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 Chapter 19

   September 12, 1847

   We began building rafts today for the wagons.  I'm glad some of these
people know what to do because I don't have any idea about what I'm doing.
We cut the logs that have been used as drags for Laurel Hill into 20 to 25
foot pieces and are dragging them back to our campsite, There people who I
hope know what they are doing are constructing rafts for the wagons.  These
are nothing fancy, just flat platforms of logs tied together with rope and
a few wooden pegs.  I hope we don't run into fast rapids, because I
wouldn't trust them.  I'm going to use a brace and bit to drill holes for a
rail around mine before I get on it.  I want to have something to hang on
to.

   This is mind-numbing work but a lot easier than we have been doing. 
It's easier to do since the trees have been cut down already so all we have
to do is cut off the branches and then cut what we want to length.  The
oxen teams are able to haul three or four logs at one time so it is going
fairly fast using them.  We expect to be finished by today, then we will
start loading the wagons on the rafts tomorrow.  Joseph went with the
survey party so we need to choose someone to lead the boys as they drive
the cattle down the Sandy River until we meet them at the Willamette
Valley. Willy would have been our choice but I refused to have him go,
"This man is hurt!  He may lose his foot if he doesn't keep warm and dry.
Choose someone else!" Finally after a long discussion it was decided that
Johan would be the trail boss, as he was old enough to provide a real
authority.

   I bored four holes for rails and will be putting them on after we load
the wagon.  The river doesn't look too bad right now but I know nothing
about how it looks further down and I don't trust the rafts.  Elizabeth
just laughs at me and tells me that they have used the same thing several
times without problems.  Louise is like me and regards the raft makers with
skepticism.  She's used to the big riverboats and the idea of going down a
river on a raft of logs doesn't inspire confidence in her either.

   We just got everything back in the wagons when we were told to unload
everything again to balance the load on the rafts.  We were also told that
we would be removing the wheels from the wagons to make them less top
heavy. Several of the men grumbled that it would be easier to just to drive
the wagons there, until Willy spoke up, "You'd be here until Christmas if
you do that.  There's bogs and thick forest after you cross the Cascades.
You won't have a clear area until you get to the Willamette Valley.  With
this rain the ground is going to be like a bog most of the way for wagons."


   We pushed the rafts to the edge of the river and tied them there for the
night.  After eating dinner we went to bed.  Elizabeth decided she was
going to make love to Louise to reassure her of her place in the family. 
Assigning me the top half we began at each end stroking and kissing each
inch of her body until we met at her belly.  As I stuck my tongue in her
belly button, Elizabeth began nibbling around her mons.  I reversed my
direction and started sucking her breasts as I used my hand to gently
message them.  Elizabeth by this time was licking Louise's slit with her
long tongue.  As Louise became more aroused, she began gasping when
Elizabeth touched her G-spot and her clit.  With a strangles moan, she
stiffened and climaxed.

   Pulling Elizabeth to me I kissed her, tasting Louise's fluids on her
face.  Louise then pulled both of us down by her and began kissing us both.
With loving words and gentle touches we renewed our commitment to each
other.  The last week had been rough, but I think our marriage is the
stronger for getting the doubts resolved.

   September 13, 1847

   We have begun pulling the wagons on to the rafts and launching them. 
The wagons have had the wheels removed and were placed on logs that are
tied down to the rafts.  I was wondering how we were going to get them on
the rafts when a crew of men and the older boys showed up and literally
lifted and carried the wagon.  The raft is then pushed into the river and
checked for balance.  Things that won't be destroyed by water are then
placed around the wagon to balance the load.  I have found the rails I put
on to be a great help in tying the items down and several people have
placed posts on their rafts to do the same.  We have found why another name
for this river is the Quicksand River.  If you try to walk on the bottom of
the river with a load, you quickly sink to your hips in the loose bottom.
Finally about noon we were ready to start.  We ate lunch and began our last
leg of the journey.  It is about twenty miles to the valley and we expect
to be there by dusk.  Everybody is looking forward to our first real look
at the place toward which we have been traveling for so long.

   I was surprised at the ease with which the raft is going.  The only
thing we have had to do today is push away from the banks and the few rocks
we are seeing in the river.  I am amazed at how clear the river is too. 
I'm used to the rivers in California, that in my time were dark roiling
masses of pollution and green algae.  We have been watching the fish in the
river swim under us and you could swear that they are only inches away, but
as some of the boys have found when they attempted to spear them, they are
several feet below at least.  The water level has been good with only
occasional shoals that require us to push to get over.  Willy told us we
are lucky to have gotten here so early because when it rains a lot in the
mountains the river becomes much higher and faster, scouring the banks and
the bottom of the river each year.

   I'm glad we took his advice about not trying to take the wagons through
the woods.  There was an eruption of Mt.  Hood earlier this year and many
of the trees are knocked down.  Other trees have been uncovered that must
have been killed by earlier eruptions.  Many of them are monsters, bigger
than two men could put their arms around.  Willy said there is a path but
it weaves around trees and through bogs that would trap any unwary wagon
driver.  The boys and cattle should be all right since most cattle have
more sense than to enter a bog willingly.  We are beginning to catch
glimpses of the Willamette Valley as we pass openings in the surrounding
hills.  The valley is open and inviting to see.  Willy said that the reason
for this is that it was the custom of the Indians in the area to burn the
valley floor every year.  Everyone is excited to be finally finishing our
trip.

   We have finally arrived at the Willamette Valley!  We pulled ashore at
the first wide opening allowing us a clear view of the valley.  There is an
island in the middle of the river where we have stopped and we have decided
to wait here for the cattle herd.  Some of the men have checked out the
soil and pronounced it as excellent for farming.  We have begun to take the
contents from the rafts and place them on the shore.  We will have to wait
for the oxen to get here to go any further anyway.  We have begun to put
the wheels on the wagons as we get the rafts ashore and we should be ready
to leave tomorrow morning.  Everyone is in a hurry to get to Oregon City to
see what the survey party has found.  We have two days of travel and we'll
be there.

   Elizabeth is beginning to get really eager to see her sister and Louise
and I are getting anxious too.  Everyone is concerned that they have not
found any good land available in a large enough parcel for the wagon train.
Discussions have begun on what to do if that occurs but the arguments are
weak and disjointed as everyone doesn't want to think about this.

   We lay in bed talking about the future and what it would mean.  Louise
was worried about running into prejudiced people who would treat her as
someone not quite human again.  We held her in our arms and petted her
until she went to sleep.  Soon afterwards Elizabeth and I followed.

   September 14, 1847

   The cattle herd arrived but we were shocked at how many we had lost to
the bogs.  We lost 10 % of the herd in 20 miles.  Johan told us that the
trail was more treacherous than he had thought.  Many of the bogs were
hidden under green plants and looked safe to cross until one started across
them.  None of the boys were hurt.  More than one showed signs of having
been caught in the bogs themselves.

   We hitched up the wagons and two were reduced to four oxen teams. 
Luckily the terrain seemed fairly flat and we had no trouble getting
moving. We have begun seeing signs of civilization as we are traveling. 
Farms are showing up and we see more people moving as we get further into
the valley.  We reached the Clackamas River and saw a ferry that would take
us across the river for one dollar per wagon and 5 cents per animal.  This
took us until about 4 in the afternoon and we decided to break for the day.
Several of us headed toward the ferry keepers house to get a tankard of ale
and check on the gossip of the area.  While there we heard about the
divorce of Margaret Jewett Bailey from her drunken husband and how some
woman had been thrown in jail because of assaulting some emigrants after
calling them thieves.  They had claimed she was an impostor, as the woman
she claimed to be died in Wyoming.  We heard about the cost of goods (high)
and the availability of jobs (many) available in Oregon City right now.  He
recommended that we check with George Abernathy as he had a meadow that he
let to wagon trains as a stopping place next to his store.  He also showed
us something we hadn't seen in a long time a fresh newspaper published in
Oregon City.  This was the first paper we had seen that wasn't weeks old.
It was eagerly read by the men there, where we learned that the United
States had issued it's first postage stamp in July and US troops of General
Windfield Scott were advancing along the aqueduct around Chalco and
Xochimilco lakes in Mexico on August 12th.

   We returned to the wagons and began our last sleep before we reached
Oregon City.  Everyone was excited and we washed and prepared our best
clothes for the entry into the town.  We were looking forward to meeting
with our survey party and drawing for our claim descriptions.  We sat up
and talked about what was going on until late in the night.

   September 15, 1847

   We arrived at Oregon City at last!  Many of us hadn't seen so many
houses in a long time.  There must have been 94 houses here and two to
three hundred residents.  We asked questions and finally found Abernathy's
store and made arrangements to stay at his meadow for a few days at least.
We began looking for our survey party.  We must have looked like country
bumpkins as we marveled at seeing two hotels, two grist mills, three saw
mills, four stores, two watchmakers and one gunsmith in the downtown area.
We checked one hotel and didn't find them.  The second hotel was checked
and there they were, everyone but Claire.  When I asked where Claire was a
silence fell across the group.  After quite a few hems and haws trying to
avoid answering, Joseph answered me, "We did our best to get her released,
you know."

   "What are you talking about?"

   "She kept insisting these people had robbed her and Elizabeth."

   I was beginning to get a sinking sensation in my heart.

   "She's in jail for assault."

   With a sinking heart, I asked Joseph, "What happened?"

   "We were walking around looking for a hotel room when she saw some
people standing in front of one of the stores.  She went over to them and
demanded that they return her money and the other things they stole from
her.  They seemed to recognize her but told her that they didn't know what
she was talking about.  That's when she did something to the man and left
him on the ground.  She started to pull the hair out of the other woman's
head when we got there and pulled her off.  We tried to excuse her behavior
to the people but they said that she must be an impostor or mad and
insisted that they wanted to press charges.  The sheriff showed up and she
was arrested.  We offered to post bail but the sheriff said the judge was
out of town and wouldn't be back until tomorrow to set bail."

   I knew that I could probably get this straightened out but it would take
time.  When they saw I wasn't going to explode the members of the survey
party relaxed.  (I wondered when I got a reputation as someone with a
dangerous temper?) They began talking about what they had found when they
were at the Eola hills.  All of them were impressed with the fertility of
the soil in both the valley and the hills.  They were sure we could raise
good crops on any of the portions.  As they began making plans for holding
the lottery, I excused myself and left to pick up Elizabeth.

   After I told Elizabeth and Louise my news, Elizabeth and I went into
town to find the goal.  I asked at the store and they directed me in the
right direction.  When we arrived, we found Claire in a corner room with
irons on her wrists and a gag in her mouth to keep her form talking.  This
made me mad and I demanded that she be released from her restraints.  The
sheriff was about to refuse when I placed my hand on his arm and squeezed a
nerve.  Sweat broke out on his face and I smiled and said, "Please, she
won't cause any problems." I removed my hand and he gave me a strange look.
After looking at my holster he suddenly became much more cooperative.

   After he removed the irons and gag, Claire flew into Elizabeth's arms
and began crying, "I'm sorry.  I saw Abigail Hoffman in one of my best
dresses and lost my temper.  You know how she always sniped at me about my
views and my taste in clothes, then to find her wearing one of my best ones
while walking with Henry Wiseman." Her voice started rising and I saw her
beginning to get mad again.

   "Settle down!  Lets see if we can settle this without going to trial." I
turned to the sheriff, who was listening to this in fascination.  "If I can
get the people who made the original charge to withdraw them will you drop
the charges?"

   He considered for a moment and agreed, "If there's no complaint doesn't
make much sense to have a trail.  You get them to drop the charge and I
will." He gave me a hard look then, "But no killing.  If I learn that the
people who made the complaint are dead, I don't care how dangerous you are,
I'll come looking for you."

   I threw up my hands, "Why is everyone treating me like I'm some sort of
dangerous maniac?"

   He gave me a look, "Any man who shot three men because he didn't like a
comment they made is going to be known as a dangerous man."

   I wondered how the story got so wild.  By the time it got to Corvallis,
at this rate I'll have killed fifty men.  Right now the reputation I seemed
to have was coming in handy.  I thanked the sheriff and held Claire's hand
tightly in mine as we left the goal.  I turned to Claire after we were away
from the sheriff, "How long has the story been circulating that I shot
three men?"

   "I first heard it when we got here.  They described you and your
holster. The story goes that someone made a comment you didn't like and you
shot him and his two companions before they could even get their guns out."


   The story had gotten changed as it came down the Columbia, but it was
mostly correct except for the fact it was one man and he drew first.  I
remembered how in school a story could change from the beginning of one
class to the end of the next.  I wondered if the stories about the
gunfighters were also exaggerated as much as this one seemed to be.

   "Do you know where the people you assaulted went to?"

   Claire looked apologetic again, "I'm sorry.  I really didn't men to do
that, it's just that I dislike that woman so much I couldn't seem to stop."


   "Claire, until you learn to control yourself, you are getting no more
training.  You know what you need to do."

   She looked unhappy but didn't argue, "They went that way." She pointed
over to the west of the town.  We began walking in that direction talking
about the things she had seen while she did the survey.  Using trigonometry
she had measured the size of each plot, their shape, and referenced them to
each other as to location.  She had then described them by finding a
distinctive feature in each area and referenced the distance to the markers
from that point.  She had left sufficient area in one site near the center
for a town.  All the plots had been staked and marked as claimed.  All had
access to water and none blocked anyone from getting to the river with
their crops.

   We finally got through the town and found a small wagon train encamped
in a meadow.  As we approached people started looking at Elizabeth and
Claire in disbelief and began talking together.  We came to the wagon
circle and called out, "Mind if we talk?"

   A man came out of the wagon and Claire looked at him like she'd rather
wipe him off her shoe than talk to him.  Squeezing her hand in warning, I
introduced myself.  He looked at me and said, "I know about you.  You're a
killer, plain and simple.  What do you want from us?"

   "How about a name?  I dislike saying, "Hey you!""

   "I'm the wagon captain.  If I think you need a name, I'll give you one."


   Elizabeth spoke up then, "Mike Larson, why are you being so difficult.
All we want to do is talk!"

   Claire began to speak and I squeezed her hand again.  "I just brought
Claire and Elizabeth here to see if they could find any of the items you
took from their wagon and to have Claire offer an apology for her actions
today.  I know you probably don't have their money anymore but I do think
you owe them an apology for abandoning them in Wyoming."

   He looked down at that, "We thought you were dead or so near that you'd
never get up again.  I don't know how you survived.  I know you had
cholera, and I can count on one hand how many people lived who had it as
bad as you." He looked at Claire then, "We'd have never left you if we had
thought you'd live.  Since you were dead anyway, we thought there was no
reason to leave useful items for the Indians or the next train."

   I released Claire's hand then and let her speak, "I want any of my
mothers things you still have, the chairs, my pots and pans, and most of
all my and Elizabeth's clothes!" She glared at him, "Then I never want to
see any of you again!"

   "Claire!" I warned.

   "And I want to apologize for losing my temper this morning and ask that
they drop the charges with the sheriff." she added without any forgiveness
in her voice.  "But only because my husband asked me to!"

   "Claire!" I warned her again and swatted her on the bottom to empathize
my displeasure.  She gave a jump and turned a glare on me.  I just took her
hand in a tight grip again.

   "All she wanted was an apology, the things that hold personal memories
for her, and her own clothes.  You'll never see her again after that."

   "I don't know if I can find all of the things she had but I'll do my
best." He looked directly at Elizabeth,"Liz, you know that we wouldn't have
left you if we hadn't known you were dead.  If not completely, than soon
enough.  I don't know how you survived, but I'm glad you did nevertheless."


   Elizabeth grabbed my arm and looked at me with pride, "We can thank Alex
for that!  He's a better doctor than anyone else I know.  We have had
almost nobody die if he was able to get to them in time."

   He turned to me, "You seem to be better tempered than I'd heard.  Give
us until tomorrow and send a wagon to pick up what ever we still have. 
I'll persuade Abigail and Henry to drop the charges." He turned his back
and went back into the lager.

   Holding Claire's hand I turned to walk back to the wagon train when I
heard a scream from the wagon train behind us.  It sounded more like a
scream of rage than of pain.  I started to turn around when Claire pulled
my hand and kept walking forward, "That was Abigail, and I hope she hasn't
anything else to wear besides my clothes!" I made a note to myself that
Claire was one to hold a grudge until it died from old age.

   I asked if she wanted to go back to the hotel or back to the wagon. 
Claire said the wagon, then started to cry, "I wanted to be clean and have
clean clothes on before you saw me.  Instead you had to pick me up from the
goal!" Elizabeth and I just held her and let her cry.  Finally she stopped
and gave a small smile, "I'm a real mess right now aren't I?"

   I kissed her, "You'll always be beautiful to me"

   (Author's Note: This ends the first book of I Fell Through.  I am in the
process of researching the background for the second book "A New Life"
which should be coming out next month.  I may take a break in writing this
series soon as I would like to work on another story set in the future. 
Thank you again for reading my story and I hope you have enjoyed it.)