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 Chapter 10

   July 12, 1847



   I had been recovering from the shock I received last night when all
three of my wives talked about being pregnant.  After those statements I
was wide awake.  Claire's pregnancy we had expected, but Elizabeth's was
not.  As for Louise, I spoke to her and found she had missed her last
period but didn't know if she was pregnant, as she had been going through
so much that her periods where irregular.  I told her not to worry about it
for another month.  She was still upset, afraid that I would toss her out
for not telling me about her fears before we wed.



   "Any child born of my wives is mine.  Nobody better say differently." I
told her.



   She began crying again and this time I was stumped.  I became even more
confused when Claire and Elizabeth began crying too.



   "Why is everybody crying?" I demanded.



   "We love you!" Elizabeth cried.



   Now I was really confused.  Claire had pity on me again and told me that
they were crying because they were happy.  Now why a woman would cry
because she's happy I don't know.  It must be a woman thing, because no man
I've ever asked could answer that question for me.



   We started hugging each other and, after I kissed all my women good
night, I laid down and finally went to sleep.

   July 13, 1847



   We are crossing the Little Muddy today and should arrive at Fort Bridger
sometime tomorrow.  The guide has already been there and says he has
prepared the blacksmith to re-shoe all the oxen who need it.  It will cost
a dollar each oxen and 2 dollars to re-rim each wheel.  The fort has a
trading post and the prices are high though not as high as at Fort Laramie.
We need to restock the wagon with food for the remainder of the trip as
well.  Louise needs to buy some new dresses as hers is falling to pieces.



   While we are there I am going to see if I can borrow the forge and anvil
to make some steel scalpels and a new knife.  Finally I can use some of my
knowledge of knife making.  It will depend on whether the blacksmith has
some good iron available.



   I can't believe the difference just a few miles can make in the area. 
For the first time in several days we can see a lot of trees and abundant
grass.  I can't believe how beautiful this country is compared with the dry
tundra we have been going through.  I just hope Fort Bridger looks as good.


   July 14, 1847



   What a disappointment Fort Bridger is!  I thought it would be a real
fort but instead it's a cobbled together collection of mud daubed wood
poles with about twenty five lodges for the fur traders and their Indian
wives.  At least there are fresh oxen here and the black smithy is
available to re-shoe the oxen and do general iron work.  There is a trading
post here with whiskey they are selling to the Indians.  I look at them and
I am ashamed of what the white man is doing to the Indians.  The women are
begging because everything they own is gone for drink.  The men, if not
drunk already, are looking for any means to become so.  At least the wagon
captain has forbidden any of the people to purchase any whiskey for trading
with the Indians so we won't be contributing to this.  Claire looked like
she wanted nothing so much as to burn the trading post down.  The women
were warned they are not to go into the fort by themselves in hopes of
avoiding trouble with the drunks.



   The wagon captain has declared that we will rest for three days while
the oxen are re-shod and the blacksmith does any needed repairs.  I have
arranged to borrow the black smithy when the smith is not using it to make
my knife.  I have been able to find some glass and enough good iron to make
at least one combat knife and several small scalpels.  I am going to try to
make some locking pliers for forceps, but they are going to be make of
plain steel.



   I have decided to use the Wootz method of creating the steel.  Placing
the iron and some charcoal in a clay pot with the broken glass I heated the
clay pot in the furnace until it became red hot.  Shaking it I repeatedly
heated and cooled the mixture for most of a day.  I had shaped the iron
into a knife blank and several smaller blades with the chisels and the
cut-off on the anvil.  After reheating the blades until they were verging
on yellow I hammered the steel until it was finally shaped.  I cooled the
steel first in an oil bath and then in warm water.  I finished shaping the
blades by using the blacksmith's grinding wheel to smooth and put an edge
on them.  I used a deer horn to make a handle for the knife and hardwood
for the scalpels, as well as using iron brads to fasten the handles
together.



   For the first time I am receiving some respect from the men for a skill
I have shown.  I have been surprised by the lack of respect that someone
who is acting as a doctor receives now.  When I asked Claire about how
doctors were trained, she said that most were trained in an apprenticeship,
but anyone could call themselves a doctor without proving anything.  She
told me about a person who set himself up as a doctor near Philadelphia and
had a successful practice until he was exposed as knowing nothing about
medicine.  No wonder they have no respect, as even those who are trained
can do little more than guess about how to treat most of the diseases they
see.



   We have camped a mile away from the fort and hope this will reduce or
eliminate any problems with alcohol.  My wives have spoken to me about
going to the trading post to pick up needed items but I have told Claire
she is not to go.  I'm afraid she will cause trouble if she sees whiskey
being sold to the Indians.  Elizabeth and Louise will be tasked to buy the
needed items, but I am going with them to provide protection.

   July 15, 1847



   I have been arrested by the train captain.  It all started when we went
to the trading post at Fort Bridger.  Elizabeth and Louise went in and were
buying the food we wanted and clothes for Louise while I looked at some
tools we needed for the wagon.  A rather scruffy looking trapper came in
and began to wander around the trading post looking at nothing in
particular.  He started following the women around and I warned him to
leave my wife alone.  He began to look at the whiskey and I turned back to
look at the tools again.  I heard a slap and turned to see him suddenly
stick his hand under Elizabeth's dress.  She screamed and I ran over as he
was trying to pull her dress off.



   I hit the trapper at a full run and knocked him down.  He swore at me
and started to pull a pistol from his belt.  I drew my pistol from my
holster first and shot him several times before he managed to bring his up.
Jim Bridger, the owner of the camp, arrived about then and took charge of
the situation.  There was a disagreement about what happened so he had
several of the men around hold me until the wagon captain arrived.  He
didn't seem too concerned about my shooting the trapper but there was a lot
of noise made when he had the wagon captain take charge of me.



   There is to be a trial tomorrow to determine if I was justified or not
in shooting him.  I learned that some of the single men have been spreading
tales about my marriage to my wives.  The trapper may have thought they
were whores.  I have been told there is some bad feeling about the killing
in the fort but I don't know how widespread it is.  I am under guard and
have been relieved of my guns and my knife.  Until the trial I am being
held in the wagon captain's wagon and can have no contact with my wives.



   I'm worried what will happen tomorrow.  I feel that I was justified but
I have to wait until after the trial to see if the others agree.  I have
been told that the wagon master will represent me while one of the trappers
will be the prosecution.  I asked the wagon master to have some of the men
go around and find out what kind of reputation the dead trapper had. 
Apparently no one cares what he was like.  The wagon master told me that
the only thing that they were interested in was if the trapper was really
trying to draw his gun.



   I'm going to bed and try to sleep.  I know he was drawing his gun when I
shot him.  I just have to prove it.

   July 16, 1847



   The trial began at 9 AM.  The wagon captain acted as judge together with
Jim Bridger.  The wagon master, Joseph Kerner, acted as my counselor and a
trapper, Tobin Crobin, acted as the prosecutor.  Six men were chosen from
the trappers and the wagon train.  I was told the rules allowed me to call
witnesses and have the wagon master question the prosecutor's witnesses.  I
felt like I was a freak on display since it seemed that everyone on the
train and all the trappers came out to watch.  The only ones who didn't
show up were the blacksmith and the storekeeper.  I tapped the wagon
master's shoulder and asked him to have someone get the shopkeeper.  He
spoke to Bridger, who sent a trapper back to get him.



   The wagon captain started the trial, "You are gathered here to determine
if Alex here was justified in shooting Amos".  He paused.  "Does anyone
here know his last name?" No one said anything.



   "You six men are to come to either a guilty or not guilty verdict
following this trial.  In the event of a tie the verdict is considered not
guilty.  If guilty, Alex will be condemned to hang, with sentence to be
carried out immediately.  If not guilty, then this is the end of the
matter. I ask everyone present to remember this is serious and we will take
steps to make sure it is treated as such.  The honorable Mr Kerner will
represent the defense and the Honorable Mr.  Crobin the prosecution.  Mr.
Prosecutor, you are to start."



   The prosecutor stood up and tried his best to act like a British lawyer
in a formal court.  It looked comical to see a buckskin clad man who hadn't
shaved in who knows how long trying to act like that, but I didn't feel
like laughing.  He bowed to the judges.



   "Thank you your honors.  I wish to call the so-called wife of the
accused, Elizabeth."



   "State your name."



   "My name is Elizabeth xxxxxxx."



   "What is your relationship with the accused?"



   "He is my husband and the father of my unborn child."



   "And what is the relationship of your sister and the black woman to the
accused?"



   Elizabeth looked him straight in the eye and then looked at me, "They
are also his wives and he is the father of their children."



   I heard a gasp from many of the people looking on.  For the first time
our marriage had been publicly acknowledged.  I wondered what was going on
when she gave that answer and how it was going to affect the outcome of the
trial.



   "Then you admit you are all whores?"



   I erupted at that and had to be held back by the wagon master."You son
of a bitch, don't call my wives, whores,"I yelled.



   Elizabeth sat there and answered the question.  "We are not whores any
more than your wives are whores since you are also married to an Indian
wife."



   The prosecutor missed a step and retorted, "That's not the same thing!"



   Elizabeth just gave him the look to which I have become accustomed.  You
know, the one that implies the one it is directed toward is either an idiot
or a fool and there is not much hope they will get smarter.  "Can you tell
me what the difference is?" she sweetly replied.



   This brought the prosecutor to a sputtering stop.  A laugh started
rising among the onlookers as the exchange was passed on.  After this the
prosecutor seemed to lose track of his questioning and soon he turned her
over to the defense.



   Mr.  Kerner, my counselor, came forward and began to question Elizabeth,
"Can you tell me what happened in the trading post?"



   "Louise and I were buying some items.  This trapper touched me and tried
to take off my dress in the store.  Alex hit him and he tried to draw his
gun and Alex shot him."



   "Are you sure he was trying to draw his gun?"



   "Yes."



   "Can you tell me anything else about the incident?"



   "He offered me money to get me to sleep with him and I refused."



   "Did anyone else see this?"



   "The shopkeeper and Louise saw it.  There were some Indians and a couple
of trappers in the store but I don't know what they saw."



   "Can you point out the trappers?"



   Elizabeth pointed out two men in the crowd.  Mr.  Kerner asked them to
come forward and swore them in as witnesses.  They both testified that they
had seen me warn the trapper to leave my wife alone and had seen him try to
take her dress off.  Neither had seen him draw his weapon but both had seen
me standing there with mine out.  Mr.  Corbin tried to change their
testimony to say they had seen Elizabeth entice him but he failed.



   Neither man bothered to call any of the Indians or Louise to be a
witness, even though they were present.  In a last attempt to win the
prosecutor called the shopkeeper as a witness.



   "Can you tell me what you know about the shooting?"



   The shopkeeper replied, "That drunken no-account Amos was in trying to
get another free drink again when he started bothering my paying customers.
I saw him stick his hand on her breast and try to take her dress off.  The
defendant hit him and I saw Amos try to pull his gun.  That's when that
young man shot him." Then he turned to me and asked, "How did you get that
gun out so fast anyway?"



   I had forgotten that I was wearing my .22 in my gunslinger holster that
day.  No wonder he was surprised.  The era of the gunslinger was at least
40 years in the future.  I had seen and practiced doing my fast draw in the
future.  Here no one had even thought about it.



   The prosecution gave up after that.  The jury went off to make their
decision.  I waited for the verdict but wasn't too worried about it.  I
didn't see how anyone could convict me based on what the witnesses said.  I
was more worried about what would happen now that everyone knew about my
marriage with the three women.



   After about 30 minutes the jury came back.  The wagon captain
asked,"Have you reached a verdict?"



   A trapper came forward, "We find he was justified in shooting the dumb
SOB.  After being told to leave his wife alone, what did he expect to
happen?"



   Mr Kerner, turned to me and shook my hand.  He then returned my pistol
and knife to me before he left.  He whispered in my ear as he left, "You've
got to tell me how you satisfy that many women."



   As I stepped away from him I was tackled by all three of my wives who
began kissing me excitedly.  As I began to move, several people came
forward to congratulate me.  At the same time I saw several people who had
been our friends on the train step away from us as if they were afraid of
being contaminated.  I had been afraid of this.  By openly acknowledging
our group marriage, Elizabeth had destroyed a lot of the good will we had
built up on the trip.  I was going to have to talk to Elizabeth about this
later.



   The wagon captain came up to me and after congratulating me on not being
convicted spoke to me in private, "You can stay with us until we reach
Oregon City, but then you are off the wagon train.  You go anywhere else by
yourself."



   This hurt in a way.  I liked the wagon captain and, although I disliked
some of his attitudes, I had thought he was a good man for this period. 
Most of the others who showed disapproval were of the pro-slavery group and
I think they disapproved more because Louise was a part of the marriage
more than because it was a polygamous one.



   Later Jim Bridger came around and offered me a place here acting as a
doctor to the fort and the wagon trains he expected to come by.  I thanked
him and told him I was planning to live in the Willamette Valley.  He told
me that he didn't think that we would be accepted among the 'narrow-minded
stay-at-homes' but I still had the gold and a mission to stop slavery from
becoming established in Oregon.



   Bridger left saying, "I think you're a damned fool, but it's your life."