Chapter 63 – FootHills Meeting part 1

After Dee had left Jack and Elizabeth, he headed right to the mercantile to get the wires sent. He also sent a second one to his mother, letting her know that they weren't sure when they would be back, but it was going to be longer than planned. Just as Dee was leaving the mercantile, the stagecoach pulled into town. He didn't see his dad, so he headed to the platform to get it. Just as the stagecoach pulled to a stop, Wynn and Abigail also stepped up to the platform. They waited for the driver, he looked at Wynn in his red serge and motioned for him to step up and talk to him. The driver let Wynn know that he was headed to Jamison and then he would return for the man that was headed back to Buxton. He also let Wynn know that the roads were getting better, not as muddy as they had been. Wynn thanked the driver for the info and asked when he would be back. The driver said that he wouldn't be back until late afternoon, it all depended on the roads between there and Jamison. He said he was tasked with delivering some medicine urgently needed out there. Wynn looked around and saw Gabe Montgomery. He asked the driver to wait a moment and called Gabe over. Wynn asked Gabe to wait a moment, he might have an errand for him to run.

Wynn stepped back up to the driver and explained that it would be faster if a messenger took the medicine to Jamison on horseback. The driver hesitated, but then Wynn reminded him that he was a Deputy Commissioner and that he would take full responsibility. The driver handed over the package and the information. He then let Wynn know that he was going to take a break and get the horses watered. Wynn walked over to Gabe and motioned for him to follow him to the Mountie office. Gabe wasn't sure what was going on, but he felt like he was in trouble. He hoped that everything was okay. Once they were inside the jail, Wynn turned to Gabe.

"I know that you are a responsible young man." Wynn said. "I have a very important errand for you to run. Do you know where Jamison is?"

"Yes Sir." Gabe said. "I could ride there in a couple hours. I know a shortcut the wagons can't take. I just need to get a horse, I don't own one myself."

"In that case." Wynn said. "I will walk you over to the livery and let you take my horse. This package needs to get there urgently. It is medicine. This is the address, if you have problems use my name and rank letting them know that I sent you from Hope Valley. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir." Gabe said. "I should let my mother know."

"I will square things with your mother." Wynn said. "This is important and needs to be done right away. I don't want to waste anymore time."

"Thank you, Sir." Gabe said. "But I can use a regular horse."

"I think that most of the horses are gone with the group to Rock Creek." Wynn said. "I know for a fact that mine is there. I have meetings and paperwork to do, so I won't be needing him. It is an excellent horse. He is fast if you let him, but is also smart so trust him."

"Thank you." Gabe said. "I will."

With that, Wynn and Gabe walked over to the livery. Wynn introduced Gabe to his horse, Balder. Wynn helped him get saddled and put the package in the saddlebag. He also let Gabe know that there was food in the saddlebag just in case. He also encouraged Gabe to take the extra canteen. They walked out of the livery together. Before Gabe got up on Balder, he looked at Wynn one last time.

"It is okay." Wynn said. "I trust you. Straight there and straight back. Don't push the horse on the way back, but as far as you feel comfortable you can push him going. He is smart and fast, use it. Be safe."

"Yes, Sir." Gabe said. "I will be careful. I will find you when I get back."

"Off you go." Wynn said.

He watched Gabe climb on the back of Balder. Wynn let go of the halter and Balder took off, he was in a mood for a run. Gabe didn't miss a beat and was able to reign him in. Wynn stood there for a moment until he saw Gabe disappear around the bend. Just as Wynn was headed back to the mayor's office to meet with the FootHills rep that had arrived on the stagecoach, he saw Cat Montgomery.

"Cat." Wynn called out. "If you are looking for Gabe, I sent him on a messenger run. The stage driver had a package that needed to get Jamison and I know the roads are still rough heading that way. Gabe said he knew a short cut and besides it is faster on horseback anyway. I let him take my horse. Don't be mad at him, I told him that I would talk to you."

"It is okay." Cat said. "Normally, I would be mad the way I saw him take off out of town, but you are right it is faster to Jamison on horseback. Kindly remind him he has homework when he gets home."

"I didn't know that Elizabeth had restarted class." Wynn said.

"She hasn't." Cat said. "She did assign a week's worth of homework before letting them go last week. She wasn't sure how things were going to go, but it was better that the children at least didn't fall too far behind."

"Good plan." Wynn said. "Yes, I will remind him. He should be back by supper."

"Oh, well before that." Cat said. "Gabe can make it to Jamison on horseback in just under two hours if the weather is good, even with the high water. He has never shown me this shortcut, but I have heard a few of the other men talk about it. It was something that his father had shown him. Normally Jamison is about four and half hours or more with the wagon."

"Good to know." Wynn said. "Although, I think he might beat that today. My horse has a little bit of get up and go in him and looked to be in the mood to run. I don't usually let him run all out, but I think Gabe just might to see how fast the horse can go since he seemed to be in the mood to run."

"Let me guess." Cat said. "Part thoroughbred?"

"Yes." Wynn said.

"Well, in that case." Cat said. "I suspect that Gabe will be back in a few hours. Just send him home please."

"I will." Wynn said. "Now if you excuse me. I have to get to a meeting."

Cat continued on her way to the mercantile and Wynn headed to Abigail's office to meet with the rep from FootHills. Wynn was glad that Dee and Abigail had been there to greet the man. He knocked on the door and then entered.

"Sorry." Wynn said. "I had to get one of the boys to go on a messenger run to Jamison. It was an urgent delivery and I knew that it was faster on horseback."

"No problem." Dee said. "I assume he took your horse."

Wynn nodded and Dee let out a little laugh. Abigail looked at him, Dee just shook his head.

"Dad's horse is part thoroughbred." Dee said. "I am sure whichever boy is going to have fun running him."

"Well, I sent Gabe Montgomery." Wynn said.

"Oh boy." Abigail said. "I hope you know what you are doing. Gabe is good with horses, but also likes the run."

Wynn just looked at Abigail and shrugged his shoulders. She in turn shook her head at him.

"Now let's get down to business." Wynn said. "I am sorry, I am Wynn Delaney Sr, Deputy Commissioner for the Royal Northwest Mounted Police."

Wynn walked over and extended his hand to the man sitting there.

"Anders Yeager,." He said. "Owner of FootHills Mining Company, but you can call me Andy."

"Nice to meet you Andy." Wynn said. "You can call me Wynn. I wasn't expecting the owner."

"That is fine." Andy said. "I like to head out to check out the mines from time to time personally. I was on my way to Union City and Buxton, then on to Rock Creek when I got word about Silverton. Now they tell me there has also been a mudslide at Rock Creek. I also didn't know that there was a full-time Mountie assigned here, much less a command officer."

"Yes." Wynn said. "I arrived because a Mountie in my command was injured while trying to rescue a child from the Silverton settlement. Corporal Thornton is assigned here full-time and also oversaw the Silverton settlement. It was at his urging that a disaster plan was formed and supplies were brought in. Right now, we are doing what we can. There is still much that needs to be done. We were able to dispatch other Mounties and some men from town to help rescue at Rock Creek. They are due back anytime.

I will be here as long as I am needed, or until things can be worked out and I am confident that Corporal Thornton will fully recover. I have full confidence in his ability and as soon as he is well enough to return to duty, he will."

"What do you know?" Andy asked.

"Let's start with Silverton." Wynn said. "Dee, you have the list?"

"Yes, Sir." Dee said, shuffling some paperwork. "Here – twenty-one injured and two dead, all have been displaced from the Silverton settlement. There are five severely injured men. The settlement was completely destroyed. A total of forty-four people including the two deceased and eight children were all brought here. Everyone was brought here by order of Corporal Thornton and it was Abigail and a couple other women who were able to evacuate the settlement since the men were still up at the mine. One of the men had ridden back to let them know how many injured to expect and when. It was when he was riding back that he saw the log jam. He let the women know, then returned to the mine to let Corporal Thornton and the other men know about the log jam, as well as the women's plan to evacuate the settlement.

Corporal Thornton arrived at the settlement as they were loading the wagons and was advised that a child was missing. He ordered Abigail and the other women to get the settlers back to Hope Valley and he would look for the child. From what we understand, he went looking for the child and just as he found her by the creek, the log jam broke and washed him downstream after he had been thrown from his horse. A hunter in the area saw the child walking alone along the trail, he picked her up and brought her back here, not knowing what happened. She wouldn't talk to him, but figured that Mounties could help or she belonged to someone in town.

Only when asked by Mrs Thornton if she had seen Mountie Jack, the child informed them that he had been taken away by the water. Knowing that he had been looking for the child near the river and that there had been a log jam, they quickly pieced together what happened. Many townsfolk available at the moment, including Corporal Thornton's wife lead the rescue effort. After being found, alive but unconscious, Corporal Thornton was brought back here and is being treated for exposure and possible pneumonia, as well as several cuts and bruises.

That is basically what we know about what happened at Silverton. If you want more specific details, I could have a couple of the men that were there talk to you. I personally have talked to Bill Avery, local sheriff and retired RNWMP and he has written up a report as well as local businessman, Leeland Coulter. What I have relayed to you is a summary from those reports.

Normally, Corporal Thornton would have written up the report for headquarters and the Bureau of Mines, but with him injured, I felt that it was important that what happened get on paper before too long. Bill Avery informed me that he hadn't personally been up to the mine as part of the rescue, but wrote up about what happened here in town as well as the rescue of Corporal Thornton. That was why I asked Mr Coulter to write a report as well since he had been tasked with getting the men safely down from the mine and to town by Corporal Thornton as he was heading to the settlement."

Wynn took a moment to let everyone digest what had been said. All, except Andy basically knew what happened, but to actually hear it out loud was another thing.

"Thank you, Dee." Wynn said. "I agree with him about the reports. I would be glad to get a couple first hand accounts for you. You are free to talk to any of the men that you wish. I can get you a list of who responded to the mine. From my understanding, it was most of the men in town. As soon as he is able, I will also get a report from Corporal Thornton. I might even have the women write up reports. I think the more that we know about what happened, the better it will be for all. I also think that it will be important to learn from what happened. Do you have any questions? We will try to answer as best as we can."

"Who died?" Andy asked. "Also, thank you for all that you have done. If it is possible, I would like to see those reports and also talk to the men and women that helped. I think that the Bureau of Mines is going to want a detailed report of what happened. I agree that the more information we have the better. Silverton is a fairly new mine for me, but I understand that there were safety concerns in the past. I did my best to address those when I bought the mine."

"Here let me see." Dee said. "Nathan Tucker died at the mine according to Pastor Frank Hogan who was with him at the time of death and Timothy Albertson succumbed to his injuries after arriving back here in Hope Valley. Both men have been laid to rest at the cemetery here near town. I will also personally talk to everyone that either responded to the mine or the settlement and get what they saw on paper."

"Thank you, Dee." Wynn said. "Feel free to have Bill and Abigail here help you. I also think that it would be good to get a report from Faith Carter, the nurse here in Hope Valley."

"Will do." Dee said. "I already asked her for a general list of injuries. If you want something more, please let her know."

"Anything that I can do to help?" Abigail said. "It was a town effort, but I will talk to key people that were put in charge of specific areas and have them write a report as well. Most of the men and women around here are familiar with the Bureau of Mines and will do what they can to help with any investigation."

"Thank you, Abigail." Wynn said. "Andy, any other questions?"

"What do you know about Rock Creek?" Andy asked.

"Let me see." Wynn said, reaching for a message. "Last we heard, sixteen injured, five dead and apparently a flash flood ripped through the settlement and they have only found five or six children. I don't know who is missing or anything else. I am sure we will know more when they get here. I have confidence in the men that responded to Rock Creek. I am sure that Bill Avery will let us know what he can when he has a chance. I do know that he will make it a priority to make sure that everyone is accounted for at both the mine and the settlement. Along with the other Mounties that responded, they will be able to render aid and get the injured ready to be brought back here."

"Andy." Abigail said. "I know that this is a lot to take in. Hope Valley had a mine accident here just over a year ago. Forty-seven men died, including my husband and son. That was part of the reason that Constable Thornton made the plan that if something were to happen at either mine or settlement we would be ready to render aid. Jack was worried about the river and the more he looked into things, he realized that one or both mines could be at risk of a mudslide. He was also concerned about the Silverton settlement with it being so close to the river. Our town has done what it could to help the Silverton settlement even before the flood. Pastor Frank had been going out there regularly since Christmas and was transporting supplies for the families and supplementing them as he could with some grant money that he secured.

We are doing what we can, but many of the men want to get back to work and are also worried about getting paid. Hope Valley doesn't expect payment for the help, much of the supplies have been donated by a generous businessman back east. I think that the men and families are more worried about losing their land that they had been on. We all understand that this was a different type of disaster. Yet at the same time, I want to make sure that the families are taken care of and that they are able to return to work for you if they choose."

"Did this town used to be called Coal Valley?" Andy asked.

"Yes." Abigail said. "The mine was closed after Pacific Northwest Mining was found to have been negligent and had cut corners on safety that resulted in the mine accident."

"I had wanted to buy the mine here." Andy said. "I just refused to deal with Henry Gowen. I knew the man was a cheat and a snake, but I never thought he would be one to risk the safety of his own men. Last fall, I heard he was mayor and that was why I didn't make an offer on the mine. What happened to him anyway?"

"Henry was killed around Christmas." Wynn said flatly.

"Wow." Andy said. "So who is mayor then. I might be interested in the mine. I just got a huge infusion of capital."

Wynn just looks at Abigail.

"You didn't tell him." Wynn said surprised.

"No, Wynn I didn't." Abigail said. "You know I normally lead with that, but I wanted to play my cards close to the vest this time. Before you ask Andy, I am the mayor and if that infusion of capital came from Rocky Mountain Mining out of Boulder, Colorado, then you are out of luck."

"What did that asshole Mullins do now?" Andy asked. "He was supposed to meet me in Rock Creek."