Xath
Moder-gator
Since I don't have a computer of my own, I have no place to save progress on my character, so I'll be working on her backstory here. Here's what I have so far, but it's by no means set in stone and I realize that some of it is currently contradictory. I'll post the complete version on character creation when I've finished.
Winifred “Fred” Anne Thompson
Winifred Anne Thompson was born to Jonas Michael Thompson and Annabelle Elizabeth Grey Thompson, on the 18th of August, 1859 in Savannah, Georgia.
Her father had inherited his family’s plantation at a young age, following his parents’ demise in a cholera epidemic, and he had become quite wealthy. His prosperity, combined with his dashing good looks and affable personality earned him a place in the upper echelons of the Savannah societal hubbub and to-do, and it was at one of these functions where he met Annabelle Grey.
She was the youngest of the eight surviving Grey children, and was thus searching for a beneficial marriage so that she could continue living in her accustomed way after the inevitable eventual deaths of her parents. At the time they met in March of 1857, Jonas seemed the perfect opportunity for such a life, as the wife of an assured plantation owner. Her father, Savannah aristocrat John Peter Grey, agreed. The marriage was arranged, and it took place on the 15th of September, later that year.
It was not a happy union. Jonas was not around much, preferring to work the land with his own two hands. His growing prominence assured that he often had to leave the country estate to take care of business in the city. Winifred was born on August 18th, less than a year after they had been married. Pregnancy had assured that Annabelle soon lost her attractive, girlish figure, and a drought followed by brushfire assured the loss of her comfortable future. The fire had spread rapidly and destroyed the Thomas plantation and the estate house. It turned out that Jonas invested all of his resources back into the plantation, and was left virtually penniless, at least, penniless as far as Annabelle was concerned. She returned to Savannah proper with the baby, to live with her parents until such time as Jonas once again could provide “suitable accommodations” for a lady of her stature.
Jonas hadn’t been happy with the marriage from the start. When he had first met Annabelle, she seemed kind and dedicated. But it was all a farce. Annabelle thought it crude that he liked to work the land himself, and once they were married she told him so unceasingly. Many things changed as soon as the wedding tool place. Annabelle had seemed humble and content with the simpler things in life, but soon took to inordinate spending on what Jonas thought of as lavish frivolities. Jonas’ solace was the birth of his daughter, Fred. In his opinion, she was the one good thing to come out of his marriage.
When the estate burned down in the summer of 1860, Jonas was sad to see it go, but happy to see his wife move back with her parents. He made a point to visit often to see his daughter, but was in no hurry to rebuild a lavish estate. The fire wasn’t as bad as Annabelle thought it to be. The soil would be richer than ever, even if they did have to take a few years loss.
Meanwhile, in Savannah, Winifred was being brought up in normal aristocratic fashion. Her mother had very little to do with her, except to display her at appropriate social functions.
When the Civil War broke out, Jonas answered the call in true patriotic fashion. He used his lands to grow foodstuffs and useful supplies for the war effort. He made sure they were well tended to, and then joined the Savannah Rifles, the local group of Confederate Soldiers. He served in the Army for the duration of the war, and made it home safely in the end.
Despite the fall of Fort Pulaski on May 1, 1862, Savannah was left mostly in peace for the duration of the war, and thus Annabelle and Winifred were affected minimally. The Greys had not stopped their cotton production during the war, and had instead smuggled it out of the country through Texas and Mexico, and sold it for great profit to dealers who were hoarding the product throughout the war. Since their post war holdings far exceeded $20000, they had to apply for amnesty to Andrew Jackson, in person. And as was the norm for the time, he granted it freely. Jonas Thomas was also granted amnesty.
John Peter Grey had not let the Civil War get in the way of his way of life. He made sure that those of his sons who did not wish to serve did not, and those who did were posted where they wanted to be. His daughters and his sons’ wives lived in the ample comfort of the Grey estate while their husbands were at war, and John Peter made sure that his grandchildren were properly educated.
Winifred began schooling at the age of three, learning French and Spanish under the tutelage of a governess. She learned history, theology, mathematics, art, southern culture, and all things appropriate for a Savannah Grey. During the Civil War, she missed her father’s frequent visits, as he would often take her out for walks in the countryside, getting her out of the doldrums of the childhood of southern aristocracy.
When Jonas returned to Savannah in 1865, he purchased a small house in town and took up residence. Fred moved in with him, though she still returned to her grandfather’s house every day for schooling, and still attended church every Sunday.
Jonas was restless with city life. During the war, conditions had been awful, but he had gotten a thrill at the sense of adventure, and his wanderlust plagued him steadily. Fred felt similarly, though not because of the war. She liked learning, but found the atmosphere of her education tiring.
In the early months of 1867, Jonas decided to take advantage of the Homestead Act. Annabelle did not wish to leave Savannah, so Jonas gave her control of all of his Savannah holdings. The revenue they collected would ensure her a happy lifestyle. John Peter Grey allowed Winifred to go west with her father on the condition that they took a governess, Mary Krelberg, with them. Jonas agreed, and Winifred continued her education.
It took them approximately six months to reach their destination. The journey had been neither easy nor what was termed as "normal." Several times on their westward travel, Fred thought she saw strange objects in the sky. They were cigar-shaped with four wings and looked to be made of some sort of aluminium. The only problem was, she never saw them when anyone else was around, and by the time she found someone to show, the metal ships had vanished.
Jonas had been allotted a homestead adjacent to the west of the Maxwell Land Grant. Life wasn't easy at first. The area had few settlements and Jonas and Winifred soon found why people were afraid to move to Colfax County. The majority of the population was made up of Apache and Ute Indians, and they were none to happy with the new influx of settlers. Attacks had decreased since the first migrations of 1857, but as more and more people began to settle in the area, unrest became apparent.
Jonas, in order to head off any potential problems, immediately sought to speak with the Apache and Ute tribes about his new acquisition of land. Upon arrival, he had determined that the land would not be lucrative for farming, so he had decided to use it for ranching instead. The Apache actively used the Thompson land, and so an agreement was made which essentially allowed the Indians continued use of the land as long as they didn't interfere with the ranching process; Jonas would assure that they would be granted sanctuary on his land. In return, they would not attack, and would trade freely with the family. Fred spent alot of time with the Apache over the next several years, and learned their language and many aspects of their culture.
In 1870, the Maxwell Land Grant was sold to the Dutch East Indies Company and they allotted a portion of that land to Frank Springer. A settlement was soon formed there. The Thompson's neighbors, the Harmons ("Doc," his wife, Adolph, Dick, and Elbert), sold their Homestead to Jonas and moved into the town limits. Jonas now had as much land as Frank Springer.
At first, Fred and her father would venture into town once or twice a year to sell their cattle and buy supplies from Mr. Florsheim's General Store. Once the town was firmly established, Mary Krelberg opened a school near the church and began teaching all of the local children. Fred came into town as often as she could be spared to attend services and lessons.
Life for Fred in Colfax County was nothing like life in Savannah. But Fred preferred it. She had finally escaped the hoards of "proper" relatives who called her "Winnie" and thought it "quaint" when she informed them that she prefered to be called Fred. Now she was free. Ranch life wasn't suited to the customs and traditions of the South, including clothing. Fred took to wearing boys clothes, partially because of the physical freedom they allowed, and partially because her father couldn't sew to save his life, and all of Fred's clothes were hand-me-downs from the Harmon boys.
Fred couldn't escape the South entirely. Every year, for her birthday and Christmas, her Grandfather and Mother (Fred knew that her mother didn't have a part in this, her grandfather just added her name) would send her a trunk with a new dress of the highest southern fashion, several books, and fifty dollars. This was apparently to insure that Fred didn't lose every vestige of culture that they had tried to instill. So twice a year, Fred would head to town to Mr. Florsheim's General Store. He owned one of the only cameras in the county. Fred would don her newest dress, "do herself up" like a lady, and have her picture taken. Then she'd change back into her normal clothes and send the photograph to her grandfather by post, not donning formal clothes until the next package arrived.
Fred's father had hired ranchhands from across the area. He didn't discriminate except on ability, so he had one of the crackerjack teams of the state. Many of the men were immigrants or ex-slaves who found it difficult to find work elsewhere, but Jonas didn't care. If they were good, then he'd hire them. Those with families were given land on which to build their own houses, and the others stayed at the Thompson house. In this environment, Fred learned many lessons that she never would have been taught by Ms. Krelberg, but she never wrote her Grandfather about any of these. Fred learned Chinese and improved upon her Spanish, but her new vocabulary was mostly that not suitible for 'civil' society.
When Fred first moved to Colfax County, the local women tried to do their best to make sure she was a lady, despite being surrounded by men. It didn't really work. Fred knew how to be proper, but most of the time, did not care to. She was polite when it was necessary, and herself when it was not. The locals knew that Fred Thompson was not the typical lady, and many speculated that she would end up an old maid. Fred didn't care. She was good at what she needed to do, and she was great at ranching.
New ranch hands would try to "help" Fred do the "hard work" and as a joke, the experienced ranchhands would let them. The smart ones didn't try to help again. The stubborn ones had to be "learned" several times. Fred had gained a suprisingly accurate knowledge of the male anatomy from working with the ranchers that she could make sure that the new men could still work, but that they would be very uncomfortable doing it for a few days.
In 1872, the land was finally theirs. Jonas got a signed deed certificate and they hung it in their common room. Nothing could take the ranch away from them.
In 1873, Railroad owners came to attempt to purchase Jonas Thompson's land for a rail that they were intending to build. Jonas refused. It was a lucrative offer, but selling the land would be the end to the Ranch and the Apache sanctuary.
In 1874, the Railroad sent people to "persuade" the Thompsons to leave. These men were part of the early stages of the "Santa Fe Ring." Fred, along with several Apache tribesmen and some of the ranchhands "persuaded" the kind gentlemen to leave. The Rail men were both incensed and embarrassed that a 15 year old girl had bested many of their mem with her bare hands and her most recent birthday present from her father, a shotgun named Shirley. With her new friend in hand, Fred began to expand her horizons.
Fred began to drive and ride shotgun on shipments between Maxwell (Springer) and Elizabethtown. Elizabethtown was a prosperous gold-mining settlement, and the desperado-filled county made transport risky at best, deadly at worst. In the five years that Fred made runs, she prided herself on never losing a shipment. It was not all easy though.
[This event took place in 1870. I'm stealing it and altering it slightly barring dispute. See what actually happened here.]
Aside from shipment runs, Fred would also escort new prospectors wishing to seek their fortunes in Elizabethtown. Most decided to stay at the local boardinghouse run by Charles Kennedy. After a few months, Fred noticed that she never saw many of these people again. Further investigation into the matter showed that noone else had seen them either. Charles Kennedy said that they had seen how populated Elizabethtown was and had decided to seek their fortunes elsewhere. This might not have been unusual, as the town was a frequent stop for travellers, but Fred had talked to many of these people and some had had their hearts set on this place. She couldn't see them just wandering off.
One night when Fred was tying up the horses at the Elizabethtown stables, she heard a shot fired in the Boarding House. She headed over to see what was wrong, and saw Charles Kennedy push his wife into the cellar, and then drag two bodies in. He exited, locking the cellar doors behind him. Fred entered the boarding house, shotgun readied. She was going to take Charles into custody, or take him out herself. But there was no need to subdue him. He had passed out in a drunken stupor. There was blood on the fireplace stones and bits of bone in the ashes. The entire room had an unusual smell. She tied him to a chair and went to see what had happened in the cellar.
Fred broke the lock on the cellar door. When she looked in, she was surprised to see that the room was fully illuminated. Fred thought she could see the outlines of several bodies on the floor, and in the center was...one of the ships she had seen many years ago on her way to New Mexico. Fred rubbed her eyes to make sure she was seeing things correctly and that her eyes had adjusted to the new light. When she looked again, the room was dark and the ship was gone...if there had been a ship at all. Where she thought she had seen the outline of bodies before, partial skeletons remained. In the corner were two corpses; one of Charles Kennedy's son, and the other of the traveller she had delivered to Elizabethtown that day. There was no sign of Kennedy's wife.
She had climbed up the chimney and out of the house, making her way to John Pearson's Saloon. There she told the tale of how her husband had killed her son and a traveller tonight, and how he had killed many people before. Apparently, during the meal, the passerby asked his hosts if there were many Indians around. Her unfortunate son made the fatal mistake of responding, "Can't you smell the one Papa put under the floor?" At this, Kennedy went into a fury, shot his guest and bashed his son's head against the fireplace.
Fred found her telling this tale as she made her way into Pearson's Saloon, carrying a now hog-tied Charles Kennedy. He was taken to the jail and put on trial, but it looked as though his lawyers were going to buy him out of his sentence. To avoid this, Fred, along with Clay Allison (who had been in Pearson's saloon on the night of Kennedy's capture) and Davy Crockett (nephew of the frontiersman), broke into the jail tied a rope around Kennedy's neck, and dragged him up and down main street until he was good and dead. Though Kennedy's lawyers, among them Melvin W. Mills, were not happy with the event, the people of Elizabethtown were greatful that Kennedy had recieved justice. When Mills tried to confront the three, Clay threw a knife through his sleeve, pinning him to the wall. Mills fled to the office of Dr. Longwell, seeking a shotgun to enact his revenge. Longwell talked him out of it as he saw them coming towards the door.
Fred, Clay, and Davy became known throughout the area for their willingness to take on trouble when it met them. None of them would seek it out, but they would not shy away from it when it arrived. Clay was the fastest gun, Fred had the brawn and the plans, and Davy had the personality to charm them out of any situation. Fred experienced her first crush with Clay Allison, but never mentioned anything as he was already married.
Meanwhile, the Santa Fe Ring continued to expand, and their tactics for getting people to leave the land became more and more deadly. Time after time, Fred met the attacks of the Ring while protecting her father's ranch and those of their neighbors.
In 1875, both Melvin W. Mills and Dr. Longwell jumped on the political bandwagon behind the Santa Fe Ring. In the election of that year, with the Ring backing them, Longwell became Probate Judge while Mills became State Legislator.
It got worse for the people of Maxwell. Sheriffs served eviction notices and retaliation began. Grant pastures were set on fire, cattle rustling increased and officials were threatened at gun point. Grant gang members made nighttime raids of area homes and ranches with threats of violence. The mightily opposed residents formed their own organization which they called the Colfax County Ring, which some said was led by Clay Allison. Davy and Fred actually did most of the planning, but since Clay's fame boosted their cause, they didn't care who got the credit. Parson Franklin J. Toby brought a spiritual influence into their cause, and he was well loved and respected by all of the locals. On September 14, 1875, the Parson was found shot in the back. Rumors were told that the Cimarron Constable, Cruz Vega was behind the murder. The Colfax County Ring dealt swift justice to him, despite his claims of innocence. Vega claimed that Manuel Cardenas was behind the killing. When they questioned Cardenas claims further, he implicatede that Melvin Mills and Dr. Longwell also played parts in the death of the parson. Both barely escaped lynch mobs when word of this got out.
Later Cardenas claimed that the names of Mills and Longwell had been coerced out of him because he had been questioned at gunpoint. The two were legally cleared, but some of the vigilantes did not believe him and shot Cardenas in the jail. None of the vigilantes involved in this were part of the Colfax County Ring, but they were blamed for it anyway. The Mexican portion of the population turned away from them in outrage, and Clay, as the figurehead of the Ring, had to walk about with a 45-man escort for protection in town. This was the beginning of the Colfax County War.
1875-1879 will be up later.
Winifred “Fred” Anne Thompson
Winifred Anne Thompson was born to Jonas Michael Thompson and Annabelle Elizabeth Grey Thompson, on the 18th of August, 1859 in Savannah, Georgia.
Her father had inherited his family’s plantation at a young age, following his parents’ demise in a cholera epidemic, and he had become quite wealthy. His prosperity, combined with his dashing good looks and affable personality earned him a place in the upper echelons of the Savannah societal hubbub and to-do, and it was at one of these functions where he met Annabelle Grey.
She was the youngest of the eight surviving Grey children, and was thus searching for a beneficial marriage so that she could continue living in her accustomed way after the inevitable eventual deaths of her parents. At the time they met in March of 1857, Jonas seemed the perfect opportunity for such a life, as the wife of an assured plantation owner. Her father, Savannah aristocrat John Peter Grey, agreed. The marriage was arranged, and it took place on the 15th of September, later that year.
It was not a happy union. Jonas was not around much, preferring to work the land with his own two hands. His growing prominence assured that he often had to leave the country estate to take care of business in the city. Winifred was born on August 18th, less than a year after they had been married. Pregnancy had assured that Annabelle soon lost her attractive, girlish figure, and a drought followed by brushfire assured the loss of her comfortable future. The fire had spread rapidly and destroyed the Thomas plantation and the estate house. It turned out that Jonas invested all of his resources back into the plantation, and was left virtually penniless, at least, penniless as far as Annabelle was concerned. She returned to Savannah proper with the baby, to live with her parents until such time as Jonas once again could provide “suitable accommodations” for a lady of her stature.
Jonas hadn’t been happy with the marriage from the start. When he had first met Annabelle, she seemed kind and dedicated. But it was all a farce. Annabelle thought it crude that he liked to work the land himself, and once they were married she told him so unceasingly. Many things changed as soon as the wedding tool place. Annabelle had seemed humble and content with the simpler things in life, but soon took to inordinate spending on what Jonas thought of as lavish frivolities. Jonas’ solace was the birth of his daughter, Fred. In his opinion, she was the one good thing to come out of his marriage.
When the estate burned down in the summer of 1860, Jonas was sad to see it go, but happy to see his wife move back with her parents. He made a point to visit often to see his daughter, but was in no hurry to rebuild a lavish estate. The fire wasn’t as bad as Annabelle thought it to be. The soil would be richer than ever, even if they did have to take a few years loss.
Meanwhile, in Savannah, Winifred was being brought up in normal aristocratic fashion. Her mother had very little to do with her, except to display her at appropriate social functions.
When the Civil War broke out, Jonas answered the call in true patriotic fashion. He used his lands to grow foodstuffs and useful supplies for the war effort. He made sure they were well tended to, and then joined the Savannah Rifles, the local group of Confederate Soldiers. He served in the Army for the duration of the war, and made it home safely in the end.
Despite the fall of Fort Pulaski on May 1, 1862, Savannah was left mostly in peace for the duration of the war, and thus Annabelle and Winifred were affected minimally. The Greys had not stopped their cotton production during the war, and had instead smuggled it out of the country through Texas and Mexico, and sold it for great profit to dealers who were hoarding the product throughout the war. Since their post war holdings far exceeded $20000, they had to apply for amnesty to Andrew Jackson, in person. And as was the norm for the time, he granted it freely. Jonas Thomas was also granted amnesty.
John Peter Grey had not let the Civil War get in the way of his way of life. He made sure that those of his sons who did not wish to serve did not, and those who did were posted where they wanted to be. His daughters and his sons’ wives lived in the ample comfort of the Grey estate while their husbands were at war, and John Peter made sure that his grandchildren were properly educated.
Winifred began schooling at the age of three, learning French and Spanish under the tutelage of a governess. She learned history, theology, mathematics, art, southern culture, and all things appropriate for a Savannah Grey. During the Civil War, she missed her father’s frequent visits, as he would often take her out for walks in the countryside, getting her out of the doldrums of the childhood of southern aristocracy.
When Jonas returned to Savannah in 1865, he purchased a small house in town and took up residence. Fred moved in with him, though she still returned to her grandfather’s house every day for schooling, and still attended church every Sunday.
Jonas was restless with city life. During the war, conditions had been awful, but he had gotten a thrill at the sense of adventure, and his wanderlust plagued him steadily. Fred felt similarly, though not because of the war. She liked learning, but found the atmosphere of her education tiring.
In the early months of 1867, Jonas decided to take advantage of the Homestead Act. Annabelle did not wish to leave Savannah, so Jonas gave her control of all of his Savannah holdings. The revenue they collected would ensure her a happy lifestyle. John Peter Grey allowed Winifred to go west with her father on the condition that they took a governess, Mary Krelberg, with them. Jonas agreed, and Winifred continued her education.
It took them approximately six months to reach their destination. The journey had been neither easy nor what was termed as "normal." Several times on their westward travel, Fred thought she saw strange objects in the sky. They were cigar-shaped with four wings and looked to be made of some sort of aluminium. The only problem was, she never saw them when anyone else was around, and by the time she found someone to show, the metal ships had vanished.
Jonas had been allotted a homestead adjacent to the west of the Maxwell Land Grant. Life wasn't easy at first. The area had few settlements and Jonas and Winifred soon found why people were afraid to move to Colfax County. The majority of the population was made up of Apache and Ute Indians, and they were none to happy with the new influx of settlers. Attacks had decreased since the first migrations of 1857, but as more and more people began to settle in the area, unrest became apparent.
Jonas, in order to head off any potential problems, immediately sought to speak with the Apache and Ute tribes about his new acquisition of land. Upon arrival, he had determined that the land would not be lucrative for farming, so he had decided to use it for ranching instead. The Apache actively used the Thompson land, and so an agreement was made which essentially allowed the Indians continued use of the land as long as they didn't interfere with the ranching process; Jonas would assure that they would be granted sanctuary on his land. In return, they would not attack, and would trade freely with the family. Fred spent alot of time with the Apache over the next several years, and learned their language and many aspects of their culture.
In 1870, the Maxwell Land Grant was sold to the Dutch East Indies Company and they allotted a portion of that land to Frank Springer. A settlement was soon formed there. The Thompson's neighbors, the Harmons ("Doc," his wife, Adolph, Dick, and Elbert), sold their Homestead to Jonas and moved into the town limits. Jonas now had as much land as Frank Springer.
At first, Fred and her father would venture into town once or twice a year to sell their cattle and buy supplies from Mr. Florsheim's General Store. Once the town was firmly established, Mary Krelberg opened a school near the church and began teaching all of the local children. Fred came into town as often as she could be spared to attend services and lessons.
Life for Fred in Colfax County was nothing like life in Savannah. But Fred preferred it. She had finally escaped the hoards of "proper" relatives who called her "Winnie" and thought it "quaint" when she informed them that she prefered to be called Fred. Now she was free. Ranch life wasn't suited to the customs and traditions of the South, including clothing. Fred took to wearing boys clothes, partially because of the physical freedom they allowed, and partially because her father couldn't sew to save his life, and all of Fred's clothes were hand-me-downs from the Harmon boys.
Fred couldn't escape the South entirely. Every year, for her birthday and Christmas, her Grandfather and Mother (Fred knew that her mother didn't have a part in this, her grandfather just added her name) would send her a trunk with a new dress of the highest southern fashion, several books, and fifty dollars. This was apparently to insure that Fred didn't lose every vestige of culture that they had tried to instill. So twice a year, Fred would head to town to Mr. Florsheim's General Store. He owned one of the only cameras in the county. Fred would don her newest dress, "do herself up" like a lady, and have her picture taken. Then she'd change back into her normal clothes and send the photograph to her grandfather by post, not donning formal clothes until the next package arrived.
Fred's father had hired ranchhands from across the area. He didn't discriminate except on ability, so he had one of the crackerjack teams of the state. Many of the men were immigrants or ex-slaves who found it difficult to find work elsewhere, but Jonas didn't care. If they were good, then he'd hire them. Those with families were given land on which to build their own houses, and the others stayed at the Thompson house. In this environment, Fred learned many lessons that she never would have been taught by Ms. Krelberg, but she never wrote her Grandfather about any of these. Fred learned Chinese and improved upon her Spanish, but her new vocabulary was mostly that not suitible for 'civil' society.
When Fred first moved to Colfax County, the local women tried to do their best to make sure she was a lady, despite being surrounded by men. It didn't really work. Fred knew how to be proper, but most of the time, did not care to. She was polite when it was necessary, and herself when it was not. The locals knew that Fred Thompson was not the typical lady, and many speculated that she would end up an old maid. Fred didn't care. She was good at what she needed to do, and she was great at ranching.
New ranch hands would try to "help" Fred do the "hard work" and as a joke, the experienced ranchhands would let them. The smart ones didn't try to help again. The stubborn ones had to be "learned" several times. Fred had gained a suprisingly accurate knowledge of the male anatomy from working with the ranchers that she could make sure that the new men could still work, but that they would be very uncomfortable doing it for a few days.
In 1872, the land was finally theirs. Jonas got a signed deed certificate and they hung it in their common room. Nothing could take the ranch away from them.
In 1873, Railroad owners came to attempt to purchase Jonas Thompson's land for a rail that they were intending to build. Jonas refused. It was a lucrative offer, but selling the land would be the end to the Ranch and the Apache sanctuary.
In 1874, the Railroad sent people to "persuade" the Thompsons to leave. These men were part of the early stages of the "Santa Fe Ring." Fred, along with several Apache tribesmen and some of the ranchhands "persuaded" the kind gentlemen to leave. The Rail men were both incensed and embarrassed that a 15 year old girl had bested many of their mem with her bare hands and her most recent birthday present from her father, a shotgun named Shirley. With her new friend in hand, Fred began to expand her horizons.
Fred began to drive and ride shotgun on shipments between Maxwell (Springer) and Elizabethtown. Elizabethtown was a prosperous gold-mining settlement, and the desperado-filled county made transport risky at best, deadly at worst. In the five years that Fred made runs, she prided herself on never losing a shipment. It was not all easy though.
[This event took place in 1870. I'm stealing it and altering it slightly barring dispute. See what actually happened here.]
Aside from shipment runs, Fred would also escort new prospectors wishing to seek their fortunes in Elizabethtown. Most decided to stay at the local boardinghouse run by Charles Kennedy. After a few months, Fred noticed that she never saw many of these people again. Further investigation into the matter showed that noone else had seen them either. Charles Kennedy said that they had seen how populated Elizabethtown was and had decided to seek their fortunes elsewhere. This might not have been unusual, as the town was a frequent stop for travellers, but Fred had talked to many of these people and some had had their hearts set on this place. She couldn't see them just wandering off.
One night when Fred was tying up the horses at the Elizabethtown stables, she heard a shot fired in the Boarding House. She headed over to see what was wrong, and saw Charles Kennedy push his wife into the cellar, and then drag two bodies in. He exited, locking the cellar doors behind him. Fred entered the boarding house, shotgun readied. She was going to take Charles into custody, or take him out herself. But there was no need to subdue him. He had passed out in a drunken stupor. There was blood on the fireplace stones and bits of bone in the ashes. The entire room had an unusual smell. She tied him to a chair and went to see what had happened in the cellar.
Fred broke the lock on the cellar door. When she looked in, she was surprised to see that the room was fully illuminated. Fred thought she could see the outlines of several bodies on the floor, and in the center was...one of the ships she had seen many years ago on her way to New Mexico. Fred rubbed her eyes to make sure she was seeing things correctly and that her eyes had adjusted to the new light. When she looked again, the room was dark and the ship was gone...if there had been a ship at all. Where she thought she had seen the outline of bodies before, partial skeletons remained. In the corner were two corpses; one of Charles Kennedy's son, and the other of the traveller she had delivered to Elizabethtown that day. There was no sign of Kennedy's wife.
She had climbed up the chimney and out of the house, making her way to John Pearson's Saloon. There she told the tale of how her husband had killed her son and a traveller tonight, and how he had killed many people before. Apparently, during the meal, the passerby asked his hosts if there were many Indians around. Her unfortunate son made the fatal mistake of responding, "Can't you smell the one Papa put under the floor?" At this, Kennedy went into a fury, shot his guest and bashed his son's head against the fireplace.
Fred found her telling this tale as she made her way into Pearson's Saloon, carrying a now hog-tied Charles Kennedy. He was taken to the jail and put on trial, but it looked as though his lawyers were going to buy him out of his sentence. To avoid this, Fred, along with Clay Allison (who had been in Pearson's saloon on the night of Kennedy's capture) and Davy Crockett (nephew of the frontiersman), broke into the jail tied a rope around Kennedy's neck, and dragged him up and down main street until he was good and dead. Though Kennedy's lawyers, among them Melvin W. Mills, were not happy with the event, the people of Elizabethtown were greatful that Kennedy had recieved justice. When Mills tried to confront the three, Clay threw a knife through his sleeve, pinning him to the wall. Mills fled to the office of Dr. Longwell, seeking a shotgun to enact his revenge. Longwell talked him out of it as he saw them coming towards the door.
Fred, Clay, and Davy became known throughout the area for their willingness to take on trouble when it met them. None of them would seek it out, but they would not shy away from it when it arrived. Clay was the fastest gun, Fred had the brawn and the plans, and Davy had the personality to charm them out of any situation. Fred experienced her first crush with Clay Allison, but never mentioned anything as he was already married.
Meanwhile, the Santa Fe Ring continued to expand, and their tactics for getting people to leave the land became more and more deadly. Time after time, Fred met the attacks of the Ring while protecting her father's ranch and those of their neighbors.
In 1875, both Melvin W. Mills and Dr. Longwell jumped on the political bandwagon behind the Santa Fe Ring. In the election of that year, with the Ring backing them, Longwell became Probate Judge while Mills became State Legislator.
It got worse for the people of Maxwell. Sheriffs served eviction notices and retaliation began. Grant pastures were set on fire, cattle rustling increased and officials were threatened at gun point. Grant gang members made nighttime raids of area homes and ranches with threats of violence. The mightily opposed residents formed their own organization which they called the Colfax County Ring, which some said was led by Clay Allison. Davy and Fred actually did most of the planning, but since Clay's fame boosted their cause, they didn't care who got the credit. Parson Franklin J. Toby brought a spiritual influence into their cause, and he was well loved and respected by all of the locals. On September 14, 1875, the Parson was found shot in the back. Rumors were told that the Cimarron Constable, Cruz Vega was behind the murder. The Colfax County Ring dealt swift justice to him, despite his claims of innocence. Vega claimed that Manuel Cardenas was behind the killing. When they questioned Cardenas claims further, he implicatede that Melvin Mills and Dr. Longwell also played parts in the death of the parson. Both barely escaped lynch mobs when word of this got out.
Later Cardenas claimed that the names of Mills and Longwell had been coerced out of him because he had been questioned at gunpoint. The two were legally cleared, but some of the vigilantes did not believe him and shot Cardenas in the jail. None of the vigilantes involved in this were part of the Colfax County Ring, but they were blamed for it anyway. The Mexican portion of the population turned away from them in outrage, and Clay, as the figurehead of the Ring, had to walk about with a 45-man escort for protection in town. This was the beginning of the Colfax County War.
1875-1879 will be up later.
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