CHAPTER ELEVEN
Denver, November 12
It took three trains of thirty cars each to transport Duff MacCallister’s fifteen hundred cows from Cheyenne to Denver. Duff and Meghan were on the lead train, Elmer took the second train, and Falcon had the trailing train.
Smoke, Sally, and Matt had already brought their cattle, and Smoke had made arrangements for holding pens where the cattle would wait until they could be moved to Dodge City.
Smoke, Sally, and Matt were waiting on the platform as the trains arrived.
“Duff, you have met Sally, but I don’t think you have met this gentleman. This is Matt Jensen,” Smoke said, introducing the young man with him.
Duff shook hands with Matt, who was also greeted by Falcon, who already knew him.
“This is my partner, Meghan Parker,” Duff said, introducing the attractive young woman who was with him. “And this is my ranch foreman, Elmer Gleason.”
“Very good to meet you, Meghan,” Sally said. “Will you be coming along on the drive?”
“No,” Meghan answered. “I would love to, but I have a dress shop business to run back in Chugwater. And with the approach of the Christmas season, I can’t afford to be gone. Elmer and I will be going back tomorrow.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. I’m going, and it would be nice to have another woman along as company. But at least we will have your company tonight.”
“Any trouble with the drive to Cheyenne?” Smoke asked.
“Nae a bit o’ trouble,” Duff replied. “Sure ’n the cows moved along as if they were the Black Watch on parade.”
“If they are like this from Dodge all the way down to Fort Worth, I don’t think we’ll have a bit of trouble,” Falcon added. “They trail as easy as Longhorns, if not easier.”
The loading pen manager came up to the group then. “Any of you fellows in charge of the cattle that just came in on this train?”
“Aye, that would be me,” Duff said.
“What do you want done with them?”
“Here you go, Mr. Dawes,” Smoke said, handing the manager a sheet of paper. “You can put those cattle in with mine. I have the holding pens reserved through Thursday.”
Dawes looked at the paper and nodded.
“All right, I’ll get them off-loaded.”
“Thank you,” Smoke said. Then to the others, “I have four trains scheduled. We’ll ship the cows to Dodge, then all we have to do is drive the cows from Dodge City down to Fort Worth.”
“All we have to do?” Falcon asked with a smile. “You have any idea how far that is?”
“Four hundred and fifty miles,” Smoke said. “Figure on making fifteen miles a day, it’ll take us just about thirty days. We should be there just before Christmas.”
“That’s pretty ambitious, considering the weather,” Falcon said. “Don’t forget, most cattle drives are in the summertime. This is a wintertime drive. We aren’t only going to have the weather to worry about, we are going to have to worry about finding enough grass to keep the herd fed.”
“I know,” Smoke replied. “And I’ve discovered since I started running them, that Angus eat a lot more grass than Longhorns, or even Herefords.”
“We’ll do it,” Duff said. “We don’t have any choice but to do it.”
“What do you we say we go to the hotel now, get a good supper and get you checked in.”
After taking rooms at the hotel, they met up again in the hotel restaurant. There, they were met by Smoke’s two principal hands, Pearlie and Cal. There was a large round table set for nine, eight plates of which were clean. Cal had already started eating, and he stood up with a mouth full of food, chewing it quickly to avoid having to talk with his mouth full.
“Cal, I’m glad you waited on the rest of us,” Smoke said, and the others laughed.
“I did wait,” Cal said. “I just decided to have a little something to eat while I was waiting to eat.”
Smoke chuckled. “Damn, if you all knew Cal the way I do, you would know that, that almost makes sense.”
“Duff, this is my foreman Pearlie,” Smoke introduced. “And the young man with a face full of food is Cal.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Cal mumbled around food, not yet swallowed.
When the introductions were completed they sat at the table, and after ordering their meals, began talking about the upcoming adventure.
“So, Sally, is this really the Christmas trip that Smoke promised you?” Falcon teased.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Sally said.
“There you go, Matt,” Falcon said. “If you ever get married, you need to find a woman just like Sally.”
“There isn’t anyone else like Sally,” Matt said, “if so, I would have found her and married her long ago.”
Sally beamed under the compliment. “Why thank you, Matt. I appreciate that,” she said. “But I’m sure that some fine day, someone is going to say the same thing about Meghan.”
Everyone around the table looked at Meghan and Duff who smiled, but made no incriminating response.
“Oh, here is something you might appreciate,” Smoke said. “I have ordered a private car to be attached to each train,” Smoke said. “Since we are going to have a very difficult winter drive, I figure we may as well take what comfort we can, while we can.”
“Nobody can find any fault with that,” Falcon said.
“Smoke, are you sure you don’t want Cal and me to come along?” Pearlie asked. “You’re going to have a long drive with just the five of you.”
“I’ve been in touch with Big Ben,” Smoke said. “He has promised to send some drovers up to meet us. He will also be furnishing the chuck wagon and a wagon to carry our gear.”
“Still, a drive in the wintertime,” Pearlie said. “That’s going to be rough as a cob. I wish you would let Cal and me help out.”
“You and Cal just keep things under control back at the ranch,” Smoke said. “That will be help enough.”
“All right, if you say so,” Pearlie said.
“How have the Angus worked out for you, Smoke?” Duff asked.
“Best decision I’ve ever made,” Smoke said.
“Oh?” Sally asked with an arched eyebrow. “Switching from Longhorns to Black Angus cattle was the best decision you ever made.”
“Yes. They are easier to handle, they pay more at the market.”
“Smoke, you might want to rethink that ‘best move you ever made’ comment,” Pearlie suggested. “I mean, seeing as you decided to ask Sally here to ...”
Pearlie didn’t have to finish his comment because, belatedly, Smoke caught on.
“Best move I ever made regarding cattle,” Smoke said, doing damage control. “Of course, marrying Sally was the best move I ever made.”
Sally’s laugh told him that she had been having some fun at his expense, and the others laughed as well.
There was a lot of discussion during the rest of the meal, much of it driven by curiosity as to whether the relationship between Duff and Meghan was more than partnership in a ranch. Neither Duff nor Meghan provided an answer to the speculation.
From the Colorado Springs Gazette, November 13, 1890
BIG CATTLESHIPMENT.
Intelligence has been received of a large rail shipment of cattle which will pass through Colorado Springs on the night of the 14th Instant, for Dodge City, at which point they will be taken from the cars and driven to a ranch near Fort Worth, Texas.
The shipment is the result of a business transaction conducted by Mr. Duff MacCallister of Chugwater Valley, Wyoming and Mr. Smoke Jensen of Big Rock, Colorado with Mr. Benjamin Conyers of Live Oaks Ranch in Tarrant County, Texas. Black Angus Cattle are a much better breed than the Longhorn in that they have more weight, and the beef is said to be of the finest quality. A measure of the animals’ superiority can be ascertained by their price at the Kansas Market. The price for Longhorn cattle has fallen precipitously, while the cost for Black Angus remains around $17.00 per head. Two thousand five hundred of these valuable beasts are being shipped, that number being sufficient to require a total of four trains.