Learn more about Rio Pecos Compound: Book Six of The Clint Mason Series
Copyright William F. Martin. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 16.
The winter months passed rapidly. The spring lambing was almost over with a bumper crop. The organizing for the May drive to Kansas would need to start in two months. The sheep herds had to be culled, separated and marked. Those sheep being selected for the drive were then moved to the northern-most grazing area on the ranch.
Most of the Navajos had decided to move north in spite of the dangers and hardships they may face. One older Navajo lady and her immediate family were going to stay at Rio Pecos. The young lady that was marrying the Pueblo man was her daughter and the other young woman that was marrying the Mexican guard was her sister’s daughter. This older lady had three other children and they too were all staying. Her man had left them long before they had moved to Rio Pecos. Her sheep herd was doing well on the Rio Pecos range, besides her blankets and wool were bringing good prices in Santa Fe. And that market was less than a two-day ride from her home.
Up north, she had had trips that took over a week just to get to the nearest trading post. Also the grazing on the Rio Pecos was more than twice as good as her old family home area. While she did miss some of the old ways, she did not miss the extreme hardships. Her children were going to school with the Kansas settlers and were learning a lot. All of them could now read and write some English and that was helping a lot at the Santa Fe market square. In fact, her children were becoming better traders than she ever was. The new method of blanket weaving that her daughter and niece had done was the best among all for sale on the Santa Fe square.
The Mexican guards had just about wiped out the threats of coyote and cougar to her sheep. The harassment that she and her people used to face had almost disappeared. She knew that several gunmen had been killed that had given the Rio Pecos people trouble. That disappearance and murder of several bad men last fall in Santa Fe had just about been the end of troubles for her people. Problems now were either drunks or young men flirting with the very pretty young Navajo and Pueblo girls. Such problems were old ones and she knew how to handle them.
Juan Cruz and family were back laying adobe brick for the new buildings. The winter had been mild, so that many of the stone footers had been completed before spring. Collecting and hauling the rocks for the footers and foundations did take a lot more effort and time than the first few buildings had. The rocks that were close and easy to gather had been used. They now were having to spread out more and more to get a load of suitable rocks. All of the Cruz clan was finally housed in permanent homes. There was still a lot of work to do on them, but even in their current condition, they were a lot better off than their old homes in San Juan Pueblo and Juan was very pleased with the quality of the adobe. The clay pits on the Rio Pecos Ranch were producing the best material that he had ever worked with, and his people were making more money off the new clay pottery than they had ever made. He was still upset that his son wanted to marry a Navajo girl, even though she was from a good hard-working family and her blanket-weaving skills were the best that Juan had seen. Juan was already in trouble with his tribal council because of an earlier cross-tribe marriage. However, that couple seemed to be making a good life for themselves here at Rio Pecos. Juan was going to take a wagonload of top quality potter clay to the San Juan Pueblo, hoping this gesture would soften any hard feelings the old villagers were having toward his family.
Juan was hoping that the passage of two or three years would heal the rift between his clan and the other tribal leaders. He did miss the community celebrations, big community feasts, and tribal fellowship and support. He had uneasy feelings of being out of his place and away from his roots. It was hard to explain to himself because he enjoyed the work of building a new village. His people were safe and doing better than they ever had before. Maybe time would lessen these vague feelings of being out of place or of losing a little of yourself.
The Basque clan was ready for the long drive to Kansas. It was their hope to find some top quality rams during this drive. They were not pleased with the crossbreeding that Clint was encouraging. It was true the new crossbreed was tougher and endured this region better, but the wool was not as good as their original breed line. The flavor of the crossbred mutton was also better than their pure Merino sheep. However, the Basque were skilled at raising sheep and were convinced they could develop a breed line with all the qualities they wanted. Their carts and wagons were in top shape and everyone was ready for the new adventure.
The Kansas settlers were very happy to stay at the ranch. They still remembered their tragic trip from Kansas to Rio Pecos and had no interest in doing that again. The settlers had finally made peace with themselves and accepted their new location as their home. The school teaching and carpentry work had everyone busy. These settlers had produced a good garden last year and were preparing for an even better one this year. The Indians had given them seeds and several good tips on growing chilies and beans in this climate. Clint had even found them a few milk cows and a bull.
Two guards had agreed to stay behind and help out around the compound. The horse herd was their responsibility although most of the horses would be used on the drive. Both guards had girlfriends and wanted to stay close anyway. The guards had worked with Joe Black to train most of the people to keep their weapons clean and ready for use. Clint had obtained some of the best rifles and pistols available at this time. Crooks and bandits always seemed to have the best guns. Somehow those weapons were finding their way to Rio Pecos Compound. Joe Black always seemed to have a steady supply of new guns even though he never left Rio Pecos. Further, Joe’s gunsmithing skills made him fairly good at updating and repairing all types of guns.
The Juan Cruz clan organized a big feast and dance for the sheep drive sendoff. The whole community came together and shared their favorite dishes in a display suitable for a king or Indian chief. It was so much fun for everyone that there was talk of making it an annual affair. Although there was also some sadness because a lot of families would be separated for three or four months, most of the young people that were making the drive were excited and ready to get started. They did not have the fear of the unknown that their parents held.
Early the next morning the drive started up the Santa Fe Trail. The wagons, carts and horses took the main trail heading to the first main campsite. The sheep were moved along at a steady pace, just fast enough to make time, but slow enough to keep their weight on them.
Clint, along with Joe Black and two of the Mexican guards, would stay behind to protect Rio Pecos, and most of the Pueblo men and Kansas men headed out on a separate mission. This group plus the wagons, spare horses, and carts made up a sizable caravan. Clint made sure that everyone was heavily armed with a maximum display of the latest weaponry. The most striking thing about this group of people was their dress code. Every man and boy was wearing dark clothing that looked like a uniform. The caravan looked like an army or heavily armed guard unit. Clint led this group straight up the Santa Fe Trail to Las Vegas. By midmorning the next day, Clint, in his most military manner, presented a set of surveys to the land office clerk. The entire parade of uniformed men was standing in the street in front of the land title office as Clint presented his made-up, but official-looking survey documents. Clint demanded that the hearing notice for his title challenge of Atkinson’s surveys of the Ortega land grant be posted immediately. Then, with three of his armed body guards, he left the office and led the military-looking unit out of town headed north. As soon as they came to a good hiding place, all the uniforms were stripped off, wagons’ special covers removed, and everything put on pack horses. Then, all the men that were not making the drive to Kansas headed back to Rio Pecos with the uniforms. They broke up into small groups and stayed off the main trail. The wagons, carts and horses for the drive moved off the main trail to a predetermined campsite to await the sheep herd.
So far everyone was carrying out their assigned tasks with precision. Clint then went on spy duty to watch for Atkinson and his gunmen. It was only a few hours after Clint’s visit to the land office that Atkinson and a dozen armed riders pulled up at the land office front hitching rail. Clint watched with his spyglass as the title clerk came out onto the boardwalk and pointed north as he talked to Atkinson. The Atkinson men broke into three groups and headed out both north and south with one group waiting for Atkinson at the land title office hitching rail. It was late evening before all the Atkinson riders had returned to Las Vegas to report. Clint switched to being the Mexican hide-trader and went to one of the café saloons nearest Atkinson’s big fancy hotel. Rumors were flying about the double claim against the Ortega land grant. This new challenge to Atkinson’s claim on the Ortega Ranch had the old man in an uproar. The word was out that Atkinson had sent for Claude Johnson to join him here in the Las Vegas hotel as soon as possible. It also looked as though all of Atkinson’s gunmen had been called into Las Vegas. This was what Clint had been hoping for. With Atkinson’s attention on protecting his illegal claims, it would allow time for the Rio Pecos sheep herds to meet up with the Ortega herd and get north through the Raton Pass.
Clint then headed to the Ortega Ranch to alert them of the possible hornet’s nest that had been disturbed. He was not surprised to see a well-fortified Ortega main complex. Their sheep herds had been raided while scattered over the range. Some of the herds had been killed. However, there had never been any attacks against the main ranch complex and Clint could see why.
The Ortega herd was already on the move to the Raton Pass when Clint reached the ranch house. The Ortega herders had decided to make the drive when they learned of the extra money to be made and the armed guards that would be making the trip. Sr. Ortega had also given them some hope of joining the Rio Pecos Ranch after the drive. With the loss of the Navajo herders, Clint’s ranch might just be short of manpower. Clint confirmed Sr. Ortega’s idea about the need for more sheep men after the drive. He would offer them the same arrangement that was working well for his Basque families. Sr. Ortega was closing down the sheep ranching activities at his ranch.
The information received about the Albuquerque land grant holders meeting was troublesome. Sr. Perez had told Sr. Ortega that his east coast contacts felt that one of the big eastern families was funding the railroad system’s purchasing of western lands. The money was being funneled through an agency in St. Louis. Both Atkinson and Johnson were shareholders in that St. Louis operation. As far as the records were available to inspect, they indicated the St. Louis agency as a real estate firm. The firm had been set up to acquire lands along the proposed railroad right-of-ways. The only possible illegal activity that Sr. Perez’s contacts had uncovered was the possible conflict of interest between Atkinson’s surveyor role and his partial ownership in the real estate firm. It did appear that a lot of property along the proposed railroad route had been obtained by Johnson and Atkinson even before the surveyed routes had been made public.
It then appeared that a lot of the land purchased by the St. Louis office was coming from Atkinson and Johnson at surprisingly good prices. These costs were then being passed on to the railroad companies in addition to extra profits to the St. Louis agency, in which Atkinson was a shareholder.
Sr. Ortega had asked the lobbyist to make inquiries into this whole railroad right-of-way acquisition process with an especially close look at Atkinson’s surveyor role.
The word about Claude Johnson was that his family had ties to some of the railroad owners and the eastern financing sources. He had married into big money; however his wife never wanted to travel or leave the east coast family.
When Claude’s father-in-law had died a few years ago, the estate management was turned over to Claude. That started Claude’s rapid development of a western ranch near Española and the acquisition of large tracts of land. As far as Perez and Ortega’s contacts could tell, Claude’s wife had almost disappeared from public life after her father’s death. It was suspected that Claude was rapidly running through the family’s wealth. With this new information, Clint was armed with plenty to follow-up on when the drive was completed.
The other great piece of information that Sr. Ortega brought back from Sr. Perez and the Albuquerque meeting was that Clint’s mares would be bred with the Spanish horses. Clint could arrange to retrieve his mares immediately after the Kansas drive.