Fiction: Jaudon – An American Family (a novel) [5]

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Chapter 5. Guadalupe River

By the time the U.S. Army decided to address the Indian problem, the 200-300 Comanches had stolen a reported 3,100 head of cattle in New Mexico. Many had been stolen from Mexicans and were never reported, so the count could be much higher. But there is no way of telling how many cattle crossed the Texas border.
    It took the Army two years to control the Indians. Thereafter, only a handful of Comanches roamed free or caused problems, and now, with patrolling Army troops providing more security, the ranchers were no longer on their own.

    James, Rafael, and Roberto rode the ranges gathering cattle. Before the Civil War, Texas had open ranges where everybody’s cattle grazed together, but during the war there had been no one to attend the vast grassland, and the cattle ran free. Their offspring were not branded, so now they belonged to whoever could catch them.
    While James, Rafael, and Roberto worked the cattle, Juan, the oldest of the group, and Miguel cut wood and hauled it to the ranch house. The extended Garcia family were living in the barn until another house could be built.

    James, Sara, Maria, and Rafael resided in the ranch house, where James and Sara, who looked after Claude, had their own rooms, while Maria and Rafael and their son, Ricardo, shared a room. James made it clear that the ranch house would be rebuilt before anything else.
    Carmen, Alicia, and Yolando – the wives respectively of Juan, Roberto, and Miguel – had started a garden, which expanded rapidly after Sara and Maria joined in.
    That first year, the men branded a hundred and fifty cattle and put away enough food and feed for the winter, plus seeds for the following planting season. But right after the beginning of the new year, a north wind blew in a snowstorm and freezing temperatures. The winter of 1867 would be a cold one. The barn was too large to heat, so pallets were placed on the floors of the ranch house and everybody moved in together. The horses were huddled together in the barn and given plenty to eat. The milk cow was turned loose with the herd. James knew the herd would find a place out of the wind and bunch together for warmth, so joining the herd was the best chance for the cow.
    By spring they expected to finish rebuilding the ranch house and constructing another house on its north side, with three separate living spaces, or apartments, so that each of the three Garcia families could have their own space. The barn was to the south of the ranch house, so anyone coming toward it from whatever direction would be confined to the center of the three buildings.
    They lived all together in the original ranch house until the end of February. The ground was still frozen but the snow had stopped. On the fifth of March, the sun came out and began to warm the land. All of the men rode out, brought the herd in, and put out hay for them. They lost five calves that winter, but the others came through okay, even the milk cow.
    By springtime, they had rounded up another hundred head, for a total of 250 cattle. But they had little money. Word came that a trail drive was forming in San Antonio. Ranchers were gathering cattle to take to the markets in Abilene, Kansas. James rode to San Antonio, met with the organizers, and registered his “Circle J Ranch” brand, a large circle was a J in the middle. While cattle sold in Texas for $5 a head – sometimes $10 – in Abilene they fetched $50.

    The cost of the drive would be born by the ranchers who were sending cattle north. At the end of the drive, the ranchers’ cattle would be counted according to their brands, and any losses, such as by drowning or stampeding, would be borne by the individual ranchers.
    James signed the contract to pay the organizers $2 a head for 200 of his cattle to be driven to Abilene. The drive would take two months and cover about 1,000 miles. From the total amount the organizers collected, they would pay the trail boss $125 a month, each cowboy – depending on his experience – $25 to $40 a month, and the cook $60 a month. They would split among themselves the remainder of the $2-fee money they collected.

James rode back to the ranch to organize his herd for delivery to San Antonio, arriving shortly after dark. He could hear the cattle off in the distance, and he was happy his men had carried out his orders to have them close by. The night air still had a bite to it and his nose was running. He got down from his horse and wiped his coat sleeve across his nose.
    He opened the door to the smell of beef stew and the warmth of the large fireplace. Claude, who was just walking, waddled across the room toward him. James patted him on the head before walking to the table and taking the head seat.
    Rafael, who had been at the fire, came and sat to James’ right, and Maria sat next to him. Sara sat the end opposite James. Claude and Ricardo would be fed after the grown-ups were finished.
    As usual, there was very little talking at the dinner table beyond “pass this” or “pass that.” And after eating, James and Rafael retired to James’ office, a small room off of the living room. They had drinks and spoke of the things that needed to be done on the ranch.
    That evening James informed Rafael that he too was going on the trail drive. Rafael asked, “Why you go boss, you pay the men to drive our cattle.”

    James took a sip of whiskey. “The world is changing, and I need to know how a cattle drive works. There are large herds of longhorns down by the Rio Grande, and we are going after them. When the drive comes next spring, I want to have 1,000 head ready to go.”
    Rafael set his glass down. “That’s a lot of cattle, James. You think the three of us can handle it?”
    James poured another drink for them both. “How old are you, Rafael? I’ve never asked.”
    “Twenty-four.”
    James raised his glass. “I just turned 18, and I want to be rich by the time I’m twenty. This world is hard and will eat up an old man. We make it when we’re young or we don’t make it at all.”
    “You lead, mi amigo, and I will follow.”
    James took a sip and leaned back in his chair. “There is one more thing.”
    “Sure, what’s that?”
    “It’s time I was married. Juan’s daughter is 16 now, isn’t that right?”
    “Si, but—”
    “Speak to Juan, and let him know I would like to wed Juana.”
    James finished his drink and stood, a signal that their meeting was over.
    Early the next morning, James, Roberto, and Rafael drove their selected 200 head onto the trail toward San Antonio.
    James rode up beside Rafael. “Did you speak to Juan?”
    “He was asleep. I’ll do it when we return.”
    “Make it soon. I want an answer.” James rode after a stray cow.

The man who counted and signed for James’ cattle in San Antonio told them of a group of ex-Southern soldiers, Mexicans, and Indians, led by a Confederate officer, who were raiding ranches to the south, near the Rio Grande, and might be heading north.
    It was dark when they left San Antonio for their journey back to the ranch, so they made camp not far outside of town and took turns at guard duty.
    Sunrise came and they rode hard to get back to the ranch. The idea of bandits roaming the countryside was a worrisome thing to have on their minds. After the Indian raid they had encountered when they first arrived, James made sure the main house was fortified, which didn’t mean it couldn’t be breached, but only that it would be harder to do.
    About a mile from the ranch they picked up the sound of gunshots. They raced through the ranch’s gate, which stood wide open, and spurred their horses towards the ranch house, their Henry repeater rifles ready. As they entered the yard, they opened fire.
    They downed two raiders with the first assault, and immediately went after the remaining six or so. James’ rifle jammed and he didn’t have time to clear it, so he rode right at the next raider using the jammed rifle as a lance and drove its barrel into the man’s chest, knocking him off his horse. James pulled his six-shooter, turned his horse to the right, and spotted the Confederate officer. He spurred his horse and collided with a Comanche who was trying to catch him with a tomahawk. Roberto shot the Indian off his horse as James raced toward the officer, both of them opening fire at one another.
    James’ horse was hit and its front legs gave out. The horse fell forward but James was still shooting as he slid over its head. One of his bullets caught the officer in the chest but didn’t knock him off his horse. James hit the ground and bounced slamming into a post. The wounded officer called to his remaining men to follow him and took off westward.
    Roberto had been shot in the leg, and his horse had to be put down. James had a couple of cracked or maybe broken ribs. Rafael had fared okay, and so did everyone in the ranch house. They tended to Roberto and wrapped James’ chest.

    James called Rafael. “The cattle drive to Abilene begins the day after tomorrow. You’ll have to take my place.”
    “James, a lot of these Texans don’t like us Mexicans.”
    “I’ll write a letter telling them that if anything happens to you I will hunt down every last one of them and kill ’em all. You’ll hand the letter to the trail boss.”
    James pulled Rafael closer. “And remember what I asked you to do. Get it done before you leave.”

Copyright © 2019 by Ed Rogers