Jonah got out his fishing pole, and Will joined him on the banks of the Sprague. They ate fresh trout that night instead of Army rations.
June 30, 1864. Richardson train attacked by Indians. Waiting for Col. Drew. I wonder what he’ll have us do. Will we end up fighting?
Chapter 33: Colonel Drew Arrives
The expeditionary force waited in camp for two days. Every man stood a four-hour watch each day, but otherwise they lolled around their tents with little to do. Finally, on Friday, July 1, an officer rode into camp, accompanied by three enlisted men. The officer went into Captain Kelly’s tent, while the enlisted men took their horses out to graze.
“Must be Colonel Drew,” Will said to Joel, nodding toward Kelly’s tent. “You recognize him?”
Joel shook his head. “I’ve only dealt with Kelly. Kelly don’t malign his senior officers, but the sergeants say the good Colonel Drew spends his time lickin’ the boots of generals in California. As I told you afore, Drew’s a Copperhead.”
“Grandfather Samuel is a Copperhead,” Jonah said. “He’s always spoutin’ off about how great the Confederacy is.”
Joel spat. “Samuel Abercrombie ain’t your grandfather. He’s just Esther’s father-in-law. Our father must be spinnin’ in his grave hearin’ you call old Abercrombie ‘Grandfather Samuel.’”
Will had never understood the animosity between the Abercrombies and Pershings. “Why don’t you like Mr. Abercrombie?” he asked Joel. “I know he’s a mean son-of-a gun, but—”
“Mean don’t say it all,” Joel replied. “He spent the whole first few months of our time on the trail trying to kick my pa out as wagon train leader. Finally did it, too. Though Samuel didn’t get the job. Your pa got it instead.”
Will knew Mac had become the wagon train leader part-way through the journey to Oregon. But he hadn’t known Samuel Abercrombie wanted the role. And he’d never heard the circumstances.
“Why didn’t Mr. Abercrombie like your father?” he asked Joel.
Joel sniffed. “Pa was careful, wouldn’t move as fast as Abercrombie wanted. Then Pa didn’t do himself any favors—he got drunk one too many times after Ma died. Abercrombie took advantage of Pa’s weakness.”
As Will and the Pershing brothers talked, the newly arrived officer and Captain Kelly exited the tent. “Fall in, men,” the captain shouted.
The cavalry unit moved into a loose formation, with the civilians standing slightly apart.
“Colonel Drew,” Captain Kelly said. “I present Company C of the First Oregon Cavalry Militia.”
Colonel Drew frowned and walked along the line of men. The cavalry soldiers straightened as he passed. Seeing them, Will also stood in his best posture. Mac and Mama had trained him well, and he thought he spruced up better than most of the other packers—certainly better than Joel or Jonah. Or old Bagley. Joel didn’t bother to change his stance as the officers walked by, and Will wondered if Joel knew more about the colonel than what he’d said.
While the colonel made his inspection, Will studied him. Drew was a short man, but he wore his uniform smartly. Although his hairline receded, his mustache was full and neatly trimmed with a shaved chin beneath. His official rank was Lieutenant Colonel, but Captain Kelly called him “Colonel.”
Drew didn’t say anything to the teamsters and packers, and he made only an occasional comment to a few of the sergeants and corporals he seemed to recognize. Then he gave a little speech, pacing back and forth between the cavalry and the civilian lines as he talked. “General Drum has ordered me to proceed on our reconnaissance mission across the Owhyee River basin. Our departure was delayed by the need to find adequate mules and men, but Captain Kelly assures me we have a full complement now. Recently, I have been delayed by pressing business in California.”
Standing next to Will, Joel snorted softly.
“And now,” Drew continued, “the Richardson and Allen wagon trains need our escort. I must assess the situation before we continue. And so our reconnaissance force will rendezvous with the stricken settlers.”
The colonel paced a moment, then said to the line of soldiers. “The tribes north of here remain difficult. I anticipate skirmishes with the natives as we proceed. You must stay on your guard at all times.”
“And you,” he said, turning to the teamsters and mule packers. “Captain Kelly has confidence that you men are fit for duty after your supply runs to Jacksonville. There will be no malingering along the trail. We must keep together for the safety of all.”
Then he said to the group at large, “We leave this camp at dawn on Sunday, two days hence, for the rendezvous. After we reach the wagons, I will determine our best course of action and how to fulfill my reconnaissance orders.”
“Two more days here?” Joel muttered. “I wonder why he’s waiting.”
The men scurried around camp through the afternoon, picking up their belongings and washing clothes. Now they had a date certain for proceeding with the expedition, though their immediate mission seemed to have shifted from reconnaissance to protecting wagons. Still, it sounded as if they would be away from Klamath for months.
That night, Will and Jonah lay in their bedrolls beside the campfire. “You think we’ll ever go home again?” Will asked wistfully.
“Not for a long while,” Jonah replied. “Ain’t you havin’ fun?”
Will’s muscles ached from hefting saddles and panniers all afternoon. “Packing mules is hard work.”
“We’re out under the stars. We spend our days with horses and mules. It’s work,” Jonah acknowledged, “but no worse’n farmin.’ And Joel’s easier on me than Daniel ever was. Easier’n your pa, too.”
“So you’re glad we left?” Will asked.
“Sure as heck am,” Jonah avowed. “And when Colonel Drew heads us toward the Owyhee, I’ll be even gladder. All day in the wilderness. We’ll have our mules to contend with, but nothin’ else.”
“I thought you wanted to marry Iris.”
Jonah sighed. “Well, at some point we’ll go home. Once I’ve earned enough to marry her.”
July 1, 1864. We leave the Sprague on Sunday. Then the true adventure begins. I’m excited to go, but sometimes I wish I hadn’t left home.
Saturday the expeditionary force continued to prepare for the trail. Jonah and Will managed to get away from camp for an hour of fishing in the Sprague River, though the skies were overcast and threatened rain.
