E-Book
E-Book, Englisch, 200 Seiten
Matthews Jayhawkers
1. Auflage 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4835-8518-5
Verlag: BookBaby
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)
E-Book, Englisch, 200 Seiten
ISBN: 978-1-4835-8518-5
Verlag: BookBaby
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)
By the early 1840s the edge of the frontier was Saint Joe, Missouri. Thousands of daring souls made their way west for the chance at a new life. Angus Wade was such a young man. He packed up his family and gambled that he would find his place on the edge of civilization. For the next 40 years the Wades with their persistence and will to succeed would become a part of the story of the west, living through the sagas of wagon trains, Bleeding Kansas, the Civil War and laying the foundation for what America became.
Matthews
Jayhawkers jetzt bestellen!
Autoren/Hrsg.
Weitere Infos & Material
The Pioneer Series
The Jayhawkers
1
Ohio
It’s a cold night in October 1842. Angus Wade is a teamster. He’s driving his wagon back to Cumberland from Bedford, Ohio with a load of flour. As the blowing autumn leaves swirl about him, Angus is deep in thought. His new wife of almost a year, Betsey, will be worried that he is so late. Angus has other worries on his mind though. The young couple is living with Betsey’s parents, Samuel and Elizabeth Collins. Angus can’t allow that to go on much longer. He’s not making enough money hauling freight in Cleveland to support his young, pregnant wife.
They could have stayed with Angus’ parents in Chesterfield. They would have built them a house on the family farm, but Betsey would have had to convert to Quakerism. Neither Angus nor Betsy wanted her to do that. What’s more, Angus would have been expected to be a farmer. A fate worse than death to him. The Quaker life was too restrictive and solemn for Angus. He was naturally outgoing. He liked to talk to strangers. Find out who they were, what they did and where they came from. He wanted to go places and see things.
Angus Wade was 24 years old. He was a stout barrel chested young man with good looks. He was six feet, four inches tall with piercing blue eyes. His hair and long full sideburns were a sandy brown.
It startled Angus’ parents when their son told them he was leaving the Friends Community and marring a Methodist girl. They were startled yes, but not all together surprised. Angus had always been different than his family and community. He would take off every chance he got. He would go to town to mingle with strangers. He talked about faraway places and adventures he wanted to have.
Angus’ parents, Nells and Ana Beth wanted their son to do well in life, even if it was a different kind of a life than they had hoped for. They helped their adventurous son buy the best heavy duty freight wagon and team of four mules possible to assure his success in his worldly pursuits.
Suddenly, there was a loud burst of lightning and thunder, just behind his wagon. It spooked the mules. They took off like the Devil himself was on their tails. It took all of Angus’ skill and strength to get control of his team again a half mile down the road. Now it was raining buckets on him. The last 10 miles of the trip home was cold and very wet. He thought no more of all these things this night.
They could have stayed with Angus’ parents in Chesterfield. They would have built them a house on the family farm, but Betsey would have had to convert to Quakerism. Neither Angus nor Betsy wanted her to do that. What’s more, Angus would have been expected to be a farmer. A fate worse than death to him. The Quaker life was too restrictive and solemn for Angus. He was naturally outgoing. He liked to talk to strangers. Find out who they were, what they did and where they came from. He wanted to go places and see things.
Angus Wade was 24 years old. He was a stout barrel chested young man with good looks. He was six feet, four inches tall with piercing blue eyes. His hair and long full sideburns were a sandy brown.
It startled Angus’ parents when their son told them he was leaving the Friends Community and marring a Methodist girl. They were startled yes, but not all together surprised. Angus had always been different than his family and community. He would take off every chance he got. He would go to town to mingle with strangers. He talked about faraway places and adventures he wanted to have.
Angus’ parents, Nells and Ana Beth wanted their son to do well in life, even if it was a different kind of a life than they had hoped for. They helped their adventurous son buy the best heavy duty freight wagon and team of four mules possible to assure his success in his worldly pursuits.
Suddenly, there was a loud burst of lightning and thunder, just behind his wagon. It spooked the mules. They took off like the Devil himself was on their tails. It took all of Angus’ skill and strength to get control of his team again a half mile down the road. Now it was raining buckets on him. The last 10 miles of the trip home was cold and very wet. He thought no more of all these things this night.
2
The next morning, he awoke with Betsey by his side. His beautiful 20 year old wife was still asleep. She stirred and he gave her a kiss.
“You got in late last night”, she murmured.
“I nearly washed away in that rain storm last night,” Angus complained. “It was raining so hard I could hardly see the road, but I finally made it. I’ve been thinking, I’m not making enough money here for us to ever have a place of our own. Every teamster and muleskinner within 500 miles of Cleveland has come in here in the last fifteen years or so, ever since the Erie Canal was completed. There’s work, but not enough to go around with all those teams vying for the same jobs. When I do get a load, I have to bid it so low, I can’t pay for hay.”
“So, what are thinking of doing?” asked Betsey.
“You know I would never do anything big without your approval dear, but I’ve been hearing a lot about out west. They say, out in Saint Joe, Missouri, business is booming. Folks are selling everything and heading out there for the Oregon Trail. They need supplies of all kinds for that long trek. A lot of freight is being carried in on barges, but once it gets there it still has to be hauled from the docks by wagon.”
Betsey was silent for a long while and then asked, “Isn’t that a long way? That’s another world from here Angus. We have a baby coming in just a few weeks.”
“We would wait until after the baby is born and doing well. Just think about it. I’ll do a lot more investigation and let you know what I find out.” Angus answered thoughtfully.
“I nearly washed away in that rain storm last night,” Angus complained. “It was raining so hard I could hardly see the road, but I finally made it. I’ve been thinking, I’m not making enough money here for us to ever have a place of our own. Every teamster and muleskinner within 500 miles of Cleveland has come in here in the last fifteen years or so, ever since the Erie Canal was completed. There’s work, but not enough to go around with all those teams vying for the same jobs. When I do get a load, I have to bid it so low, I can’t pay for hay.”
“So, what are thinking of doing?” asked Betsey.
“You know I would never do anything big without your approval dear, but I’ve been hearing a lot about out west. They say, out in Saint Joe, Missouri, business is booming. Folks are selling everything and heading out there for the Oregon Trail. They need supplies of all kinds for that long trek. A lot of freight is being carried in on barges, but once it gets there it still has to be hauled from the docks by wagon.”
Betsey was silent for a long while and then asked, “Isn’t that a long way? That’s another world from here Angus. We have a baby coming in just a few weeks.”
“We would wait until after the baby is born and doing well. Just think about it. I’ll do a lot more investigation and let you know what I find out.” Angus answered thoughtfully.
______
Ezera Tatum was lined up with his team waiting for a load off the barges coming into the Cleveland docks from the Erie Canal. He had been there since 4:30 a.m. If he was lucky he could get two loads a day by being there so early. They started offloading the barges at daybreak. Most of the loads were short runs from the docks to local warehouses and stores in Cleveland.
Ezera’s draw and team were old and tired like him. Ezera Tatum, a lean wiry man, had been a teamster for 35 years. He had started out on the docks of New York in the early eighteen hundreds. Back then he was full of the energy and strength that comes with youth. He could work twelve hours a day for weeks at a time with never a day off. He was as healthy and strong as an ox then, but that was a long time ago. Now, Ezera was nearly 60 years old. He and his team were well worn.
Ezera had come west with the building of the Erie Canal a mile at a time. He hauled supplies just ahead of the canal’s construction for eight years until it was completed in 1825. By then, Ezera Tatum was in his mid-40s. He decided to stay in Cleveland and work the docks there. He supposed he was going to die there.
Ezera’s draw and team were old and tired like him. Ezera Tatum, a lean wiry man, had been a teamster for 35 years. He had started out on the docks of New York in the early eighteen hundreds. Back then he was full of the energy and strength that comes with youth. He could work twelve hours a day for weeks at a time with never a day off. He was as healthy and strong as an ox then, but that was a long time ago. Now, Ezera was nearly 60 years old. He and his team were well worn.
Ezera had come west with the building of the Erie Canal a mile at a time. He hauled supplies just ahead of the canal’s construction for eight years until it was completed in 1825. By then, Ezera Tatum was in his mid-40s. He decided to stay in Cleveland and work the docks there. He supposed he was going to die there.
Angus Wade pulled up beside Ezera in the next line. Angus was everything that Ezera had been all those years ago, eager, ambitious, strong and looking for something better. Ezera had told Angus many stories of how the docks of New York had been in his youth, bristling with opportunity.
“You were at the jumpin off place every day when the Erie Canal was being built. The edge of the frontier”, he exclaimed. “There was more work than a man could do and at a good profit too!” The old man fondly remembered.
“Ezera!” Angus called out, “I’ve been thinking about what you’ve been saying. That Cleveland is no longer the place of opportunity, that I should set my sights west, for the new “jumpin off place.”
Ezera piped up, “I’m tellin ya Angus, the place to be right now is Saint Joe Missouri. People are goin out there by the thousands with their wagons to join wagon trains headin for Oregon. Even though they take everything they can think of when they leave the east, by the time they get to Saint Joe, they know they need somethin more. Needles, thread, flour, wagon wheels? Anything and everything! You can be the one that helps get it to them and you’ll get paid handsomely. The law of supply and demand my friend! Hell, if I was twenty years younger, I’d go do it myself. Out west is where the opportunity is!”
“Ezera, I know everything your saying is right, but it’s a big decision. I wouldn’t make the move without Betsey agreeing to it completely. My belief is, a man’s wife is his equal partner in every way. The baby is due any day now. Once it’s born and stabilized, we can make our decision,” Angus replied.
“Well,” Ezera reminded, “you’ll want to be there by the first of May, or wait til next year. The trains all leave by the middle of June.”
“You were at the jumpin off place every day when the Erie Canal was being built. The edge of the frontier”, he exclaimed. “There was more work than a man could do and at a good profit too!” The old man fondly remembered.
“Ezera!” Angus called out, “I’ve been thinking about what you’ve been saying. That Cleveland is no longer the place of opportunity, that I should set my sights west, for the new “jumpin off place.”
Ezera piped up, “I’m tellin ya Angus, the place to be right now is Saint Joe Missouri. People are goin out there by the thousands with their wagons to join wagon trains headin for Oregon. Even though they take everything they can think of when they leave the east, by the time they get to Saint Joe, they know they need somethin more. Needles, thread, flour, wagon wheels? Anything and everything! You can be the one that helps get it to them and you’ll get paid handsomely. The law of supply and demand my friend! Hell, if I was twenty years younger, I’d go do it myself. Out west is where the opportunity is!”
“Ezera, I know everything your saying is right, but it’s a big decision. I wouldn’t make the move without Betsey agreeing to it completely. My belief is, a man’s wife is his equal partner in every way. The baby is due any day now. Once it’s born and stabilized, we can make our decision,” Angus replied.
“Well,” Ezera reminded, “you’ll want to be there by the first of May, or wait til next year. The trains all leave by the middle of June.”
______
Saint Joe, Missouri was indeed a bustling hive of activity, situated on the Missouri River, in the northwestern corner of Missouri. Across the river was what would become Kansas Territory. Saint Joe was now a busy place all the time, but from October until May the activity built and built to a crescendo. The beginning of May the wagon trains started leaving for Oregon with the promise of cheap farmland. There were ads in nearly every newspaper in the east extolling the virtues of Oregon’s climate, fertile land, and plenty of rain. The ads exhorted people to leave the crowded expensive lands of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois for a better life in the northwest. Saint Joe was becoming less a secret everyday with drummers and every sort of merchant coming in. There were already eight blacksmiths, four harness makers and fifteen muleskinners plying their trades in and around Saint Joe and the season was still months away.
______
3
John Wesley Wade was born November 1, 1842. He was born healthy with all his fingers and toes. The baby was named John Wesley in honor of the Quaker/Methodist evangelist. He was the most beautiful thing Angus and Betsey had ever seen. Angus was ecstatic. Betsey looked absolutely angelic with her long chestnut hair flowing over her right shoulder and baby John at her breast. Angus’ heart was bursting with pride and a conviction that he was going to take care of his wife and child well for the rest of his life.
In January Angus decided it was time to talk to Betsey.
Angus started, “It’s time we need to talk about what we are going to do. I believe it’s for the best for our future that we go west to Saint Joe. Everything is overcrowded here. There are over two hundred teamsters in the lineup at the docks every morning. We sometimes don’t all get a load, let alone two loads a day.”
“Everything I hear about Saint Joe from Ezera and others is that business is brisk for everybody there. Now, if you don’t want to leave your parents behind, or if you’re afraid, I will forget about it. I’ll sell my draw and mules and do something else for a living. I can carpenter you know! We are partners and what you want matters!”
Betsey stopped Angus there. “Angus, I’ve been thinking about this ever since the night of the big rain storm. I’ve talked to my father and...
In January Angus decided it was time to talk to Betsey.
Angus started, “It’s time we need to talk about what we are going to do. I believe it’s for the best for our future that we go west to Saint Joe. Everything is overcrowded here. There are over two hundred teamsters in the lineup at the docks every morning. We sometimes don’t all get a load, let alone two loads a day.”
“Everything I hear about Saint Joe from Ezera and others is that business is brisk for everybody there. Now, if you don’t want to leave your parents behind, or if you’re afraid, I will forget about it. I’ll sell my draw and mules and do something else for a living. I can carpenter you know! We are partners and what you want matters!”
Betsey stopped Angus there. “Angus, I’ve been thinking about this ever since the night of the big rain storm. I’ve talked to my father and...
Bitte ändern Sie das Passwort
