Ozark adventure

I headed out of Cherokee territory and leaned in toward the foothills of the Ozarks.  I climbed into the foothills and felt as free as a bird.  All my responsibilities had been taken care of.  For a change I didn't have anything to do.  I was free.  It was nice while it lasted.

We rode along easy for several days fording creeks and camping where it felt comfortable.  I had picked up a couple of boxes of Schofield rounds before I left and tossed the idea around again of using them in my Colt army, but I still had a belt full of the longer 45's for it so it didn't seem like anything urgent.  I do favor the Schofield, because it's more accurate, what with its 7 inch barrel and being quicker to load, but the Colt is useful up close and it's quick.  Oh, well, maybe someday they'll make a Schofield with a cylinder long enough for the bigger loads.  Just dreaming.  Anway, of an evening I'd sit by the fire and clean and oil my guns.  Always wished I had learned to play a banjo or a mouth harp. Maybe when we get to the Missouri I can buy one.

Late one afternoon as I prepared to cros another of the main streams that drained the hills I spied off in the flats below a small fort, maybe an army post.  It looked inviting since I was getting bored, so I turned us down -slope and came to the gate which was open about sunset.  Riding in I was made welcome and given a bunk and supper and slept the night indoors.

In the morning a corporal asked me to follow him to the commanders office where a captain inquired about m business.  I identified myself and stated my business had been completed, and I was on my own time 'till I got back, which I was in no hurry to do.

He laughed at that and told me he wished he could say the same.  Then he asked me if I was open to anything interesting.  I hated it, but I had to ask what he meant.  It seemed there had been some "incidents" as he put it locally; murders, scalpings, burnings, and such.  Settlers mostly.  I had a bad feeling.

"What do you want from me" I asked.  It seemed he wanted me to look into his problems.  I could only say that i'd keep my eyes open.  "Fair is fair" he replied., leaving me obligated.  As a sop he offered me the assistance of a scout in his employ, a Crow indian.

I met Jim Crow that morning as I mounted up and he  named hinself.  That  self nameing
seemrd like  a smartaleck way of takeing a name, but I went along with it.  Who knows.  He had that look about him that said screw you, and I appreciated it.  It sang to me. "Come on ,then", I said, and then we mounted up and rode out.

We made our way down the valley, looking for signs of trouble until Jim Crow said ' "look there".  There was a plume of smoke.  So w rode there. It was a settlers farm house in flames.  I dismounted and ran inside, but there wasn't anything I could do.  Beating the sparks off my clothes, I came out and cussed, "there're people in there, dammit."  Jim Crow nodded from his mount as if he wasn't surprised.  I cried out, "who could have done this?"  "Oglala," said Jim Crow in a calm manner.
"Why them?," I wanted to know.  "Because they hate their lose up in the Dakotas," said he.

"Lets go'"  I said , and we rode off.  I quartered back and forth tracking the pony prints until I got a trail and set out to follow.  Then we  dogged the trail until we ran it to the ground.

It was late that night when we came up on them.  We could here all kinds of whooping from down below.  Easing down through the woods, we found a scene of murder;  three men had been killed and scalped in their sleep around their campfire . 

We carefully checked the bodies and found they had been killed in their sleep.  I made sure Jim Crow was silent , and we moved on down through the woods. After a while we just sat and held our horses by their reins untl the noise died down.  Finally we got up and went down to the campsite of the renegades.  They were laid out drunk from the whisky they had looted from their victims, just snoring away peacefully.  I pulled my knife, an Arkansas toothpick,  and Jim Crow pulled his.  I knelt down and put my left hand over the mouth of the man I attacked and stabbed him in the heart..  He groaned and died..  Looking up I saw Jim Crow had cut the throats of the other two and was preparing to take their hair.  I put a stop to that.  Why, he wanted to know.

"Because," I said they don't deserve the honor.  "They are murderers, and don't deserve to be left as warriors on the field."  "Wait a minute," I said and went to the edge of the clearing and cut a sapling.  I trimmed it and sharpened it and drove it into the ground.  Then I took a couple of piggen strings from my saddle and tied the scalps they'd taken to the sapling.  "Now,," I said," when their friends find them they'll get the message that they are dishonored, and this is what they can expect for any more such behavior, understand?" Jim  Crow didn't understand, but he damn sure didn't argue. 

We rode on down through the pines into the breaks of the Missouri, and finally came out on the banks of the Big Muddy.  There we parted company.  Jim Crow took his pay without any thanks and rode off.  I guess he was dissatisfied with me.  Oh, well.  I rode on down to a landing and sat in to wait on a riverboat.  Pretty soon one came along and we got on board.  Once I'd got my mounts taken care of, Boot and I got a cabin on the main deck and settled in.  After that it was easy times from then on.