A Dream Unfolding (9 page)

As the laughter from the bunkhouse died down and the lights dimmed, Will became aware of the hour.
 
“It is getting late,” he said, leading Julia back to the house.

After seeing Julia safely to her room, he returned to his own.
 
Lighting the oil lamp on the stand next to his bed, he retrieved the bundle of letters from under his pillow.
 
Lounging on his bed, he pulled the first letter from the stack.
 
It appeared to be from one of the advance military scouts to the region.
 
Will was surprised his father actually received the letter, especially since Texas was no longer part of the Union.
 
There were five or so letters exchanged between his father and the writer who remained anonymous in his returned correspondence.
 

Eager to confirm his thoughts about the territory, Will read the letters.
 
He learned about several areas of land in the southwestern region that had been Mexican ranch lands prior to the Gadsden Purchase.
 
Several new ranches were already sprouting up.
 
Tucson was a growing city and some of the outlying areas were suitable for farming and ranching.
 
This area had a large Mexican population.
 
Most of the whites were former southerners, so he might be welcomed there, though he did not consider himself a southerner.

The author stated the
Hassayampa
River in the north central territory would also support ranching.
 
The last letter on the topic indicated a small group of miners discovered gold in the area, which was gaining the attention of the appointed governor of the new territory.
 
This was one of the regions being considered by the governor as a potential location for the capital.
 
A small fort was scheduled to be established by the end of the year.
 
The writer described this region as, “…an area ripe for settlement.
 
The large open grasslands are mostly suitable for cattle ranching.
 
The grass is of a hearty nature, able to endure in a relatively dry climate.
 
Any cattle of a durable nature should thrive here.
 
The rolling hills filled with grass lead way to river valleys and mountains topped with dense forests of pine, cedar, and other strong woods.
 
The discovery of gold will likely cause an increase of prospectors to the area in search of their long deserved fortunes.”

Will’s interest piqued.
 
This
Hassayampa
River area sounded very promising.
 
In one of the letters, the author outlined a rough route from Santa Fe to the river.
 
He should be able to drive the cattle from here to Santa Fe, then on to the new territory.

Yawning, Will remembered the late hour.
 
After folding up the letters and storing them in a safe place, he turned down the light.
 
Even though his mind was full of ideas and planning, exhaustion won and he fell asleep almost instantly.

After discussing the letters with Ben and spending time praying over the decision, Will gained confidence that the move to Arizona was the right one.
 
He had much to get done in the next few days, as Reuben’s imposed deadline rapidly approached.

This morning was the day he and Reuben agreed to divide the herd, per the instructions dictated in their father’s will.
 
Since they were not due to head to market for a few weeks yet, the herd was at its largest.
 

As he neared the herd, the lowing of the cattle became welcome background noise.
 
Dust swirled around the longhorns and the cowboys as the animals moved slowly forward.
 
Something seemed different this morning, though Will could not pinpoint what caused him to think that.

“Herd looks a mite unusual,” Ben stated as Will reined in next to him.

Then Will clearly saw the difference.
 
All of the weaker thinner cattle stood on the right and the strongest, fattest longhorns stood on the left.
 
Never in all of his years ranching had he seen such an unnatural formation.

Hearing hoof beats approaching, Will glanced over his shoulder.
 
Reuben, flanked by several of the seedier cowboys in his employ, rode towards the herd.
 
Reuben looked stiff and uncomfortable astride his mare.
 
It had been years since Will had seen his brother on horseback and in the pasture.
 
He was obviously out of practice.

Once he and his men arrived, Reuben tried to assert his wishes on how to best divide the herd.
 
“I think we should ride up the middle of the herd.
 
I’ll take what is on the left and you take what is on the right.”

What was Reuben up to?
 
Did he really think Will was ignorant?
 
Stifling a snort of disgust, Will stated, “Let’s have Ben cut the herd as usual.
 
Then we can count off equal numbers for each of us.”

“I disagree,” Reuben retorted.
 
“My proposal is quite valid.”

Will moved his mount alongside Reuben’s.
 
Leaning in towards his brother, he said in low tones, “I’m not oblivious to your scheme, Reuben.
 
Unless you want to hop off your mare and settle this man to man, I suggest you stop this nonsense.”

“Are you threatening me?”

Narrowing his eyes, Will kept his focus on his shifty brother while directing his words to Ben, “Ben, let’s get started.”

Before Reuben could object, Ben issued instructions to the cowboys, following Will’s guidance.

The process took a significant portion of the day.
 
At first Reuben blustered complaints with each good steer directed to Will’s herd, but after seeing the impossibility of the situation, he acquiesced.
 
Several of the cowboys commented on how evenly matched the two herds were.
 
Will was very pleased with both the quality and quantity of longhorns.
 
In addition to half the herd, totaling three thousand head, Will took half of the breeding stock and horses.

Relieved that one major task was completed, Will turned his attention to the next hurdle—cowboys to drive the herd west.

Once word spread of his departure, several of the younger cowboys expressed an interest moving west.
 
Including Ben, he had four men to drive the cattle.
 
That number would barely cover point at the front of the herd and flank riders in the middle of the herd for one shift.
 
He needed at least six more men just to cover two shifts for all the positions.
 
In addition, he would need to get a chuck wagon, a cook, more horses, and a wrangler to care for the horses.
 
All of this posed a difficult challenge in the short timeframe left, especially considering many ranchers would be going to market soon.
 
He would also need a good number of supplies.

Although nearing supper time, Will rode into town.
 
He arrived shortly before the general store closed, so he hurriedly posted hiring notices.
 
He also made arrangements for some of the needed supplies.
 
Darting out the door, he headed to the livery to purchase the chuck wagon.
 
He would return to pick it up tomorrow.

Before leaving town, he heard a ruckus down the street and went to check it out.
 
Several cowboys and ranchers that frequented the saloon stood outside discussing some topic heatedly in the street.
 
Staying on the edge of the crowd, Will caught enough of the conversation to learn that the Union blockaded the main cattle trail to New Orleans.
 
They were cut off from supplying the Confederate Army with much needed beef.
 
The crowd grew agitated, throwing down curses on their former northern countrymen.
 
Seeing tempers spiraling out of control Will made his way back to the ranch.

While he did not relish the impact this bad news would have on his fellow ranchers, it could benefit Will.
 
He would be leaving at an opportune time, headed toward other markets.
 
This may make hiring less difficult, now that many area cowboys would fear for their jobs.

“Boss,” Ben greeted as Will stepped on to the ranch house porch the next morning.
 
“We have some trouble.”

With the deadline just over a week away, trouble was not something Will had time to deal with.
 
He raised his hand to the back of his neck, trying to rub some of the growing tension away.
 
Resisting the urge to grit his teeth, he asked, “What now?”

“Seems some of the cattle are missing,” Ben replied.

He groaned, dropping his hand back to his side.
 
“How many?”

“At least a hundred head.”

Will sighed.
 
How could he keep from losing cattle to Reuben—for he was sure that is where the missing cattle would be found—and keep up with all he had to do to prepare for the move?

“See if you can discreetly get them back,” Will stated.
 
“Then find some way to mark them so we don’t have this issue for the next week and a half.
 
Try to keep Reuben out of it, if possible.”

Ben asked, “You thinking we should rebrand ‘
em
?”

“No.
 
We don’t have time for that,” Will failed to keep the frustration from his voice.
 
“Talk it over with Pace and see if you can’t come up with something temporary.”

Ben nodded.
 
Mounting Sheila, he pointed her towards the herd at a trot.

Will stood still for a moment, wishing again for more time.
 
How could he pull everything together in such a short time?
 
The impossibility of the task nipped at his confidence.

Pulling himself from the emerging hopelessness, he headed to the stable and geared up Jackson.
 
He had to stay focused on the long list of things needing accomplished and not give in to worry and fear.
 
Leading his horse from the stable, he met up with Pedro, one of his men, for the ride to town.
 
Each hoof beat brought him one step closer to crossing a few of those items from his list.

Once at the livery, Will helped Pedro harness the oxen he purchased to the supply wagon.
 
Then they rigged the chuck wagon behind it.
 
Bringing up the rear was Pedro’s horse tethered to the chuck wagon.
 
Pedro drove the double wagon to the store, then helped Will load the supplies he bought the day before.

Heaving crate after crate into the wagons was a tiresome job with only the two of them.
 
Unfortunately, Will could spare no more than one man from watching his herd—and he could not really spare the one.
 
He desperately needed more than the five hands; otherwise this move would not happen.
 
He still had roughly ten days, which seemed to be ticking by swiftly.

Having managed the cattle drives for the past eight years, Will knew how to plan for the drive.
 
However, this was more than a routine drive to market.
 
This was a permanent move to a relatively unpopulated territory, bringing with it a myriad of unknowns.
 
He knew supplies would be hard to come by once they arrived, so he had to account for that.