Canada July1865…
High up in the Canadian Rocky Mountain Range and nestled between two large grassy, forested hills at its foothold was a valley. A valley, that was like a piece of heaven on Earth.
In other words peaceful and untouched by the horrors of man.
The forests were in abundance of both flora and fauna. The wildlife varied in creatures as big as grizzly bears to the small but important field mouse. Each plant and creature shared the valley with an old mountain man who lived in a log cabin cloaked by the forest trees and guarded by a flowing river, an old man who the world forgot but soon would become important to two young people, changing their destinies and future plans forever.
This mountain man was in his early fifties and stood 5'10", his once long reddish hair now had streaks of gray running through it and he weighed nearly 180 lbs. Imposing figure of a man to most people new to this country and those who had even lived their whole life here. He wore a buckskin shirt over a pair of dark gray trouser with knee high moccasins on, for the last thirty years this was his look, and it rarely changed. Before settling in the forest he looked like every other man with fitted dress and work clothes however this never made him happy, but being in the mountain did. This mountain man was Max Johnson but the natives that lived and traded with him called him Red Wolf. He was given this name for two reasons: his hair was a bright red and he because had saved a wolf pup, which he returned to his pack. The natives told how he walked through the feral pack to the mother wolf and laid the pup down in front of her. He returned much to the natives surprise completely unharmed, from that day he took the name Red Wolf.
Many uneventful years passed by for him until one fateful day in July 1865, a day that would forever change his life and those around him and those yet to come. Perhaps even a small town, stuck in an endless time of hate and refusal to change.
Perhaps…
Emerging from his cabin early on that fateful morning, he stretched to get the kinks out of his back, before going to the corral to saddle his horse and ready his pack mule for the long trip into town. Once the pack mule was ready to go to and his horse saddled Red Wolf returned to his cabin to eat and get ready for the following days. After an hour he was ready to head out to Jasper to trade his furs for supplies and ammo.
Today was different however because this time he decided to take the west route to town, a route which would cost him an extra days travel. Instead of the normal three days it would usually take him both there and back. Traveling west Red Wolf wanted to scout out the wildlife in that area to see if it was flourishing or if it was barren. Most importantly though he wanted to check on the wildfire that raged further west. He was thinking of expanding his trap line a little more throughout the Rockies, so that way he would have to spend less time going into town and around the judgmental townspeople but should that fire spread this too would be in doubt.
Leaving his home Red Wolf didn’t think that in only a few short days his whole world would change.
The first day into his journey was quite uneventful as was the wildlife, for what signs there was showed little life. However on the second day of his journey, he noticed that there were a lot more deer, moose and rabbit tracks, this brought a smile onto his weary face. Though the further he looked at the tracks, Red Wolf begun to worry about several large markings on both the trees and ground – grizzly bear markings. Should he extend his trap line here, he had to be careful for there were a lot of markings. Bears were great for marking their territory and protective of both their young and prey. The latter he didn’t want to become.
Riding further along the creek he saw some beavers working on their dams, this was good news for him, since beaver pelts were in great demand.
By the third day of his trip he was thinking of the supplies he had to get and the wildlife that was in abundance around him for both meat and furs. He wanted to stock up on both before the snow started in late September and early October, despite it being only July. Winter in the Rockies, were cold and the snows were heavy, deep and abundant. To get to town was impossible at times for weeks on end. By the time he got to the next rise, he could see the town of Jasper down in the valley. It wasn’t a big town or village, it only had just a general store, saloon, blacksmith/livery, several homes, a church and a stagecoach services.
Riding down the only dirt street in Jasper, Red Wolf headed to the store and for a change he was in a good mood. Knowing he would have to do a lot of haggling to get the right price for his furs, this was the part he liked the most, since he most of the time he got what he wanted. For the last several weeks of hunting he had six beaver pelts, four rabbit skins and a couple wolverine pelts. Those were both tricky to get and rare. Red Wolf figured he could get at least $30 to $40 dollars perhaps a bit more.
Climbing down off his horse, and tying the reins to the hitching post Red Wolf gently patted his horse as he entered the store. Red noticed that the store keeper, George Barr was busy with a customer, so he did some browsing until he was available to haggle. When he was done, George went over to Red to see what brought him to town this day.
“How are you doing today, Red?” inquired George as he walked behind the counter.
“I’m still alive if that is what you are wondering.” joked Red. “I brought my furs in for you to check over and I am in need of some supplies.”
“You’ll out live us all Red.” He laughed a hearty laugh. “Let’s go and sort through them before I get too busy, the ladies will be in soon, you know.”
Laughing George walked Red out to collect his wears. Exiting the store George remained on the porch while Red went to get the furs off of his pack mule. George had a room off to the side of the store he used for checking pelts and storing them till he was able to send them off to the company back east. It also kept the trappers and mountain men from his regular clientele, since most deemed them less than human. Laying the pelts out in a neat row Red waited while George looked them over. Finally after several minutes George was finished examining and tallying the amount up.
“Well, Red, the furs are in excellent condition however the wolverine pelts are torn a bit. Have to dock some off for the damage. So I’ll give you $40.00 this time.” George said as he tied up the furs. “Just to let you know the next time you come in the price of beaver pelts will be down some. It appears there is an overabundance of beaver pelts coming in and not enough buyers.”
Red nodded his head that he understood and agreed with the price. Both men went back into the store to get his list supplies. George took the list of things Red Wolf needed and started to place the items on the counter. There were several sacks of flour, sugar, salt, coffee beans, bacon, couple cans of peaches and some ammo. Plus a couple of new traps to replace the ones that the wolverines broke as they tried to break free. After the total was tally, George took the price of the goods off of the $40 before putting some toward the bill he still owed. Leaving Red with some money to take back home with.
Packing his supplies up, Red went outside to where his horse and mule were waiting rather patiently. Arranging the package on the mule, he climbed on his horse, waved to George and told him that he would see him before the snow or perhaps early next year. George waved back as he went back into the store to help the next customer.
Instead of going west or on his usual path, this time he took the east route which was shorter by a day however it was a rougher terrain, one that was known to test the will of both man and horses. Traveling through the river bed he let his horse pick its way through, taking her time. For there were sharp rocks and twigs that had washed up from the last time the river overflowed its banks. Finally they made it across to the other side, when he heard the sound gun shots off in the distance.
Spurring his horse and mule to move faster towards the gunfire, they climbed out of the ravine to the top of hill so Red could see what the commotion was about. When he looked down into the valley he saw six covered wagons in the form of a circle. The oxen and horses were in the center of the circle while the women and children were huddled under the wagons for protection. Two of the wagons were on fire while two more were on their sides. Looking through the smoke Red saw group of natives, attacking and raiding the slow moving wagons looking for food or ammo as well as hostages. By the time Red got down the mountain with his pack mule to the wagons most of the natives had rode away taking their prizes with them.
Riding his horse and mule to the nearest wagon Red slowly climbed off and tied the reins to a broken wheel. He left his horse tied so neither wouldn’t wonder off and leave him stranded amongst the dead. Taking his rifle out of the sheath, he walked amongst the dead, realizing most were immigrants from across the sea looking for a fresh start much like his parents did many decades ago. Looking down at the dead he noticed that several of the men had arrows in them while only a few of them were scalped. The women and young girls didn’t fare any better either, some of them were scalped but most of them were brutally raped to death. The natives left what remained of them to bleed out and die in the sun.
As he walked, Red Wolf noticed an absence of children both young and old, seeing this once before many years ago he knew that they were gone. The younger children would be taken as hostages and would be nothing more than slaves, while older ones would be sold off to other tribes as slaves and unwitting brides.
Turning quickly around Red proceeded to throw up, for the stench of the freshly dead was too much for even him to handle. Wiping off his face, he walked around to the last wagon where he saw a woman leaning against the wheel holding a small child in her arms. Kneeling down beside her, he checked to see if she was alive before checking the boy. As he started to touch boy’s shoulder the woman painfully opened her eyes to see a man reaching for her son.
Clutching her child in her arms “Who are you” she whispered as blood ran out the side of her mouth.
“My name is Max, but you can call me Red Wolf; you don’t have to be afraid anymore. I won’t harm you.” He said trying to calm her as he looked for her wounds. Seeing her wound he knew that there was nothing left he could do for her. Apart from give her a small piece of hope. “I live up in the mountains, not more than a two day ride from here... I am a friend. Now let me try to help you… the both of you.”
Looking into this old man’s eyes she knew her time was over, and that he was trying to give her hope. When there was none. “Blue Dove, my name is Blue Dove Starc” The woman introduced herself as she coughed up more blood. “This is my son, Garrett; he’s only five years old.” Blue Dove tried to hold up her unconscious son to Red as tears rolled down her face.
Smiling down at her Red Wolf gently placed his hand upon her shoulder “That’s a beautiful name and your son looks just like his mother. But I have to ask where was this wagon train heading?”
“We were going to Brooks. My husband… Wolfgang… bought some land. We were going to build a ranch, raise cattle and horses, and have more children… Where is my husband?” Blue Dove asked looking around for him.
“Your husband… is over by the wagon tongue… I sorry my dear, he passed away. He was a brave man.” replied Red telling her the truth knowing that a lie would only hurt her more. “Are you of the Blackfoot?”
“Long ago…” Nodded Blue Dove. “I was banished from my tribe for marring a white man… my son cannot go back to my tribe… he would be made a slave to them.” She began to panic. “Even though he has their blood my blood… I need to ask you something. I know that my time is almost done here and soon I will be with my Wolfgang once more…”
Blue Dove began to fade away as she spoke
“What would you ask of me to do?” Red asked gently nudging her awake knowing she didn’t have much time left. The bullet lodged in her chest had probably hit a lung and she was bleeding quite badly between her legs. Something that fueled Red’s anger towards the men that did it, as he did not hold with rape.
“I…I…want you to raise my son…Garrett… for me… Show him the right path to follow. Show him how to be a man, live and love.” whispered Blue Dove. “Promise me; promise me…promise…pr…”
Taking the boy from his mother’s weakening arms. “I promise Blue Dove from this moment on that I will raise your son as if he was mine.” Red swore to her, but as he turned to look down at her he saw his words fell on deaf ears for she was gone.
Standing up he took the boy to a blanket that lay before the ruined wagon and laid the boy down on the blanket spreading it out to keep the cold ground from touching his body. Examining the boy, Red found that he had an arrow lodged under his shoulder blade. He also noticed that he had a gash above his right eye where his head had probably struck a wagon wheel. Perhaps a consequence from falling due to the force of the arrows impact on his small body, it would be something that he would never know.
Wrapping the boy in the blanket, he looked down to see a bloodstained journal in the snow with the initials WS on it. Without a second thought Red picked up the journal and placed it in his coat keeping it safe for a time when Garret wanted to know where he came from. Standing up Red carried the boy to where his horse and mule were waiting. Placing Garrett on the saddle he carefully climbed onto the horse, Red leaned Garrett back onto his lap and started slowly back for home.
Riding away from the wagon massacre he never looked back for it was something that will remain with him for the rest of his life. He left the bodies as they lay hoping that if the natives came back, and saw nothing and no one was moved, the boy would be safe. Should they not another wagon train would pass by soon and bury the dead properly.
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