Medicine Bundle

by Patrick E. Andrews

  Another sworn deposition from Waring’s agent Frederick Stubbs of Liberal, Kansas contained a sworn statement to the effect that Messieurs Silsby McCracken and Dennis Nettles along with their deceased friends Charlie Ainsley and Tommy Chatsworth had approached him on several occasions offering to sell stolen animals. Stubbs’ statement continued with the information that he had angrily refused to be drawn into their dastardly criminal plot and finally ordered them to never speak to him again or he would inform the law of their evil intent.

  With neither the funds nor the means to continue the investigation into the rustling, Silsby and Dennis could not provide proof to back up the contents of their sworn accusations. To make things worse, they now faced charges of rustling in addition to the attempted train robbery.

  This was another Federal offense since some of the animals were stolen in the Indian Nations. Additionally, all the rustled horses were transported across the state line of Kansas from the Oklahoma Territory. Silsby and Dennis also appeared uncooperative because they could not name any other persons other than Waring and Stubbs of receiving the stolen stock.

  ~*~

  Luther, Fionna, Rebecca, and Mildred sat together in the courtroom’s spectator section when the two prisoners were brought up before Judge Ross. They glanced eagerly over at Silsby who nodded to them with a sad smile. This was the first time the family had seen him since an initial meeting in the Guthrie jail when he and Dennis were turned over to Chief U.S. Marshal E. D. Nix for pretrial confinement.

  Silsby had been brought in from the cell block, shackled hand-and-foot, to see his wife and parents. He was a sad sight; still unbathed, unshaven and wearing the same clothes he had been arrested in. Luther had blinked back tears at his son’s wretched physical condition while Fionna, Mildred and Rebecca wept openly. After only brief embraces, the prisoner was returned to the lock-up.

  Now, as the legal proceedings began, a very junior deputy district attorney from the Guthrie court handled the easy prosecution. He was able to present his entire case on that one day. Garfield Morrison could only fight a defensive battle, but he brought out the biggest guns he could find. His first witnesses were U.S. Marshals Nolan Sinclair and Grant Hollings who testified how Silsby had saved Grant’s life when he shot Charlie Ainsley dead. They also spoke of how Dennis Nettles had surrendered to them without a struggle. The two lawmen did not mention having to pummel and kick the ex-cowboy into a bloody mess before he would reveal the location of the gang’s hideout.

  Grant, limping from his wound, was still visibly weak. He had gotten up from his bed in Medicine Bundle for the rail trip to Guthrie to make the court appearance. “I was lying on the ground,” Grant said. “I could see Charlie Ainsley walking toward me, aiming his revolver to put a killing bullet in to finish the job he had started. Silsby McCracken picked up the pistol I had dropped, then turned and shot Ainsley without hesitation. He saved my life. I most certainly would not be here today were it not for his unselfish and courageous action.”

  Marshal Nolan Sinclair was called to the stand where he described the showdown at the cave to back up Grant’s testimony. He further stated that Silsby and Dennis could probably be rehabilitated and brought back into society. But the lawman’s voice and attitude did not indicate much enthusiasm, and he eventually admitted under cross-examination that he had promised Grant Hollings he would speak up for the two ex-cowboys.

  The next witness was the minister of the Medicine Bundle Presbyterian Church who informed the court that getting Silsby back into society would place him in the bosom of a religious family and a wife who cared for him. The minister stated, “The care of a loving mother and wife can do more to bring a man back into decent society than any jail term.”

  The prosecutor argued that Silsby McCracken had enjoyed ample opportunity to return to his family long before he turned to rustling and attempted robberies of the train and bank.

  Dennis Nettles, whose face still showed the effects of the beatings he had received, leaped to his feet and yelled, “Ain’t nobody else gonna help me out none? Me and Silsby both done the same things!”

  Morrison walked over and whispered in Dennis’ ear that mercy for Silsby also meant mercy for him. Dennis trusted no one after the severe questioning he had endured by Grant and Sinclair, and he still felt abandoned and hung out to dry.

  The last witness that Morrison called to the stand was Mildred McCracken. He wanted her to make a statement and a personal plea to Judge Ross for leniency.

  She exchanged embraces with Fionna and Rebecca, then walked nervously up to the witness chair to be sworn in. Mildred felt some comfort from touching the Holy Bible as she swore to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Surely, she thought, that would show the judge what a good girl she was.

  Morrison walked up in front of her, and addressed her in a friendly tone. “Mrs. McCracken, this is your chance to address the court and request that mercy be shown you husband.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Mildred’s voice was low but held an earnest tone as she spoke directly to Judge Ross. The jurist listened politely to the sincere young woman who begged for leniency. “We lost a child,” Mildred recited as she reached the end of the short speech Morrison had written for her, “and that has been a terrible price to pay. It was a bitter lesson and now all my husband asks is the chance to continue with his life. I ask the same thing, Your Honor, as a wife who wants her husband back in his home to renew our marriage and raise a family.”

  In his closing arguments to the jury, Morrison emphasized how the four young men had been hardworking, honest cowboys until the opening of Cherokee lands invaded their lives and forever wrenched them from their normal pursuits. “For that reason, gentlemen of the jury, I ask that you consider their collective anguish and uncertainties when the ranch on which they worked suddenly was no more,” Morrison said. “The great Medicine Bundle Grasslands abruptly disappeared to be broken up into farms. These cowboys are blameless for a situation that brought about the destruction of their ranch and the suicide of its owner. That was Mr. Dewey Harknell, a man they idolized. How much tragedy can men so young bear? It is no wonder they were driven over the edge to seek vengeance on those they held responsible for such sad occurrences in their lives. The fact that they neither took human life nor injured anyone also deserves your regard. I humbly ask for your consideration and mercy on behalf of Silsby McCracken and Dennis Nettles. Thank you.”

  The young prosecutor hammered back, emphasizing criminal careers that spanned several years. He begged the jury to find Silsby McCracken and Dennis Nettles guilty so decent society would be protected from their evil ways.

  After that final summation, Judge Ross turned the case over to the twelve men who would decide the defendants’ fate.

  ~*~

  The jury was out for a little more than an hour when they returned with guilty verdicts as expected. They also recommended leniency in the case of Silsby McCracken and Dennis Nettles because of their age and the circumstances that drove them to crime.

  Luther sat stone-faced while Fionna, Mildred, and Rebecca held hands. When Judge Harold Ross spoke, his voice was ominous with a cold anger. “This is not the first time that I’ve heard the insidious plea about innocent, childlike cowboys being driven to outlawry through circumstances beyond their comprehension or control. Some misguided folks are even using this argument regarding Bill Doolin, Little Dick West, and Tulsa Jack Blake to name three of the villains who are now preying on the good people in the Oklahoma Territory. I buy none of it. None of it! If these two desperados were so all-fired anxious to continue with their cowboy trade they could have gone down to Texas or McCracken could have stayed up in Montana. Better yet, they could have secured honest employment with the stockmen whose herds they plundered. Mercy? I’ll not consider it for a single solitary moment!”

  Luther, his face distorted with grief and regret, clenched his fists tightly, fighting back tears.

  The judge
continued, “And as far as McCracken saving Marshal Hollings’ life, he did it because the lawman was his brother-in-law. If it had been another law officer, I haven’t the slightest doubt that he would have murdered him without a glimmer of misgiving.” He took a moment to glare at the two cowboys. “The defendants will rise for the sentencing.”

  Silsby and Dennis got to their feet with looks of dismay and fear on their faces.

  “I hereby sentence Silsby McCracken and Dennis Nettles to be confined in the Federal Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas for a term of not less than twenty-five years and not more than thirty years.” His slammed his gavel down on the desk. “Court adjourned!”

  Mildred turned a tear-streaked face to her mother-in-law. “Ma!”

  Fionna clasped her hands together and said, “Please, Lord, help me through this and let me know why. Why!”

  Part Four

  THE STATE

  1907

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Luther McCracken carried the picnic basket across the farmyard to the wagon and placed it in the back. The sixty-seven-year-old’s gait had stiffened a bit, and his hair had thinned perceptively, but his eyes were still alert and lively. He turned toward the house and waited a few moments, then shouted impatiently. “Fionna! C’mon! We don’t want to be late!”

  She came out the back door and walked to the wagon. Fionna hadn’t changed too much over the years except her hair was now completely gray, but she displayed only the slightest sagging of skin on her face and neck. Enough of her former attractiveness remained to dance subtly across her features, glowing through a most complimentary maturity. “I was looking around the kitchen to make sure I hadn’t forgot nothing.”

  “I can tell you didn’t forget nothing by how heavy that dang basket is,” Luther said in mild complaint. He helped her up on the seat and walked around to pull himself aboard the vehicle.

  She turned and looked at the benches in the back. “I see you didn’t forget to bring seats for ever’body.”

  “As if I had the courage to,” Luther said. “I’d sooner stick my arm in a wildcat’s mouth than forget something you told me to do.”

  “Is ‘at right?”

  “I’d sooner sit down on a hot stove,” Luther went on.

  “I see.”

  “I’d sooner —”

  “Luther!”

  He grinned as they rolled out of the farmyard and turned toward Medicine Bundle. Luther cast a glance at the sky as he held onto the heavy reins that controlled the mule. This was an animal bought to replace the old gray that had died several years earlier after years of service that stretched from Missouri to Medicine Bundle. “The clouds is high and friendly,” he remarked. “This has been a gentle fall.”

  “It’s about time,” Fionna said. “We’ve had a rough couple of years what with so little rain.”

  “Don’t forget them damn grasshoppers that come down on us like a plague from the Devil hisself,” he said.

  “The territory has been through a lot, but we’re just about all back on our feet.”

  “We ain’t a territory no more,” he reminded her. “As of midnight last night we’re Oklahoma the forty-sixth state. What do you think the parade in town is all about today?”

  “I know it’s to celebrate us being in the Union,” Fionna said. “That’s all ever’body’s been a-talking about the past few months.”

  “Then don’t call Oklahoma a territory.”

  “Lord Above, Luther! You’d think I was blaspheming.”

  “The onliest territories left is Arizona and New Mexico,” Luther pointed out. “When they come in that’s the end of it. Ever’ acre of this United States of America will be in the Union.”

  “It’s handy they brung Oklahoma into that Union on a market day so’s nobody would have to make an extry trip into town.”

  Luther laughed. “I don’t think that had anything to do with it.”

  “O’course it did,” Fionna insisted. “And it’s only a couple of weeks away from Thanksgiving.” She pointed at the road junction ahead. “Don’t forget to turn there.”

  “I won’t,” Luther said. “I ain’t forgot it the last ten thousand times we come by here, have I?”

  “You been forgetting lots of things lately.”

  “I’m afraid you’re right,” Luther said. “I reckon I’m getting old.”

  “We both are.”

  He winked at her. “You look to me like you’re getting younger ever’day.”

  “Pshaw! What rubbish!” But she smiled.

  He pulled on the reins and turned down the other road. When they reached the entrance to a farmyard, he had to work the mule again to go through a gate and up to the house. Dennis Nettles sat on a bench outside the barn. He waved as they rolled to a stop. He got up and carried a picnic basket over to the wagon.

  “We’re gonna have enough food to feed an army,” Luther said.

  Dennis said, “The others’ll be out directly.”

  Fionna noticed that Dennis wasn’t dressed for a trip to town. “Ain’t you going in with us, Dennis?”

  “No, ma’am,” Dennis replied. “That percheron mare is about to foal. I tole Silsby I’d watch over things.”

  Silsby, with some financial backing from his father and brother-in-law, had set up a breeding ranch for draft horses on Grant’s old farm. Ingvar and Anna Lingren with their six children now had their own place they’d bought just after the turn of the century. Silsby’s business was doing well due to a big demand for draft animals in the area. The enterprise had begun to pay off as soon as the first colts had grown to maturity. Dennis worked on the place for found and a few dollars a month.

  Fionna didn’t like the persistent hangdog look he always had. “How are you doing, Dennis?”

  “Tolerable.”

  “You take care of yourself.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “We’re right sorry you ain’t coming with us,” she said. “They’s lots to eat. I guess you heard Luther complaining about all the food.”

  “Sure!” Luther said with a grin. “Help us out, Dennis.”

  “Mildred left me quite a feed in the kitchen,” Dennis said. “I won’t go hungry.”

  The five years he had spent in prison marked the formerly happy-go-lucky young man. His hair was prematurely grayed, and he suffered from some mild rheumatism developed during long stays in the damp environs of solitary confinement. The condition promised to get worse as time went by. Dennis had also developed a habit of keeping his head down. The former cowboy never looked anyone straight in the eye. He drank heavily but did a good job for Silsby, except for the few times a year when he would be missing for a week or so while away on binges.

  Mildred stepped outside with the baby in her arms. The two oldest children three-year-old Grant and five-year-old Martha, followed her out. Mildred had grown quite a bit heavier after all the babies came, but she was still an attractive woman. Her parents passed away some years previously, but her sister Stella remained on the family farm with her husband and children. Mildred hadn’t seen her since the day she and Silsby visited the place to find they were not welcome.

  “Hello!” Mildred called out.

  “Hello,” Fionna said. “It looks like you got ever’body.”

  “I sure do,” Mildred said. “All except for the man of the house. But he’ll be here directly.”

  As if on cue, Silsby appeared and shut the door. “All right ever’body,” he called out to his family. “Let’s hop up on grandpa’s wagon.” Like Dennis, jail had aged him. But it was rather complimentary in Silsby’s case as it gave him the appearance of being wise beyond his years. He was still muscular, though a thickening around his waist was noticeable.

  Martha, Silsby’s oldest child, found a place by Fionna. “We’re gonna go see a parade, Grandma. Did you know that?”

  “I sure do,” Fionna said. “I’m real excited about it. Are you?”

  “Yeah!” Martha exclaimed. Then she asked, “
What’s a parade, Grandma?”

  Everyone laughed, then Fionna explained, “A bunch of folks get in a line and march down the street. They’s music and lots of things to see.”

  “An army band from Fort Sill has come up,” Silsby said. He held the baby Charlie in one arm and helped Mildred up into the wagon. “I saw ’em down to the fairgrounds yesterday practicing.” After handing the baby back to Mildred, and lifting little Grant onto the vehicle, he pulled himself aboard. He turned and waved to Dennis. “We’ll be back before dark.”

  “Take your time,” Dennis said.

  Luther snapped the reins and whistled. “Here we go!”

  “Hey, Pa,” Silsby said, “how come you ain’t gonna be up on the reviewing stand with the other big shots?”

  “Why would they want me up there?”

  “You was the leader of the Boomers around here. If it wasn’t for you they’d still be up there in the camp at Clarkville trying to figger out how to move down to the Grasslands. Ever’body in the territory knows you.”

  “Don’t say ‘territory’, honey,” Fionna said. “It sets your pa off.”

  “Then ever’body in the state knows you,” Silsby said. “Is that better?”

  “Much better,” Luther said with a chuckle. “But I ain’t so sure about ever’body knowing me. All that stuff you’re talking about happened a long time ago.”

  “They’s lots of people that ain’t forgot,” Fionna insisted. “You got friends around here.”

  “That’s right, Pa,” Silsby said. “Any politician with a lick of sense who needs votes out of the Medicine Bundle district, knows Luther McCracken is a good man to be on the right side of.”

  “Oh, they’re just being friendly,” Luther said.

  “You’ll be able to swing more than just a few votes toward Lorenzo Markham,” Silsby said. “I’d vote for him myself If’n I could, but even with a commuted sentence I ain’t got my citizenship no more. But since it was Markham that pulled the strings to get me and Dennis released, I’d sure like to do something for him in the election.”