Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Chapter 18

   September 9, 1847

   I would have never believed so much stuff could go into a wagon.  I have
seen everything I could possibly imagine coming out of them wagons and some
things that I would have never brought on such a long difficult journey. 
Why would anyone take the trouble to bring a harpsichord all the way from
Missouri to Oregon?  This was in the Simeroth wagon.  And why did Claire
bring a small church bell?  (This came from our wagon and I didn't even
know it was there!) There were chairs, tables, chests, and other
miscellaneous furniture as well as the more mundane farming and ranching
equipment.  One man had an anvil and most of a small blacksmith shop in his
wagon.  He was looking for someone to help him carry the anvil down the
hill.  I know it won't be me!  It must weigh over a hundred and fifty
pounds.

   We have been carrying things down all morning and everyone is covered
with mud from slipping on the way down.  Even worse in my opinion is that
the train before us didn't take the trees they used as drags out of the way
so we have to clear those too, before we can start.  Willy disappeared
before breakfast to go hunting and look for a better path down the hill for
the women and children.  I suspect he just took off to avoid the job of
carrying all this stuff.  I wish I could.

   I found Willy at the bottom of the hill without a drop of mud on him and
two elk tied to his mule.  He proceeded to laugh at everyone until we began
to chase him.  He ran but we managed to catch him and lifting him over our
heads threw him into the biggest mud puddle we could find.  He sat up with
an indignant look on his face when we laughed at him, then he began
laughing himself, "Guess I shouldn't laugh at people working, should I?" We
all loudly agreed and helped him up.  The first two people grabbed his arms
and were quickly pulled into the puddle with him.  Unfortunately I was one
of them.

   Totally muddy, I went to a pond near by that had been filled by the
recent rains and jumped in.  Brrr!  Talk about cold!  I stumbled up the
hill in my wet clothes and went to our wagon for a change.  There I found
Willy getting clean with warm water Louise had heated for him.  I gave him
and Louise a dirty look and changed into clean clothes.  Willy called to
me, "Alex, I'm too old to take your woman.  Women just like me as a friend.
Besides I'm too set in my ways to settle down."

   "You're always welcome to stay with us when you're in the area.  As long
as you leave by yourself, that is."

   He gave me a considering look, "You've got a deal.  By the way I found a
path for the stock and the women.  It's a ways out but doable for them but
not the wagons.  It may add a day to your trip though."

   "You need to let the wagon captain know about it.  I've got to get back
to work."

   He wished me good luck and went back to getting clean with the warm
water, while I went back to trying to figure out how to get the church bell
down the hill.  Finally I tied the bell to my back and carried it that way
to the bottom.  Finally about dusk we finished.  Everything except what we
needed for tonight was at the bottom of the hill and under guard to keep
the Indians out of the goods.

   The wagon captain called me over, "How much do you trust Willy?"

   "Enough to leave him alone with one of my wives."

   "Do you trust him enough to let him lead all the women and children on a
two day trip?"

   "Yes!"

   He thanked me and called for the wagon train members to assemble for a
meeting.  He explained what Willy had found, a path through the woods that
a man or a cow could go through but not a wagon.  The slope was easier but
the trail didn't begin for about 10 miles further, off the ZigZag Canyon.
It would take a day to travel there and get back to the Sandy River.  He
was going to send the cattle and would like the women and children to go
that way too.  He asked for volunteers.  At first no one volunteered to go,
then Elizabeth and Louise came forward and soon only the older boys and the
men remained.  The wagon captain chose several of the older men to act as
guards and assigned them to go with the women.  He also pulled three of the
older women to remain behind to cook for the men working.

   We went to dinner and I asked Elizabeth if she was going to drive the
wagon down Laurel Hill.  She just looked at me and said, "That isn't
driving, That's just a controlled fall down that hill" Then she got up and
came over to where I was eating and gave me a big kiss, "You be careful! 
We won't be here to save you this time."

   I looked at Louise, "Are you going to be all right?"

   "I think so.  I can still travel, even though I do have to stop and piss
every half hour."

   I turned and looked at Elizabeth, "You take care of each other and make
sure you have enough blankets."

   Soon afterwards we went to bed where I made love to Elizabeth and we
cuddled around Louise.  Soon worn out by today's labor we went to sleep.

   September 10, 1847

   We began lowering the wagon captain's wagon first.  We tied a forty foot
pine on the back of the wagon and attached ropes to each corner.  For extra
braking we put a branch between both back wheels to keep them from moving.
Still, we almost lost the wagon, and we did lose an ox.  One of the oxen
just died when we reached the bottom of the hill.  We continued lowering
the wagons for the entire day and finished around 3 in the afternoon.  We
lost 4 oxen during the day from exhaustion or being run over by wagons. 
Several others were in bad shape but should survive.  One wagon had a
damaged wheel that had to replaced and I gave them the wheel I got when I
replaced mine.  It was almost the same size and everyone thought it would
last until we got to a blacksmith.  We started loading the wagons after
everyone was down.  Being men, we loaded the wagons in no particular order
and were told by the women who remained with us that we knew nothing about
how to pack a wagon.  We agreed and continued to put the items in the
wagons.  By dusk we were finished and everyone was starving.

   I looked up at Laurel Hill and couldn't believe that we had managed to
get down that thing.  There were huge gouges in the dirt where we had
dragged the trees behind us and the 1500 pound wagons had left deep ruts in
the soft soil.  Everyone was covered with mud and we were exhausted, but
everyone was in a mood to celebrate the last major hurdle in our way.  We
gathered around the main fire and began to pass around the plates of stew
and cornbread with the whiskey not far behind.  As we were eating and
drinking to celebrate finishing with so little problems, it began to snow.
Suddenly the mood went from celebratory to fear for our wives and children.
They were out walking in the mountains above us without any shelter.  We
waited hoping it was just a small flurry, but it started coming down harder
and soon it was a hard snowfall.  Chaos broke out with some of the men
wanting to go looking for our wives and others cautioning us that dusk was
almost here.  Finally the wagon master pulled his pistol and with a bang
from the .44 stopped all the talking.  He looked at us, "It's too late to
do anything tonight.  All you'll succeed in doing is get lost yourself. 
Willy is a mountain man who's trapped around this area for the last twenty
years.  He knows how to read the weather and how to get ready for a storm.
Your women are going to be fine as long as they listen to him.  He's
probably already got them covered up and warm by now."

   One of the men spoke up, "You don't have a wife or children lost in the
woods!"

   "You're right, I don't.  That means I can look at this more logically
right now.  I know Willy and I trust that he knows what he is doing or I
would never have recommended that the captain propose his path."

   I spoke up, "I have two wives with Willy.  And while he might flirt with
both of them I still trust him to do his best to keep them safe.  The
captain asked me if I trusted him before the meeting and I still do!"

   After that there was scattered talking but almost everyone accepted that
there was nothing we could do tonight.  The ones who still wanted to go
looking were pulled aside by their friends and persuaded to wait.  No
longer in a mood to celebrate we went to our wagons and went to bed.

   September 11, 1847

   We woke up to a half foot of snow on the ground with scattered flurries
continuing to come down.  We gathered at the fire and waited for the wagon
captain to come out and discuss our next move.  He came out of his wagon
and with him he had a shivering Willy.  "Where's our wives?" rang out from
the crowd.

   Willy pulled himself up and told them in a loud voice answered, "In a
cave in the valley by the Sandy, safe and warmer than I am."

   The wagon captain spoke up, "Willy told me how to reach them and we can
get there in two hours.  Do you all want to go or just enough to bring them
back here?"

   The majority of the men couldn't wait to see their wives and children
safe, so he ordered that the wagons be hitched up and the line be formed. I
had been looking at Willy and he hadn't stopped shivering yet, going up to
him I looked at his fingers and noticed that they were blue.  I grabbed his
hand sand stuck them under my arms.  "Can you feel your feet?"

   "No!'

   "How about anything else, besides your hands?"

   "My ears feel like they're not there."

   I turned to the wagon captain, "I need two of the women to get in my
wagon to care for Willy.  He has frostbite, and I want to check him out for
anything else." Calling for two other men, I had them carry Willy to my
wagon where I stripped him out of his buckskins and put him under all the
covers I had.  I saw a lot of scars he had picked up over the years from
accidents and fights.  He had been shot at least twice by a gun and had
been shot by arrows several times.  The rest of his torso was scarred by
old cuts and healed wounds.  I checked his feet and found they were blue
and had no sensation when I stuck a pin in them.  His ears were white and
it looked like an earlobe was about to come off after being broken by
something.

   Finally the two women arrived at my wagon and I told them to cuddle up
to Willy and keep him as warm as possible.  They gave me a look like I was
crazy until I ordered them in a firm voice to, "Get down there and keep him
warm!" Reluctantly they got down next to Willy and turned their backs to
him.  I ordered them to turn around and hug him to give him as much warmth
as possible.  Willy smiled and told the women he had never had such visions
of beauty hug him before.  The women giggled like school girls and relaxed.


   I got in the seat and waited for the order to move out.  Soon it came
and we began our journey to the Sandy River and our families.  Except for
steering the wagon the snow actually helped.  It filled in the lower spaces
between the boulders and made for a smoother ride.  We almost had several
accidents where the wagon tipped over but managed to avoid having this
happen.  Two hours and five miles later we arrived at the Sandy River, but
didn't see our families.  I turned to Willy, "Where are they?"

   "Just fire three times and they'll come out.  I used my coat to block
the cave opening to keep it warmer.  It was the only thing big enough to do
it"

   I heard from the front of the wagon train the sounds of three pistol
shots ring out.  Suddenly I saw a piece of the hillside about twenty feet
up move and saw a head poke out from behind a covering.  It was Elizabeth.
With a glad cry I jumped off the wagon and tried to climb up to the cave.
Elizabeth seeing me, jumped out of the cave and slid down in her buckskins
into my arms.  Soon other people started showing up but only those wearing
pants chose Elizabeth's method of getting down.  The others waited until we
hacked steps out of the hard soil and climbed down.  Finally I held Louise
as well and I gave both a big kiss and hug.  Elizabeth looked around,
"Where's Willy?"

   Suddenly I remembered that I had left Willy in the wagon with two women
hugging him for warmth.  I ran back to the wagon with my wives and found
Willy asleep with his arms around two sleeping women who were draped over
him.  Elizabeth began to giggle and soon Louise joined her.  I was trying
my best not to laugh but finally couldn't hold it any longer.  This woke up
both women who sat up as if they had no idea what we were laughing about.
"Thank you ladies.  I think we can keep him warm now." They blushed and got
out of the wagon.

   Elizabeth and Louise looked at the wagon and gave me a look of disgust
at the way I had packed it.  Snorting at me and whispering to each other
they began restoring everything into it's place.  I woke up Willy and
looked at his hands and feet.  His hands were red and painful but his feet
still appeared pale and he had no feeling in his toes on his right foot. 
His ear was red and tender to the touch.  I called Louise over and told her
to hold Willy's feet between her body and her arms or any part of her body
she could surround them with.  She blushed and put Willy's feet under her
arms.  I didn't have any way to warm enough water to do any good so I had
to hope this was enough.

   I got out of the wagon and went to see if anyone else needed my
attention.  I found that except for being somewhat cold, and the children
bored and unhappy that they hadn't been allowed to play in the snow,
everyone else appeared to be alright.  Relieved I returned to the wagon.  I
looked in and found that the wagon again looked as it had before and that I
had two sleeping wives cuddled up against Willy to keep him warm.

   I walked up to the wagon captain's wagon and talked to him for a while
about what we were to do next.  We had to get the cattle from a small
valley Willy had shown the men and that they had blocked off with fallen
trees.  He told me that we would be cutting some of the logs the earlier
wagon trains had used into smaller pieces and building rafts.  We were
going to travel by rafting down the Sandy River until it reached the
Willamette Valley.  After that we had the Clackamas River to cross and we
would be at Oregon City.  For today we would just rest and rejoice that we
were reunited with our families.

   I returned to our wagon and found both wives up and Willy sitting up in
the bed drinking a cup of his strong coffee.  "How are you feeling?" I
asked.

   "All right."

   "Let me see your hands and feet." I reached for his hands and saw they
were red and tender to the touch.  Taking one of the boiled cloths I made
sure to have available I gently wrapped each finger and hand making sure
there was no contact between pieces.  "This is going to hurt until it
heals!" I warned him.  Picking up his foot I saw his left foot was red and
tender but nothing seemed to be wrong.  When I picked up his right foot I
had to hold my face still.  The heel and all his toes were blue and black.
I knew from my first aid course that this meant he might lose these from
the frostbite.  I wasn't sure how to tell Willy that he might not be able
to walk on that foot again well enough to continue trapping.

   I must not have been as blank faced as I thought or he could read me too
well, because he looked at me and said, "Guess I won't be trapping any
more, will I?" I just looked at him and nodded.  "How much am I going to
lose?" he asked.

   "Most if not all the toes on your right foot and some of the heel.  If
gangrene sets in possibly the whole foot." I gave him the worst I could
think of.  "There's no way to save them, they're too far gone I'll try
everything I know of,but I think you had better begin thinking of something
else to do.  You'll be able to walk on even ground but I don't think you
will be able to handle a trap line anymore."

   He gave me a look of desperation, "I don't think I could handle living
in a town."

   "Have you thought about taking a land grant?  You know we are going to
be setting up a town on the Eola Hills around the Willamette.  Why not join
us and claim a grant around there?  You'll always be welcome to visit us if
you want.  If a single man's claim isn't enough then tell them you are
married and get a full 640 acres."

   "But who'd pretend to be married to an old man like me?C"

   I turned to Elizabeth and Louise, "Ladies, this calls for a woman's
viewpoint."

   I left and wandered around looking at the wagon and trying to figure how
we were going to attach the wagons to rafts and float them.  After about an
hour I saw Elizabeth outside the wagon cooking dinner.  I came up to her
and asked how the discussion was going.  Elizabeth shrugged, "I have to
admit that I am not the person you should have asked.  I look at him like
an uncle and that's how I see him.  I'm fond of him but there is no
physical attraction there."

   "What about Louise?"

   She started to answer then stopped, "I'm not so sure anymore.  I thought
that she regarded him as an uncle too, but since you asked her about what
she wanted for herself, I don't know anymore.  I don't think she'd leave us
for him, but there's some attraction there.  Louise is starved for
attention and affection."

   She began stirring the cornbread, "Louise's greatest fear is to be left
alone again.  I don't know how secure she feels right now being pregnant
with another man's child and being in a multiple marriage with one man and
three women.  Claire and I are sisters which is another reason Louise may
feel left out.  I would have thought that our love for her was enough to
reassure her, but now I don't know."

   I had to think about that myself.  Last week I would have sworn Louise
would always be with us.  Now I just didn't know anymore.  Could the love
she'd shown have stemmed from gratitude toward the ones who rescued her and
treated her like a human being?  I sat by Elizabeth and watched her make
dinner.  I heard movement coming from the wagon and saw Louise climbing
out. She came over to us and stood watching Elizabeth making dinner.  She
reached for my hand and squeezed it hard, "I don't know what to tell him. I
like him but only as a friend.  He's a good man but I don't think any woman
could live with him for more than a week without going crazy." She started
to cry, "I feel so sorry for him!"

   I turned and held Louise in my arms and let her cry.  Elizabeth finished
making the corn bread and placed it in the dutch oven to cook.  She came
over and hugged Louise, "We'll think of something, Love."

   "What will we do about sleeping arrangements tonight?  I don't want
Willy to sleep on the ground if there's any chance of it being cold.  He
needs to be in a wagon off the ground." I commented.

   Louise spoke up, "How about the farm wagon the Simeroths were using for
food?  That's almost empty now.  Maybe he can sleep in there.  Do you know
if they speak English?"

   Neither of us knew, but I knew enough German to ask at least.  Going to
the Simeroth's wagon I greeted Johan, "Guten Tag.  Sprechen sie Englisch?"
(Good Day.  Do you speak English?)

   "Ja.  Ein bissel." (Bavarian for Yes.  A little)

   Kommen Sie aus Bayern?" (Are you from Bavaria?)

   Ja bin ich von Augsburg.  (Yes, I am from Augsburg.)

   With that I just about exhausted my memory of German.  I continued in
English, "You know Willy, the man who led the women on their trip?"

   "Ja."

   He's been hurt and needs a place to sleep off the ground.  I was
wondering if he could sleep in your food supply wagon with the boys?"

   Johan turned and called to his wife.  Speaking too fast for me to
understand completely they discussed whether she had any objection to his
sleeping with the boys.  Since she had none, he turned to me and told me,
"Kein Problem.  He welcome to stay with us until he well gets."

   (Author's note: Until WW1 you were as likely to hear German spoken in
many parts of the country as English.  Only after the American government
used anti-Germany war sentiment to discourage German was English the
primary language of the nation.)

   Getting Louise to help me, we helped Willy to get to the Simeroth wagon
where he was met with eager smiles and looks from several of the boys from
the family.  One of his daughters, Ola, was charged with making sure that
his wounds were dressed daily with clean boiled cloth.  I showed her how to
change the bandages and how to keep the area clean.  Satisfied that she
knew what to do I returned to our wagon.

   Once there I saw Elizabeth and Louise whispering excitedly into each
other's ear.  I just looked at them and raised my eyebrows in a question.
They looked at me giggled and ignored me.  Wandering behind them I reached
out and swatted both on their rear!  With an indignant yelp both women
turned around and gave me dirty looks.  "Let's keep the plotting hidden
better next time" I told them.  They just gave me innocent looks and turned
back to fixing dinner.  Making up a plate, Louise took Willy's dinner to
him.

   Elizabeth turned to me, "Did you see how much older Johan is than his
wife?" To be honest I never paid attention to her other than to notice she
was there.

   "Never noticed her so I can't say."

   "You never noticed her yellow hair and white complexion?  I don't think
she's much older than Claire.  Johan must be around 45 or 50.  "

   "So she's his second wife."

   "Ola is about Claire's age, too, and she's a widow now as well.  Ola's
talked about how she didn't like being married to someone so young before,
she likes older men because they know how to treat a wife right."

   "Don't you think Willy may be a little too old and set in his ways?"

   "Maybe.  But were going to get the other women involved in talking up
Willy She needs a husband who won't be bothered that she's a childless
widow and will appreciate a young pretty wife."

   I thought about the "group" and what they had done so far.  Somehow I
got the feeling that Willy's bachelor days were numbered.

   Louise came back grinning like a cat who ate the canary.  She gave
Elizabeth a significant glance and went to wash the plate.  Finishing, she
turned around and gave me a hug, "I want you tonight!" I gave her a
doubtful look at her extended stomach.  She looked down and then grinned at
me, "Elizabeth and I have been talking about some of the positions you told
her about and we think we know of one we can use.

   That night she showed that she was more limber than I would have
believed a 6 month pregnant woman could be.  And we did enjoy it.