A Dream Unfolding (30 page)

“Not in need right now.
 
We brought several months of the basics with us,” Will said.

“That was right smart of
ya
.”

“What about the military?
 
Are there any outposts nearby?”

“Not much in the way of military.
 
Last we heard General Carleton was sending some men to set up a small fort for the governor’s arrival.
 
Haven’t seen anyone yet.”

As their conversation continued, George, originally from Canada, regaled Will and Ben with tales of his travels with the Walker Party.
 
He was one of the original members of the Walker Party out of California.
 
Back in mid-1861, a group of twenty-five men, under the leadership of Captain Joseph R. Walker, left California.
 
Following the Old Spanish Trail, the party explored and toured mines in California, Colorado, and New Mexico.
 
When the Confederate forces invaded New Mexico, the Walker party stayed near Fort Union for several months.
 
After the General Carleton’s California Column drove the Confederates out of New Mexico, the group spent time with the general.
 
Eventually, they set out from Fort Union to Tucson, then on to the
Hassayampa
River in May of this year.

Once they arrived at Granite Creek, along the headwaters of the
Hassayampa
River, Captain Walker organized a mining district and outlined the process for establishing claims.
 
The agreement was quite detailed, dictating that each man could claim up to one hundred yards on either side of the river.
 
The twenty-five men from the Walker party signed their agreement to abide by the process.
 
George emphasized, yet again, that this agreement kept the miners civilized.

As the hour grew late, Will and Ben took their leave.
 
They found a spot to camp for the night in a clearing a few yards from George’s cabin.
 
Ben fed Jackson and Sheila, then removed the saddles and brushed them down.
 
The two horses snorted in contentment as Will built the fire.
 
The nights in this new territory cooled down quickly after the sun set, requiring a fire for some warmth.
 
On the third strike of the flint, the kindling ignited and rapidly grew to a gentle blaze.

Will shook out his bedroll near the fire.
 
In the distance, the muffled sound of male voices echoed across the clearing.
 
The gurgling of Granite Creek provided a peaceful melody against the crackling of their camp fire.
 
Taking a deep breath, Will savored the cool clean pine fragrant air.

As Will stretched out on his bedding, he looked up at the star filled sky.
 
He remembered the night back in Texas that he stood propped against the corral talking to Julia.
 
He wondered then if the stars would be different in the Arizona Territory.
 
They seemed just as brilliant tonight here in his new home as they had that night.

Rolling onto his side, his mind raced with thoughts and plans and dreams.
 
Tomorrow he would see Mr. Groom and file his claim to that glorious piece of property.
 
He felt humbled that God smiled upon him to let him have such a beautiful new home.
 
It far exceeded any expectation he had.

And the grass—it was everywhere!
 
It was on the rolling hills, under the canopy of tall pines, and sprinkled on lower slopes of the mountains.
 
The grass was an excellent variety well suited for the cattle and other livestock, though the horses still required feed.

The property he chose had plenty of timber for building the bunkhouse, barn, and eventually a cabin for himself.
 
The lake meant a ready supply of fresh water until a drinking well could be dug.
 
If he had the land memorized already, he would have been tempted to start drawing out plans by the light of the fire.
 
Instead, Will tried to shut off his excitement to get some sleep.
 
Morning would be here soon enough.

The next morning, Ben and Will saddled up and wound their way through the forest to Mr. Groom’s claim, following the directions George freely provided.
 
They found the location in less than an hour.
 
As they approached, a man dressed in wool trousers and a cotton shirt rose from his crouched position near the creek.
 
He had a long, nearly waist length, light colored beard and narrow face.
 
His pronounced cheekbones gave him an aged appearance.
 

“Hello!” the man called out with a tell-tale southern accent.

As they dismounted, Will introduced himself and Ben, then explained the purpose of their visit.
 
“Mr. Groom, George
Lount
said you are acting as the land officer for the area.
 
I would like to file intentions to ranch a section northeast of the Granite Creek settlement.”

Studying the man, Will realized he was much younger than he first appeared, somewhere between Ben and Will in age.

“Call me Bob.
 
And yes, what George said is true.
 
Let me gather a few things then we can ride out to the area.”

“If you are busy, we can take care of this later,” Will said, feeling guilty for inconveniencing the miner.

Bob chuckled, a deep sort of grandfatherly chuckle, belying his relatively young age.

“The gold will still be here tomorrow,” Bob Groom said.
 
“Smith!
 
Get your stuff and come on.”

The man named Smith jumped up from the pan he was sluicing and retrieved his gear.
 
Mounting their mules, the two miners followed behind Will and Ben.
 
Taking the path back through Granite Creek, they followed the primitive trail towards the land Will hoped to make
Colter
Ranch.

At the top of the last hill before the valley where Will’s men were waiting, Bob halted his mule and unpacked some sort of instrument.
 
Hadn’t George said there wasn’t much formal around here?
 
Those instruments looked pretty formal to Will.

“I see your herd down there.
 
Where’d you want your property start,
Colter
?” Bob asked.

“Ah, I’m not sure.
 
I know I want the land all the way over to the base of the mountain, including the lake.”

“Well, I’ll start measuring from there.
 
You want a square? Rectangle? Or you want me to map out something.”

Will hadn’t really thought in detail about it, so he let Bob map it out.
 
The man seemed to know what he was doing.
 
When Bob finished surveying the land, Will agreed with the rectangular shape.
 
The mountain provided the far western boundary and one of the short ends of the rectangle.
 
Then the property covered several miles to the east including good grassland, a decent patch of forest, plus the lake.

“What do you want to call it?”
 
Bob asked.

“
Colter
Ranch,” Will beamed.
 
This was his land.
 
This was
Colter
Ranch.

“Alright,” Bob responded, “I’ll write this up and keep it with the other property records until the government is ready to create a land office.”

“Much obliged,” Will said.
 
“Would you and Mr. Smith like to join us for dinner?”

The miners both nodded and followed Will to the valley below, to where his men camped.

“Where are you from,” Will asked as Bob Groom and Van Smith took a seat.

“Originally from Kentucky.
 
But more recently, California,” Bob replied.
 
“Between mining there and other ventures, I spent some time in the legislature.
 
Also, spent time surveying various places.”

That explained why the man had surveying equipment and seemed to know what he was doing.
 
They talked throughout the rest of the meal, telling stories of their travels.
 
Will enjoyed getting to know his new neighbors.
   

As Will wished Groom and Smith farewell following dinner, he stood looking around at his land.
 
This was his new home!
 
Colter
Ranch.
 
A new home for a new life.
 
Breathing deeply, he smiled over at Ben.

“Mighty fine piece of land you picked for yourself.
 
Your pa would be proud,” Ben said, slapping the younger man on the shoulder.
 
“I’ll go tell the men this is our new home and leave you to your planning.”

Will found a spot near the lake.
 
Sitting down, leaning against a tree, he looked out over his land.
 
Digging through his saddle bags, he found a piece of paper and pencil.
 
He started to sketch out where he would put his house, the bunkhouse, and a barn.
 
His first priority was the bunkhouse.
 
He could stay there for the time being—probably through the winter.
 
He knew his father liked to keep some distance between him and his men, but it seemed foolish to Will to build a house for himself at this juncture.

That aside, he couldn’t keep himself from dreaming of what that house would look like.
 
He would place it so the back faced the lake.
 
Maybe he would even put a porch on the back, where he could sit and rock and watch the sunset over the mountains.
 
The space between the house and lake would be a great place for children to play.

Ha!
 
Children.
 
Where had that thought come from?
 
There is not a woman within one hundred miles, and here he was dreaming of family and children.

It’s not that he didn’t want to marry.
 
At twenty-nine, he just never made it a priority.
 
Perhaps, deep down he always knew he would not be at the Star C forever.
 
Of course, he didn’t know Reuben would get the ranch or that his father would pass away so young.
 
He always dreamed of starting his own ranch, even discussed it with his father on more than one occasion.
 
Oddly, the way things turned out, it was as if his father nudged him in that direction with the terms of his will.
 
But, the dream of starting his own ranch and the work it would entail, had it been enough to stop him for looking for a wife?

He shook off such thoughts, though a hint of loneliness took root. Not much sense on dwelling on such things now, especially when there was no possibility of changing the situation anytime soon.
 
Certainly, when the time was right, he would know it and could think on it then.

Tomorrow he would pick which men would be on the crew to build the bunkhouse and then they would get started.
 
Standing, he brushed the bits of grass from his levis and whistled for Jackson to come.
 
Walking in front, he led the horse over to the camp Snake and the others set up a few days ago.

“Congratulations, Boss,” Snake said as Will removed the saddle from his stallion.
 
“I hear this lovely piece of land is all yours.”

“Thanks, Snake.
 
Be sure to feed the boys well.
 
Tomorrow, barring any bad weather, we start on the bunkhouse.”

Snake let out a whelp for joy and continued banging pots and pans around.
 
Within a half hour he presented a tasty supper of beans, biscuits, and beef steak.
 
Each of the cowboys shoved their way to the front of the line with their tin plates.
 
Will waited for his men to be served before holding out his plate.
 
Not that Snake was not a good cook, but he would be thankful when they could get more variety to the meals.

“No more sitting on a horse all day and night!” Jed exclaimed.

“You’re still a cowboy,” Hawk teased, nudging Jed in the arm.
 
“Last I heard, cowboys sit on a horse most days.”

Jed rolled his eyes.
 
“You know what I mean.”

“Don’t think it’ll be easy for awhile yet,” Whitten said dolefully.
 
“Case you haven’t noticed, there
ain’t
no bunkhouse
sittin
’ around
waitin
’ for us.”

“Yeah,” Owens butted in.
 
“Who do you think is
gonna
’ build all that?”

“Might be griping about
strippin
’ one too many logs—longing for that saddle in a few days,” Ben added, with a teasing smile.

“I’ll take what I can
git
.
 
That drive was ‘bout four times as long as any other,” Jed said.
 
“I’ll just be glad to stay in one place for a bit.”

“Me, too,” Hawk agreed.
 
“It’s nice to be home.”