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 Chapter 13

   August 7, 1847



   We soon found the guide to be correct in his knowledge of the tribe.  A
large amount of salmon and vegetables was brought out by an Indian soon
after we reached the valley floor.  After spirited bargaining between the
him and the guide, we purchased the entire amount for three knives.  Other
Indians soon appeared and we had a lot of trading going on between the
settlers and the Indians.  I had the wagon captain post a guard around the
wagon with the measles and the guide warned the Indians that there was
sickness in them and not to approach.  We asked the two wagons if they
wanted anything and then traded for it with sterilized items from the wagon
after I passed them.  The Indians were mostly interested in getting knives
or guns for trade but would accept powder or bullets instead.  One attempt
to interest them in clothes was a complete failure.  By dusk we were about
five miles inside the valley and trading had stopped for the night.

   This was Louise's night to be the center of attention again and I had no
idea what she would request this time.  She decided that she wanted to eat
out Claire while I entered her from behind.  She stiffened when I started
to enter and I began to withdraw.  Elizabeth stopped me and whispered in
her ear.  I don't know what she said, but Louise relaxed and Elizabeth
nodded for me to continue.  Every time I pushed in Louise's tongue pressed
deeper into Claire and soon all three of us began to grunt every time I
bottomed out inside of Louise.  Elizabeth stuck her finger in her mouth and
reaching under Louise began to finger her clit.  With a load moan Louise
climaxed and with hers came Claire's.  Louise fell forward to the side of
Claire and gave her a deep kiss.

   I remained erect as I did not cum because of my concern for Louise. 
Elizabeth seeing this pulled me down and positioned herself over my
erection sank down until I was completely seated.  I then held on as she
slid backwards and began to rock back and forth on my cock.  I was totally
aroused so after about five minutes I began to cum, shooting glob after
glop of semen into her womb.  She began to wail and stiffened as she came.
Soon afterwards we cuddled next to each other and fell asleep.

   August 8, 1847

   I woke up this morning when Louise got up to prepare breakfast. 
Following her out of the wagon, I gave her a tender kiss on the neck.  She
stiffened and then relaxed.

   �gAre you felling better now?�h I asked.

   �gYes.  Though I'm still nervous about being around other men.�h

   �gI noticed that you were afraid last night when we made love.�h

   �gI'm sorry!�h She began to cry.

   Holding her in my arms I just told her, �gIt's all right.  I'm willing
to wait until you are ready.�h

   She sniffed and wiped her nose on my shirt sleeve.  �gIt's just that I
remembered the slavers raping me from behind when you were there. 
Elizabeth had to remind me that it was you, not them.�h

   I just continued to hold her wishing I could kill the bastards again. 
�gThey're dead and buried.  They'll never be able to hurt you gain.�h

   �gI know, but I still remember in my nightmares.  The worst was how
helpless I was against them.�h

   Having been a nerd, I remember being bullied in high school until my
father made me go to the dojo and learn how to defend myself.  I hadn't
used it in years, but I thought I remembered enough to give her the basics
of it.

   �gI can show you how to defend yourself against an attacker with just
your own body, but you have to promise me to use it only when you have
to.�h

   She looked at me as if I had offered her the Holy Grail.  Kissing my
hand she told me �gYes!�h

   After I thought about it I decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea to
teach all three of my wives some self defense.  Although I hadn't gone very
far along in the dojo, I was more advanced than anyone here.  Plus eastern
forms of unarmed combat wouldn't even be on the radar screen of anyone for
years here in the United States.  I also had another self defense method
available for me to give my wives.  My sisters had studied Krav Magen, an
Israeli self defense course when a serial rapist was targeting young white
females in our area, and I became the test dummy for their practice
sessions.  This was dirty fighting with a vengeance.  I always wore a cup
and shin guards and I still got hurt even when they pulled their blows. 
That I will always remember!

   I showed Louise some quick hold breaks and promised to teach her more
when I could.  I left her practicing and woke up the other wives.  Talking
to them I told them that I wanted to teach them some unarmed self defense.
Claire was all for it but Elizabeth seemed to think she didn't need it.  I
told her to hit me and threw her gently over my hip and into an arm hold.
She struggled but couldn't get out.  Finally she admitted she might learn
something and I released her.  She got up, turned around, and tried to kick
me in the balls!  This time I was a little rougher and put her into a
cradle lock.  When I released her this time she gave me a look like she
didn't recognize me.  She didn't say anything, just left and went to help
Louise at the fire.  I turned to Claire.

   �gDo you know what that look was about?�h

   She looked at me in amusement, �gI think you gave Elizabeth a surprise.
She forgot that even though you're a gentle man you're not from this time
and might not react like one.�h

   I just looked at her with an uncomprehending look on my face.

   �gI mean, Dear, that no man from this era would ever think of throwing a
young woman on the ground and holding her so she couldn't get up.  And that
last hold was something no man I've ever met would put a woman in.�h

   I had forgotten the differences in outlooks again!  I was brought up to
believe that men and women were equal in rights and responsibilities.  It
was common for women to be in the dojo and to demand to be treated the same
as the male students.

   During our morning meeting it was decided that since we were in an area
that seemed safe enough, we would take a two day stopover to repair the
wagons and let the women clean clothes and bake light bread for our trip
over the Blue Mountains.  The older boys were given permission to hunt the
many waterfowl we saw around the marsh and bring any bigger game back to
smoke for the trip.  I told everyone that if they needed medical help to
get me during the day as I would not leave my wagon at night for anything
not life threatening.

   The wagon master inspected each wagon and told the owner to make the
needed repairs.  If anyone needed help he first asked for volunteers and,
if no one did, picked people to help them.  I insisted that no one help the
wagons with the measles unless they had them as a child.  I also insisted
that all clothing and bedding from those wagons be washed separately from
the others.

   When he checked our wagon he told me that I needed to tighten the rims
on the wheels again.  He suggested that I pull the wagon into the river and
let them soak for the next two days as this would cause the wood to swell
and that would tighten the rims.  He showed me some other minor items that
needed repairs but said that these were not vital, just needed.  Elizabeth
and I discussed how to best soak the wheels and she told me the best way
would be to back the wagon into the river for the day and bring it out at
night.  I left it to her and wandered over to the main fire where Claire
and Louise were talking to the other women.  As I approached, everyone
stopped talking.  Corrie came out of the group and grabbed my arm.

   �gWalk with me for a while.�h she said.  We walked for a ways and she
spoke again, �gI understand you know of ways for women to defend themselves
using only their own body.�h

   I uttered an noncommittal grunt.  (�gWhy didn't I tell Louise not to say
anything?�h)

   �gI want you to teach us so we can teach others.�h

   I glanced at her and raised my eyebrows, �gYou want me to be hung?  Can
you imagine what their husbands or brothers would say if they saw me doing
that?�h

   She just waved her hand as if she was telling a joke, �gDon't worry. 
The women you will teach are discrete and won't talk.�h

   I turned to face her and said bluntly, �gWhy?�h

   Just as bluntly she answered, �gI'm tired of seeing young women thought
of as nothing but a punching pillow for their husbands or male relatives.
Our group believes that women are more than baby machines or beasts of
burden.  We want what your wives tell us they have from you, equality!�h

   I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.  I was getting caught up in a
secret woman's conspiracy for equal rights in 1847?  I couldn't think of
anything that would change history more.  And who was this group?

   (Author's note: This was the time period (1848)when women of the various
reform groups got together at Seneca Falls in New York to demand equal
rights for the first time.  They didn't have a name for this or a single
group espousing this idea but they did know what they wanted.  And you
thought that the equal rights movement began with the bra burning 1960's.)

   �gI have to talk to my wives about this as it affects the whole family.
Besides, the wagon captain told me that we would be thrown out of the wagon
train after we reach Oregon City.�h

   �gYou let us take care of the wagon captain.  Talk to them about it. 
You'll find we are all in agreement about this.�h

   I walked away in a fog of confusion.  What is going on here?  I headed
back to our wagon in a daze.

   �gElizabeth?  Walk with me for a while.  I need to talk.�h We headed
over to the river and sat down.  �gWhat can you tell me about a woman's
group on the train?�h

   Her face which had been showing nothing other than an interest about
what I was going to talk about, became blank.  �gWhat group?�h

   �gThe one that Corrie is involved with that includes my three wives.�h

   After several evasions and counters from me, Elizabeth finally admitted
that there was a group of temperance and abolitionist reformers who had
been organizing in the east to fight for equal rights for women.  A number
of the women on the train had been involved with these groups and during
the journey they had spread these ideas through most, if not all the women
of the train.

   �gThey want me to train them in unarmed combat.  What are they planning
to do with it?�h

   �gOur plan is to teach women to protect themselves from abuse by
teaching them how to defend themselves.�h

   �gOur plan?�h

   �gCorrie did tell you that we are all members of the group, didn't she?
Just like the men get together to talk about what to do every morning, so
do we.  We talk about who is being abused and who is to be encouraged.  You
would have never learned anything about this if we hadn't been willing to
assure everyone you could be trusted.�h

   Elizabeth gave me a kiss on my cheek and stood up.  �gJust think about
it, Sweetheart.  I know you'll decide to do what's right.�h

   I remained sitting.  I had been given plenty of facts that would need a
through chewing before I could decide anything.  My first impulse was to
agree.  How would the ability to defend themselves change the position of
women in this time?  I wildly envisioned a secret group of ninja-like woman
avenger's secretly eliminating abusive husbands.  I threw off this bit of
fantasy quickly.  I simply didn't have the knowledge of martial arts to
support anything like that.  What did I know?  I knew enough to teach dirty
tricks of fighting and a basic knowledge of Tae Kwon Do and Tai Chi.  In
other words enough to surprise a man long enough to escape and maybe some
blows that could do some damage if used at the right time.  Mostly I would
be able to instill an attitude that defense was possible.

   I stood up and realized somewhat to my surprise, that I had decided to
do it.  I had already decided that I was going to change history if needed
to keep slavery out of Oregon.  What made this different?  I returned to
the wagon where my wives were talking to Corrie.

   I spoke without any preamble, �gI'll do it but only the most basic moves
until we get to Oregon City.  Even the most basic training will take
several months.  Do you have women who are willing to spend that much time
to learn?�h

   Corrie answered without delay, �gI have three who can start
immediately.�h

   I was trying to think of three women who could start immediately and
whose husbands brothers would not object when it hit me that she meant my
wives.  I turned to them and gave them an unhappy glance.  �gWhen did you
plan on telling me?�h

   As usual Elizabeth acted as the spokesman, �gWe were just asked about it
right before you returned.�h

   I accepted this but it didn't make me happy that they made such a
decision without me again.  Then I got a surprise.

   �gBut only if you agree.�h Elizabeth said.

   (Finally my wives were remembering that I had to be consulted before we
made a family decision!) �gIs this something you really want to do?�h

   �gYes�h

   �gAll right.�h



   August 9, 1847



   For the next day we made repairs on the wagons and smoke-dried fish and
game for the journey after the Blue Mountains.  Our oxen were permitted to
rest and looked a lot better after a day of rest.  Many of the sprains
healed and life was good.  We knew after the guide came back that we had
two days of travel in the Grande Ronde Valley with one small rise in the
middle of it.  We made an easy journey through the valley with plentiful
grass and game.  Elizabeth took my shotgun and managed to get several
Canadian geese and ducks on both days.  She decided to hang the birds for
two days to improve the flavor.  I decided to eat fish instead.

   After we stopped for the day I worked with my wives to show them the
Krav Magen fighting techniques my sisters had learned, as well as various
escape holds.  The one move that it seemed all of them liked was the knee
to the groin after misdirecting the attackers attention with a hand going
toward his face.  I had to stop after Claire accidentally made contact
while practicing.  They were surprised that a man was so easily hurt there.
This was the most difficult thing they had to overcome, the reluctance to
hit someone at full speed.

   I finally made up a ball of cloth in a leather bag I tied on a string
like a tether ball for them to practice on that I tied on a limb.  I soon
saw several of these balls around the camp being played with by the women
and children.  I even heard tether ball being used as the name for them.  I
noticed that the women in the camp began to spend more and more time
playing with the balls after I began teaching my wives various kicks to
use. I didn't object as this gave them practice both in making full contact
with something and skill in hitting a moving target.  Later I plan to place
the balls on a regular pole and have them practice hand blows.

   Tomorrow we begin to go through the Blue Mountains.

   August 11, 1847

   We traveled the Blue Mountains, which covered with beautiful hundred
foot tall pines and spruce trees.  I was surprised at the ease of the
travel through the mountains.  I was expecting to have to have to fight our
way over the mountains like we did getting to the Grande Ronde.  We have
made about 12 miles today.  We are almost at the crest of a long hill with
a smashed wagon at the foot of it.  We have found good grass for the
animals in a small valley.  We have not seen anyone else for the entire
day.

   Several parties have gone out in search of game.  All have returned with
the exception of two boys.  The fathers have begun a search and will
continue tomorrow after daybreak.  The wagon master has told both men that
we will be moving on because he is afraid that we might be caught on the
mountain by bad weather.  We ran into several showers today and the clouds
have been building up all day.  Thunder has been heard for the last two
hours and everyone is in a hurry to get under cover.  We are worried that
the cattle might be stampeded by lightning and have been trying to figure
out some way to control their movement.

   I found that Elizabeth, of all people, is afraid of thunder.  I found
her huddled in the wagon being held by Claire.  I cuddled with her after we
got everything put away and felt her shake every time we heard a
thunderclap.  Louise brought in our supper to eat in the wagon.  We had
deer steak, corn bread, biscuits with gravy, and coffee or tea.

   The night guard is going to have a hard time controlling the animals
with this weather.  I have made sure we have all three horses tied to the
tail gate.  I just wish there was someway to tie out the oxen.

   We went to bed and cuddled Elizabeth tonight.  We talked for about an
hour about the lessons in unarmed combat they had learned.  Louise told me
she is feeling a lot less helpless after only two days of training.  I
warned her about overconfidence and the need to train for several months to
be able to react automatically.

   I fell asleep listening to the sound of rain on the wagon cover.

   August 12, 1847

   Woke up this morning to disaster.  The cattle stampeded last night and
scattered everywhere.  Everyone with a horse is needed to find them.  The
fathers of the lost boys are not going to be with us.  One of the men told
them this morning that he saw them headed west yesterday morning and they
are headed off to try and find them.  One of the night guard was brought in
with a broken arm and a torn leg where he had been gored by one of the
cattle when he tried to stop the stampede.  I set his arm and made sure the
tear is clean.  I am going to try some moldy bread on the wound as I am
afraid that it will turn septic from the goring.  What I would give for
some penicillin!

   Claire and I elected to go west with the Ed Miller and Jon Thorenson,
the fathers of the lost boys.  If we find any of the cattle we will herd
them back to the camp.  They should be easy to control since they will be
tired after the stampede.  We have been calling for the boys since we went
out of sight of the camp.  We have been looking for an hour and have seen
nothing.  I talked to the men and we decided that after another hour there
would be no sense in looking for the cattle further away and Claire and I
would return.  If we found the boys on the way back we would shoot three
rounds as a signal.

   We left the two men and turned back towards the wagon train.  I wanted
to check some of the side streams that we had passed on the way.  In one of
them we found four oxen and five of the cattle in the various draws before
we got back and herded them toward the camp.  There was still no sign of
the boys.

   The guard who was gored last night is not doing very well.  I need to
look at his leg wound again and see if I missed anything.  I couldn't find
anything and went to get my bottle of whiskey to clean the wound again.  I
opened the bottle and realized that I didn't smell anything.  I tasted the
whiskey and found it had been cut with water so much that it wasn't
alcoholic at all.  I asked around and found several people had found
whiskey bottles that had been filled with water.  I borrowed some whiskey
and used it to clean the wound properly this time.  I was ready to break
someone's neck, anyone who would steal my few medicines.

   Most of the cattle have been returned to the camp but we have lost 5
head in the stampede.  We have also found the boys, who were brought in by
their fathers, drunk as skunks.  Their water bottles were checked and found
to contain pure whiskey.  Both fathers have been ordered to bring the boys
to the wagon captain for a trial tomorrow.  They are likely to be sentenced
to five stokes with a cane for this behavior.  If they are the ones who
stole the whiskey this punishment will be greater.  The women have had the
time to make raised bread for dinner and breakfast which will make a
pleasant change from the constant corn bread.  We will be going down hill
tomorrow and the wagon master has teams of us cutting down trees to act as
drags when we start.  I have never done this and I am not alone.  This time
I guess we'll learn together.



   August 13, 1847

   We are continuing our journey through the Blue Mountains today.  We must
have gone up and down a half dozen slopes today.  Every time we get to the
top of a hill the wagon master makes a determination if we need to cut a
drag for the wagons.  Half the time it seems we do.  We have made perhaps
10 miles today and everyone is exhausted.

   I began the women on Tai Chi tonight.  I didn't tell them that the
movements they were making could be used in combat.  I have them thinking
it is to improve their balance, which it will.

   I was attacked by Claire again when we went to bed.  I can't believe how
horny she has become since she became pregnant.  She wanted to be in the
cowboy position today, after seeing Elizabeth enjoying it so much.  She
must have had at least three orgasms before I even got close to cuming. 
After her third orgasm, she relinquished me to Louise whose own horniness
is increasing with her advancing pregnancy.  Louise sucked up my dick like
a vacuum and began to move her mouth back and forth on it.  Elizabeth was
eating her out and I was fingering Elizabeth.  The train was going full
blast when we began cuming, first Louise then Elizabeth and then me.  By
the time we came down from our highs Claire was already sleeping.  We
cuddled up next to her and followed her into slumber.

   August 14, 1847

   It's official.  The last of my wives to become pregnant began the day
throwing up everything she had eaten the night before.  Elizabeth has
missed her last two periods and couldn't be prouder of the fact.  Claire
may beat her giving birth, but it won't be by much.  Louise may beat both
of them but she isn't sure when she became pregnant.  She has had some
discomfort but at least she didn't have morning sickness.  I just hope
we'll be in a home of our own by then.  I'm just glad that they won't be
giving birth while we are traveling.

   I got a visit from the wagon captain today.  He told me that he
regretted his words after the trial and asked if we would continue with the
wagon train when they left Oregon City.  Apparently, the people of the
wagon train want to stay in touch by claiming adjacent land grants and
create a small town in the center of it.  I think I am seeing the hand of
the �ggroup�h in this decision.

   We began going downhill today and while the trail is clear of major
obstacles we have had to use the drags for much of the day.  It was over 20
miles to the crest and it looks like we will be going about nine miles to
reach the base of the mountain on this side.  The mountains are extremely
rough and most people have chosen to walk rather than ride.  Elizabeth and
I are trading off every hour as that is about all the time either of us can
take the pounding from the wagon going over the uneven ground.  The rain
has made it slick at several locations on the way down and we have needed
the majority of the men to help hold the wagon back from sliding at those
locations.  You can see we are not the first to have this problem as the
trees in this area carry large scars from being rubbed by ropes as wagons
were belayed down the hillside.  I would not want to try this in snow or
ice, I think it would be impossible.

   We had the trial for the boys today.  They were convicted of becoming
drunk and stealing from the wagons.  If they had been adults they would
have been thrown out of the wagon train.  Instead they received ten lashes
from a cane and have been ordered to perform work for a day doing whatever
chores are required for each of the wagons from whom they had stolen the
whiskey.  From the difficulty they had sitting I believe that they each
received a whipping from their fathers as well.

   I have had several complaints of sprains today, but no broken bones so
far.  I have never imagined such steep slopes, in some areas it was almost
vertical.  We wove back and forth across the steep hills where possible and
where it is not we had to belay the wagons down the mountain with ropes and
drags.  The hands of the men are getting torn up from the ropes and I can
do little to help with this.  I have urged everyone to wear something on
their hands and have seen men wearing socks and other pieces of clothing in
an attempt to spare their hands from the rasp-like surface of the hemp
rope. Everyone not driving the wagons is walking to lessen the weight of
the wagon and also for safety.  Those who are injured have no choice but to
ride on one of the horses or be carried by stretcher.

   The guard who was gored is not getting any better.  As I feared he has
developed an infection at the site of the goring.  I have continued to
clean the wound but it is deep and I have no way to clean it other than
pushing a soft cloth soaked with whiskey into the wound.  I have warned him
that he must keep it clean or he might lose the leg.

   August 15, 1847

   We finally reached the bottom of the Blue Mountains with only minor
injuries and some damage to the wagons.  We thought for awhile that one of
the wagons was going to be lost when one of the ropes broke, but the other
held and it slid to one side of the trail and was stopped by the trees.  We
tied off the unbroken rope and with the effort of all the men in the wagon
train, managed to retie the broken rope and pull the wagon back on the
trail.

   The wagon master asked for a cheer as we had just gone through the last
major mountain range before we got to Oregon City.  There arose a cheer
from the train that made birds rise from the trees it was so loud.  Many
people began wandering around slapping backs and shaking hands to
celebrate. We only had around 350 miles to go before arriving at Oregon
City.  Little did we know that some of the most difficult parts of the
trail lay before us.