confiscate all their weapons until we reach a settlement or fort. There their weapons will be returned and forced to leave the train."
That was done and Rick gave the thirty dollars to Vivienne. She gave it back to pay down her debt.
Fortunately, it was only two weeks later that the wagon train reached what was a small settlement built around a fortified trading post. The walls of the fort were stone about eight feet up. fronted by a sturdy log stockage, cut, and notched to lock together. Entered through two separate gates. It would take a lot more than a roving Indian band or a war party to breach those walls. Inside, a deep well provided all the water they would need.
The McGuire family group lived in three wagons, and as ordered, they left the train. Their weapons were returned except for McGuire's pepperbox, which Rick kept as a souvenir, with McGuire's grudging agreement. The weapons were returned, but, as a precaution, not the ammunition, forcing McGuire to replenish it at the trading post.
Some buying, selling, and trading was done with the trading post. Rick was able to buy some winter wheat seed, bagged corn kernels and a bag of seed potatoes for planting. Kate, Johanna, and Lanie were especially happy to acquire fresh fruit and vegetables from the post's gardens and small orchard. They were also able to buy a few yards of gingham cloth and an entire bundle of heavy blankets. The post's owner was happy to buy several of Rick's knives and a pot or two. Just before leaving, Rick spoke to the owner of the trading post, telling him of the conflict with McGuire and requested that he wait a couple of weeks before selling any ammunition to McGuire or any member of his party. The owner agreed and said that he'd find other ways to make sure that no revenge party could set out. As it was It was another month before a new wagon train arrived at the post.
The owner spoke with the wagon master about what Rick had told him and the wagon master refused to let the McGuire's join his train.
The McGuires were forced to work around the post for their upkeep until the summer of 1855 to join another wagon train.
Mid-summer 1854 to spring 1855
The weeks passed quickly, with the wagon train coming ever nearer their goal. There were problems and mishaps, of course and a few minor skirmishes with Indians, but neither lives nor livestock were lost to the marauders. The wagon train arrived in the Willamette valley, happy to find the thriving city of Portland laid out along the banks of the Willamette River. There were stores to buy what supplies they would need to purchase to augment what they had brought with them to survive their first winter in Oregon.
There the wagon train divided. About twenty families decided to go on to California, the rest settled in the valley. There was plentiful timber for houses plus local berries, Hazelnuts and Pinons (pine nuts) to supplement their diets. Rick and the rest of the train moved up the valley from Portland, where Rick used his surveyor's skills to stake out and claim a six hundred square acre plot of land. Three hundred acres would become the Rodgers-Beckett Farm/ranch and three hundred acres for the town to be built on the site.
The territorial governor was an honest man and eager to bring in settlers throughout the valley so when Rick submitted his claims for the land and set his markers at the established coordinates the governor was quick to acknowledge and approve the claim and pre-approved any reasonable future expansions of the claim. After much discussion among the families, it was decided that they would build a "family" compound of ten acres that would include the houses for Rick and Kate, the Becketts, Roy and Lanie, Joseph, the Ryans, and a cottage for Vivienne. Each house sits on an acre of land. After the houses were built, a separate building was to be built as the ranch headquarters and business office and a large bunkhouse and a cook shed for the ranch hands would be built. Of course, that would occur over the next couple of years.
They would live out of their wagons until the houses were built. A large tent and four cast iron cookstoves were purchased in Portland which would serve as the family cooking and dining facility. Jenny Ryan was invited to join Kate, Johanna, Lanie, and Vivienne as their group meal planning, prepping, and cooking activities, which she happily accepted.
Before any building could commence, wheat, corn and potatoes had to be planted. Once the seeds were in the ground, the building could commence. Rick and Kate's house was the first started. It would be a large log cabin with a stone foundation and a plank floor covering the stone floor. He hired the stone mason to build the foundation and floor and do the same for the Beckett house. The others opted for a split log foundation and plank floors.
Fortunately, there was a quarry, a sawmill, and a gristmill in Portland.
Planks for building, stone for floors and fireplaces and the mill to turn grain into flour.
As most of the wagon train's personnel were farm families, each planned their farms and had Rick survey their claims and present them. Each claim, the Governor approved. Rick was paid for his time, of course. Sometimes in cash, but more often in livestock, produce and labor contracts.
Tired of living out of the wagons, Rick had crude cabins quickly built to serve as temporary homes for the "family" while the main houses were built. Rick and Kate shared a cabin with the Beckett's. The Ryans would share with the Montgomery's and Vivienne said that she would be happy to live in a tent with a plank floor, as she was used to living in a tepee. It would serve until her cottage was built. Rick decided that the cold rainy and snowy winters would be too much for a canvas tent, so, since Vivienne's cottage would be small, he had that built right after the temporary cabins. It would take the stone mason quite some time to cut and fit the stones for the Becketts' and Rodgers' homes foundation and floors if he had to work alone the stone mason was in charge, but he was able to hire a crew in Portland. Men glad to get the work, as hard cash was scarce, since there were more men in Portland than there were jobs. River and field stones were used to build the fireplaces in the cabins. There were three carpenters among Rick's people and a few more in Portland, so Rick was able to hire them to build the main cabin, the two temporaries and the cottage The rest of the people usually gathered four or five families together to build cabins and barns.
So close to the river, the aquifer was relatively close to the surface, so the wells were easily drilled. One between Rick's house and Beckett's and another between Ryan's and Montgomery's places each farm family drilled their own wells.
Since the four households decided to continue their communal cooking, the cook tent was replaced by a cook house and dining facility, located in the exact center of the area between the four houses. It had originally been intended as just an open sided roofed structure, but that soon changed to a full building in its' own right. In addition, each house had its' own stove to use when the weather prevented going outside.
The winter crops were harvested and stored. Thanksgiving was very meaningful that year as the long trek had been successfully completed and a new community was started.
Rodgers' and Beckett's cabins were built to the same style, with Beckett's cabin. The trees were cut down and sawed into logs, then the logs transported to Portland and sawn square, then returned to the building sites. Only the family went to this extent. The family all used redwood logs.
The rest just had the logs sawn flat top and bottom.
The squared base timbers were anchored to the foundations with the rest spiked and cemented together. Roofing beams were fastened to the top main timbers then the planks were covered with cedar shingles. Wooden floors were laid, and the interior walls covered in alternating redwood and oak panels.
Two large fireplaces were built, one at each end of the building. Rick Rodgers and Kevin Ryan built to the same interior plan. The ground floor had a large main room, a kitchen/dining area a large pantry, a mud room just off the front door, which also doubled as a cloak room with pegs inserted in the wall, to hang outerwear, a room for Rick's office, the master bedroom and a second "guest" bedroom. The second story featured a loft divided into two bedrooms for the children and a large storage area. The Beckett's and Montgomery's houses were smaller versions of the same layout, the Becket's having only the two bedrooms on the main floor with a small loft for storage. Mongomery's was the same.
By early spring, all the family's houses were complete, and the two temporary cabins were enlarged and turned into bunkhouses for farm and ranch hands. In that same time a large barn and corrals had also been constructed.
In the same time frame a log town hall and several merchants buildings formed the start of the town of Rodgersville.
TBC.
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