Soul of a Gunslinger

by Jim Cox

  To make sure the bear was dead, Lefty picked up a dead tree branch and jabbed the bear several times—he didn’t twitch or more—he was dead. Lefty squatted and looked closely at the bullet holes in the beast, concluding the three shots into its mouth, which probably lodged in his brain, was the bear’s demise. Then he thought of his horse. Knowing it was important to locate him, he stood looking around, but the horse was nowhere to be seen. Lefty started walking in the direction the horse had run and within minutes saw him standing behind a cluster of trees looking his way. Star didn’t move as Lefty approached him.

  The horse didn’t want to get close to the bear, so Lefty tied him to a limb several yards away, fetched the rope from the saddle, and went to the kill. After throwing one end of the rope over a high, sturdy tree limb, Lefty knotted one end of the rope around the bear’s neck and went back for Star. The horse’s nostrils flared from the bear’s scent, and he tried to balk at coming any closer, but Lefty finally got him close enough to get the rope tied around the saddle horn. It was a struggle because of the bear’s size, but Star eventually pulled the bear’s body completely off the ground and Lefty tied it in position.

  Lefty had the bear gutted and had started the skinning process when he heard a horse running toward him; it was Shorty riding bareback on Abe. “What’s going on?” Shorty yelled out as he approached, but then he saw the dead bear hanging from a tree limb which answered his question. As both men busied themselves skinning the bear, Lefty explained the ordeal, especially the path covered with animal tracks. When they had the animal nearly skinned, Lefty asked Shorty to go back to camp and fetch two horsed with pack-racks and a few cotton bags to put the meat in.

  Two hours later, the men had four skinned bear quarters hanging from a nearby camp tree, and a skillet full of bear meat cooking in bacon grease beside the coffee pot. Stretched between two trees at the down-hill edge of the grass clearing was the bearskin with its raw side facing south for the sun to cure. The men had a mite more scraping to do to get all of the fat off.

  Chapter Seventeen

  A week after the bear episode, Shorty and Lefty walked into camp at twilight, all tuckered-out after a hard day’s work at the river’s edge. Each man laid their day’s work of two bags on their gold pile in the corner of their cliff hole. “That makes forty-four bags we’ve got panned, and it’s just the first week of September,” Shorty said with a big smile. Lefty nodded but didn’t react much.

  Shorty got the fire burning, brought out the supper fixing, and started cooking while Lefty went after coffee water and then took care of the horses. After watering them, he hobbled them in fresh grass.

  The men sat back with full stomachs, holding their cups, as the campfire flicked in the darkness. The three-quarter moon and millions of stars shone brightly overhead in the crystal-clear California mountain air. “What’s wrong with ‘ya, Lefty? You ain’t said a half-dozen words since we got back to camp.” Lefty didn’t answer right off; he simply sat looking at the bright snow-covered mountaintop in the far distance where the sun’s rays were still able to reach.

  Finally, he said, “We’re just digging around in the gold left-overs, Shorty. The real find is in those streams and rivers up there,” Lefty said pointing to the top of the mountain. Neither man responded to the comment Lefty had made; they just sat in deep thought. The only sound was the rushing river water. Shorty poured more coffee.

  “You ain’t thinking about going all the way up there, are you?” Shorty asked.

  Lefty didn’t answer his friend’s question right off. It was three swallows later when he looked Shorty squarely in the eye and said firmly, “I’ll be leaving come first light in the morning.”

  »»•««

  It had been a hard-uphill trip the last two days, traveling in thin air through the wooded landscape on loose gravel-type rock, but they were now a thousand feet above the tree line looking for a campsite with less than two hours of daylight left. The treeless terrain was extremely rugged with cliffs and huge boulders of all sizes and shapes; some nearly a hundred feet tall. Smaller boulders were scattered about in the flatter part of the landscape. Streams of melted mountain snow flowed downhill wherever the terrain would allow, but all streams twisted and turned until they ended up in the main river the men had been riding beside. Nothing suitable was found to establish a permanent camp, so the men spent the night in a make-do camp and started climbing again at first light the next morning.

  The morning travel was becoming more difficult. The mountain was steeper, and the air was becoming thinner causing more stops. The wind never stopped its gale-strength blowing, causing hat chin-straps to be pulled tight and sometimes their hats had to be held onto. But they kept on climbing, occasionally passing a scrawny, knot covered tree that looked completely out of place.

  Just before high-noon, both men heard a roaring ahead of them. The waterfall turned out to be from a small west to east stream, maybe ten-feet wide, not very deep, and falling from a riverbed twenty-feet high. It continued eastward to the main river. But what got Lefty and Shorty’s attention was the washed-out area in the cliff on the downhill side of the falls. Apparently, past runoffs over the years had dug a deep crevasse into the side of the cliff several feet wide, much like the hole they’d camped in a few days ago. However, this one was close to thirty-feet deep. After a search, the men discovered the crevasse extended behind the waterfalls. This was a perfect place to set up their permanent camp.

  The saddles and pack-racks were taken to the back of the crevasse, and the horses were taken to grass and hobbled. The best grass in the area was south of the stream that flowed to the river, but it wasn’t very thick, so the horses were spread wide. Saddlebags and pack-racks were unpacked, and the food items were taken behind the falling water where the temperature would stay cool and humid. They laid the bear quarters on cotton food bags lying on the sandy floor and talked about building a rack to hang the meat on.

  There were a few of those scrawny trees scattered about which had dried logs under them for campfires. When we run out of firewood from these trees, we’ll have to pull some up from the tree line, Lefty thought. It wasn’t long until coffee was made and two skillets were cooking side-by-side. One skillet was frying potatoes, and the other had bear meat cooking in bacon grease.

  After eating their noon meal, they headed out with pans and shovels in the howling wind, searching for the large gold deposits Lefty said might be here. Lefty worked along the small stream flowing to the river, but Shorty walked a good distance up the mountain to the main river before he started dipping. The sun was bright, and due to the thin air, the men got hot during their work causing them to take off their shirts. Eagles soared a short distance away.

  Lefty was the first to get back to camp that evening and added seven bags to their gold pile. He had brought the fire to life, put on coffee water, and was watering the horses when Shorty walked in empty-handed. Lefty took on a frown and asked, “Didn’t you find anything?”

  Shorty started grinning from ear-to-ear. “You were right, Lefty. There’s gold everywhere up there…nuggets in the streams and gold in the cliffs. I found so much I couldn’t carry it all, so I left it piled-up. I’ll have to bring it down on horses tomorrow.” Lefty couldn’t believe what he was hearing and thought Shorty was probably stretching things a mite.

  The water was hot, so Lefty dumped in the ground coffee, let it settle for a minute or so and then poured two cups. “Sounds like you found the mother lobe, Shorty. I’ll go with you tomorrow and get a look for myself.” Shorty was still smiling when he brought out the supper fixing.

  »»•««

  Shorty was right; he wasn’t stretching things, there was gold everywhere. In fact, there was so much that the men made a search of the area to determine where the most concentrated source of gold was. This would allow them to work where it would yield the most. Not only was their productivity considered, but the amount of weight that could be carried on their five horses when the
y returned home.

  Day-after-day, they followed the same routine. They rose early, cooked and ate breakfast, worked all morning, and after a noon meal, went back to digging. Sometimes they panned, and sometimes they dug into the side of the cliff with their picks. Generally speaking, Lefty panned, and Shorty used his pick, but in either case, they worked a distance apart to keep from distracting one another. At days end, they brought their haul back to camp and stored it behind the waterfalls.

  It was nearly bedtime during one of these workdays when Lefty brought up a subject they’d not talked much about before, “Shorty, you told me you were married once, but you never told me what happened to your wife. She ain’t waiting for ‘ya back east is she?”

  “I had a daughter, too,” he said in a painful tone. “They both died of cholera a year before I came west and run into you and Hide. I’ve never figured out what happen that caused ‘em to die. They’d both been bad sick and out of it for over a week, but when they started eating and drinking and doing much better, I thought they were on the mend. But a few days later, I came in from the field and found ‘em both burning up with fever. Three days later my daughter died, and Josie, that was my wife’s name, died the day after.”

  “How old was your little girl when she died?”

  “Her twelfth birthday was coming up in a month.”

  “Do you have any other kin, Shorty? Anyone to share your gold with?”

  “Naw, I ain’t got no one. I had a younger brother and sister, but they both ran off from home when they were young ‘cause Pa treated ‘em bad. It seemed to me both of ‘em worked hard in the fields and did whatever Pa said, but when he got to drinking, he’d accuse ‘em of being lazy and strapped ‘em terrible, even making their backs bleed sometimes.” Shorty paused for a spell and then continued, “My ma and pa both died before I turned fourteen.” Shorty took a couple of swallows and then asked Lefty, “How about you? I suppose you’re gonna give some of your gold to your ma and brother you were telling me about.”

  “I’ve been thinking on that, Shorty. I’m hoping to set ‘em up with a good life and get ‘em away from that back-breaking little ranch where the cow sales ain’t ever enough to pay the bills.” Lefty paused in deep thought, “I ain’t sure Ma will ever leave the ranch…it brings back memories of Pa.” There was a period of silence, and then Lefty continued, “Hide gets half of whatever I end up with. I consider him to be my partner because he got me here in the first place.”

  Shorty quickly broke in, “We’ll split our gold money three ways, Lefty; you, me, and Hide. I consider the three of us to be partners.” Lefty nodded.

  Their work didn’t slack. It seemed to be never-ending, but the pile of bags and clusters of gold-rich rocks was filling the space behind the waterfall. The men estimated there was over a million dollars in it.

  “It’s time we’re getting out of here and heading home,” Lefty said while eating a noon meal. “I ain’t sure of the date, but I’d guess it’s getting close to the first of October and snow will be coming any day now.”

  “I been thinking the same thing,” Shorty said. “I say we light out first thing tomorrow. It ain’t gonna be easy to get back down the river, and we’ll be lucky if we don’t run into heavy snow before we get to Sutter’s Fort.”

  “Maybe, we won’t have to go back down the river,” Lefty said. “Maybe we can find and follow the animal path where I killed the bear and see if it crosses over the cliff to a valley we can take.”

  “It ain’t very likely we’ll be that lucky,” Shorty said.

  The men sat drinking coffee for a spell when Lefty spoke up, “We’ll have to leave most of our gold here and come back after it next spring. We don’t want to weigh down the horses. The gold will be safe behind the waterfall.” Shorty nodded his agreement as Lefty continued, “We’ll get all of our belongings gathered up tonight and head out at first light.

  “I have a good size pile of diggings up yonder that needs to be brought down, but it won’t take me long. I’ll go after it first thing in the morning while you cook breakfast,” Shorty said.

  Lefty had cooked their breakfast and had eaten his. After a second cup, he walked a-ways from the cliff looking for Shorty; he wasn’t in sight, and as Lefty turned back, he saw black clouds in the west coming his way. I hope we ain’t waited too long, he thought. Those black clouds might be bringing trouble. I’d better get things loaded up while I’m waiting on Shorty. Lefty put the racks on the horses, loaded their personal things, and what gold they’d be taking. After another look, Shorty still wasn’t in sight. Lefty was starting to get worried but decided to drink another cup of coffee while waiting for him. If he ain’t here by the time I drink my coffee, I’ll go looking for him. Shorty didn’t show.

  Several minutes later, Lefty was up the mountain to where Shorty had been digging and saw Abe standing with his reins hanging. When he got to the horse, he dismounted and started calling, but there was no answer. Lefty was worried, and after a few more calls with no response, he started circling the area looking for signs. He didn’t see a thing the first time around but decided to circle the area a second time; maybe he had missed something; he’d look more thoroughly this time. Sure enough, not far from where Abe was standing, Lefty saw the sole of a boot under a heap of large rocks. Within minutes Lefty had dug Shorty from under the pile of rocks and laid him on open ground. Shorty was dead.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Lefty sat cross-legged beside his friend for over an hour after laying him on the ground beside the pile of rocks that had killed him. He had gotten past the agonizing shock of his friend being killed and was now sitting in tears looking into the unknown. A horse stomping brought him back to his surroundings. Lefty stood and went to the rock pile where he had found Shorty’s body. It looked as though Shorty had made an attempt to dislodge a stone with his pick, probably after another gold-rich rock. The pick, which was still sticking between two stones, must have freed large stones from above that fell on him before he could escape.

  Lefty knew he couldn’t tarry long in the area because snow was already falling and from the looks of the dark clouds coming in, it wasn’t going to let up. He also knew his friend’s body had to be buried in a respectable place, maybe in the soft ground not far from the main river. Lefty loaded the body on Abe and started toward camp for a shovel.

  An hour later, he had buried his friend, laid rocks on top of the grave to prevent predators from digging his body up, and then he tried to say a few last words over Shorty’s grave, but words wouldn’t come. As he headed back to camp, the snow and wind seemed to be getting much stronger, and Lefty realized the sooner he got off of the mountain, the better off he’d be. He concluded it would be risky traveling with the gold, now that he was alone, with robbers roaming the mountains. He was also worried about the horses carrying a heavy load with a possible snow storm coming on.

  When he got to camp, he quickly removed all of the gold he had put on the pack-horses a couple of hours earlier and returned it behind the waterfall. He also hid the gold Shorty had put on Abe before he was killed.

  When the gold was in place behind the waterfall, Lefty cleared the camp as much as possible, trying to eliminate any sign of them being there. He put seven bags of nuggets in Star’s saddlebags. Otherwise, he was leaving all of the gold behind the waterfall; a million dollars’ worth.

  Lefty rode Star alongside the cliff down the mountain with the four horses tethered behind. He was looking for the animal trail which he figured angled north from where he had killed the bear and was not far down the mountain.

  It was hard for him to keep focused. His thoughts kept turning over and over about Shorty’s demise; how he’d gone through all of the stress of traveling from South Georgia to California, and then climbing and descending several mountains before settling in his final camp and finding the mother lobe, only to be killed. Lefty did his best to watch for the animal the trail as the howling wind pushed the thick falling snow sideways, alm
ost eliminating his visibility. The cliff helped ease the wind a bit and provided a travel guide because he knew the cliff ran due south along the main river. He rode on, knowing that stopping at this point might be a sure death. Not only was the strong wind and snow a problem, but the temperature was dropping by the minute.

  It had been nearly two hours since Lefty had left camp and he’d not come across the animal trail. He was losing all hope of finding it because of the ground’s snow covering and was ready to head for the crevasse in the cliff that he and Shorty had ridden up from the river tunnel when Star stopped with pointed ears. It was a bit blurred, but Lefty saw two deer bounding over ridges toward the cliff. His heart jumped a mite, knowing the deer would leave fresh tracks that probably went to the opening that lead to the top of the cliff.

  Within minutes, Lefty came to the tracks and followed them. It appeared the tracks stopped at the cliff’s edge without a sign of where the deer went. Lefty got down from Star and tied him tightly to a tree limb. Then he went to where the deer disappeared and saw the tracks going into a see-saw tunnel barely wide and high enough for a horse to pass through. A person would never see or find the opening unless he followed that trail, Lefty thought. Even from close-up, the opening to the see-saw tunnel looks like its solid rock.

  Lefty entered the opening and proceeded to walk up the trail which ended on top of the cliff several yards later. Its floor was broken up rocks, and even though the pass might be a bit cramped, he thought the horses could get through.

  Lefty climbed back down the pass, untied the last tethered horse, and led it up the cliff tunnel without much trouble. After tying the horse to a limb, Lefty went after the next horse. It took nearly an hour to get all five horses up the cliff, re-tether, and underway again. The sky was almost black, the heavy snow was still swirling in the strong wind, and the temperature was getting colder.