The Secret Saddle_Anna Troy's Emancipation

by Dani Larsen

  "That would be very nice, ma'am. I'm mighty thirsty this morning."

  "Would ye like some biscuits with that? I have some fresh baked ones left over from breakfast."

  "Don't mind if I do, ma'am."

  "Mary, please call me Mary."

  Mary brought in a tray and set it on the table in the middle of the living room, then she poured tea for all of them, and told them to help themselves to the biscuits and jam that were in the middle of the tray.

  "These are wonderful biscuits, Mary." He licked the butter off his fingers, as he took another one. "Just as good as I remember."

  "That was near twenty years ago when ye were here last, Charlie. What have ye been doing all this time? Did something special bring ye here now?"

  John just sat back and drank his tea, letting his wife carry the conversation.

  "I've been mighty busy. I've thought about you both many times, since I saw you last, and hoped all was well here. I felt a kinship with you since my mother came over from Ireland at a young age also."

  "We felt the same, Charlie." John added to the conversation. "Mary read yer book and told me how much she liked it."

  "I'm glad you got a copy, Mary."

  "I just loved 'A Texas Cowboy'. It reminded me so much of our life here on the ranch. It was very well written."

  "Thank you, I've got another one coming out that I wrote three years ago, but I am having trouble getting it printed as there are certain people who don't want me to tell the story. It's called 'Pinkerton's Cowboy Detective'. I may have to delete the Pinkerton name, and the publisher wants me to break it into two books. Probably will happen, and they will be 'A Cowboy Detective', and 'Further Adventures of a Cowboy Detective'."

  "I will be reading them, no matter what ye call them." Mary picked up the tea pot and refilled all of their cups, then put a teaspoon of sugar in her cup. "So is that what ye have been up to for all these years?"

  "No, I've been chasing a lot of criminals around the country."

  He picked up the cup and drained it with one gulp.

  "I've been all the way to Alaska and as far south as Mexico City. I was mostly what they call an undercover agent, and I worked my way into gangs of robbers and cattle rustlers. That is much of what the new books are about. I've arrested over a hundred thugs. Soon after I met you I worked in the Denver office, but I just hated sitting most of the time. The only interesting part of that job was working with Tom Horn. He was a skilled detective, but I didn't like some of the tactics he used, so eventually I moved on.

  "I worked in the early 90's on a case in Idaho where I went undercover as a miner. My job was to get information from the labor union, and to tell what I learned to the mine's employers. My most memorable job was when I posed as Charles L. Carter, who was a known murderer. Then I was able to join the Butch Cassidy gang for a time. They were robbing trains and we were hired to catch them. We stopped their thieving for quite a while with the information I gave the company, but I didn't arrest any of them."

  "I have read in the paper about the Butch Cassidy gang."

  "Yes, they were pretty famous for a while. After I left their midst they robbed a Union Pacific train outside of Wilcox, Wyoming. I was assigned to openly go after them after that. They've been called the Wild Bunch by a lot of folks. I worked with Tom Horn for a time on that one. After Sheriff Josiah Hazan was killed, while we were chasing them, the Pinkerton Company wanted them captured, no matter what we had to do to get them. We caught a lot of the gang members; including Kid Curry, due to information I had discovered earlier. He escaped though and was killed by the law in Colorado. We never could catch the main leaders, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. They fled the country after we arrested the rest of the gang. I like to think I was responsible for them fleeing. We heard later that they robbed some fellas who were transporting payroll money from a mine, and got in a shootout afterward with the Bolivian police and were killed."

  "That made front page news here. I had no idea ye were involved."

  "I also met a lawman named Joe Lefors, whom I came to dislike greatly. He arrested Tom Horn for murder, although it was later proved he couldn't have done it. I didn't care for either man, but Tom Horn was the better of the two. Anyway, those are some of the things I've been doing since I saw you last. I was wondering how you two and your daughter fared after the melee that you went through on Lookout Mountain? And I wanted to thank you for ridding the country of Jack Bane"

  "It is funny ye should be asking about that now. We thought that what happened was far behind us, but I just received a letter from Anna, telling me she is suddenly having terrible dreams about those times. She has been fine for twenty two years. She got married in 1908 and has a ten month old baby. These nightmares seemed to come up after she had the baby. I can see how that might bring up those memories, as having a child to worry about could do that."

  "Yes, that would be understandable. A lot of times those kinds of memories are triggered by some event which brings it all back. Do you know of any traumatic things that happened to her lately?"

  "No, nothing bad has happened that I am aware of. She just wanted to know if I had been having any dreams about that. By the way, John, I just finished reading the letter from her, and I was going to tell ye just as Charlie arrived that they are going to have another baby, probably in early June."

  "Well, I guess that is good news." John said. "I was hoping they would be in their own place before they had any more children, but we didn't have much say about when our children arrived. I hope those nightmares go away before the baby comes."

  "I have heard of those dreams going on for a long time. Where are they living now?"

  "That is what other news she had, John. They have moved to a small cabin on the Perry Place in Cove, so they are finally on their own. They have been living with her husband's family, and Anna has wanted to get their own place for some time. Mr. Perry rented them a cabin with some furniture for only ten dollars a month. She sounded real happy about that."

  "I hope they can afford that, Mary, and still save money to buy their own spread." John put in.

  "Well, maybe having their own place will help her get over those nightmares. Did you two have dreams about what happened?" Charlie asked, as he picked up the pot and poured himself the last of the tea.

  "Yes, Charlie. We both did, off and on for about five years I guess. Every once in a while Bane's face shows up in a dream still. How about ye, John? Do ye still dream about that monster?"

  "Yes, his ugly mug enters me dreams every so often. I don't tell ye when it happens, because I don't want to remind ye."

  "I don't either, John. It is best left in the past. So is there something else that brings ye here today, Charlie? We are happy to have ye, and yer welcome to spend the night."

  "Thanks for the invitation, Mary. It all depends on where my investigation leads me. I did want to thank you both formerly from the Pinkerton Company, for getting rid of Bane and his gang. I know some of his men went to prison after Bane and Mac Jones were killed. But I don't know if they are out yet. Hopefully they'll die there. We were on their trail when you took care of them for us, but we had lost track of them. It turns out they were sneaking over to Idaho and robbing miners and rustling cattle over there, when they weren't harassing people here in Baker County. Anyway, enough about the dead, I am looking for a fella who took part in the murder of the governor of Idaho. Did you hear about that?"

  "Yes, Charlie, I do remember hearing something about that."

  "It happened on December 30th, 1905. Frank Steunenberg was the governor of Idaho, but it has been said that he took bribes from a lot of people. He was seen with a big wad of cash, before the murder, and the miners assumed he was a corrupt official. He lived in Caldwell, Idaho, and when he returned to his home that night, a bomb had been planted on the gate. It blew up when he opened it, killing him immediately. The miners all thought he was corrupt, as a union pamphlet about the 1899 Coeur d'Alene mine strike mention
ed that fact in 1908. Steunenberg was in his second term as governor at the time. He seemed to always be on the side of the mine owners, and after one of his decisions favored them, the man was reported to have deposited thirty-five thousand dollars in his account, even though he always said he was a poor man.

  "Albert Horsely, who was known as Harry Orchard, was arrested almost immediately for the murder. He admitted to the crime and confessed to sixteen other murders at the same time. Then he said that the killing had been ordered by William Dudley Haywood, Charles Moyer, and George Pettibone, all leaders of the Western Federation of Miners. After long and confusing trials the three men he accused were acquitted, or the charges were dropped. Orchard also said he had an accomplice. He called him Bud Dampierre. I don't know if Bud is his real name or not. He worked in one of the mines, and that was the name on the payroll records, but Bud is usually a nickname. Anyway, he has totally eluded all authority. The last he was heard of, he was headed in this direction. He told someone his mother lived out this way somewhere. The fella thought it was either Baker or Union County. I just want to tie up this last loose end before I retire. Just thought that would be a good reason to stop by and see you folks, and to see if you had heard of this guy. He's a pretty young fella, probably in his early twenties.

  "I looked through every flyer and book I could find that had pictures of wanted men of the West, to see if he was wanted for any other crimes. The only thing I could find was a reference to a kid named Buddy Dampierre, who is missing from Cheyenne, Wyoming. He was fourteen at the time and was living with foster parents, who died in a fire in a hotel there. They found the parents' bodies, but didn't find his, and it is suspected that they were murdered and the fire might have been set, as there was some evidence of arson. So if he didn't die in the fire, he is a suspect. The problem is that he is described as an ordinary sort of chap, with brown hair and brown eyes and no distinguishing characteristics."

  "I've never heard of anyone by that name, Charlie. We will certainly keep our eyes and ears open though and let ye know if we hear of him." John said.

  "He may not be using that name anymore, as he probably knows we are looking for him, so just let me know about any suspicious characters you come across or hear about."

  "We certainly will. He doesn't sound like someone we want hanging around here. Where are ye headed from here, Charlie?"

  "I'm going to head over to Union County, after I talk to the Sheriff in Baker City. I'll give you the address where you can reach me if you hear anything." Charlie pulled a card out of his pocket and laid in on the table.

  Steve came in the back door just then and interrupted their conversation.

  "We had one break in the fence, Da, and I fixed it. Everything else looks good. Whose horse is that out there? Oh, excuse me, I guess we have company."

  "Yes, Steve, this is Detective Charlie Siringo, with the Pinkerton Company."

  "Howdy, Steve."

  "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Siringo."

  "Thank you for your hospitality. I'm going to head into Baker City and talk to the Sheriff. It was really good to see you again, John, and you too, Mary. I hope we meet again before I retire."

  "Yer welcome to come back for dinner, Charlie, and to spend the night if ye don't find a place to stay tonight."

  "Thank you, again. I'll probably just hop on the next train headed to La Grande, if I don't find anything in town. Thank you both."

  Charlie put on his hat as he headed out the door.

  "How do you know that Pinkerton fella, Da?"

  "That is a long story, Son. C'mon, lets go and clean out the stable, and I'll tell ye all about it. Be back in at lunchtime, Mary."

  Mary finished cleaning up the kitchen after they left, then she sat down to write Anna a letter.

  Chapter Nine

  "Union County, Oregon"

  1910

  Anton was cleaning tables, as he prepared for the evening customers at the saloon. He had a pretty good bunch of regulars for lunch and dinner. Most of the people who came in for lunch were the merchants and their staff who worked in the town. Anton paid a woman to cook and clean up, from eleven a.m. to two p.m. for lunch and four to seven p.m. for dinner. She was a good cook and fixed a variety of different foods for lunch and dinner seven days a week. Lily repeated the same meals from week to week, so the customers knew what they would have Monday through Sunday. There wasn't anything she prepared that wasn't good. It was rare to have a lot of leftover food, but if there was Anton usually gave it to Lily, to take home to her four children the next day. She was a widow, and cooking for Anton was what kept their family with food on the table. Lily prepared delicious soups every day that she served with hardy sandwiches. For dinner; the meal had some kind of meat and potatoes every night, because that is what most of their customers wanted. Today's menu was bean and ham soup for lunch with a bacon sandwich, and dinner was meat loaf and scalloped potatoes. Anton was happy with the profits from the meals that were served, as after dinner many of the men stayed and drank for a few hours. And, many cowboys from the surrounding ranches came in for a whiskey or beer, after they got off work, especially on the weekends.

  Not very many women spent time in the saloon. There were four women who came in and hung out every night, but they were not considered respectable. Anton knew what they were doing, and he didn't approve, but he thought that what they were doing wasn't any of his business. He contemplated kicking them out, but he knew that the women had no other way to earn money, and he couldn't stand the thought of letting them starve. He figured whatever arrangements they made with customers was their business, and as long as they didn't do that business in his saloon that it had nothing to do with him. After getting to know the women, he liked them all, and he realized that they were only there because they had nowhere else to go and no one who cared about them. They each had their own sad story of how they got into that kind of life.

  Molly was a small busty blonde with a gregarious laugh. She was in her forties, but looked much younger. Her family had all been killed when they had been burned out by a man, who didn't want the poor family homesteading on land he thought was his. After her parents and three brothers died in the fire, the man was arrested and charged with manslaughter. He spent five years in prison and was now home on his ranch. Molly was ten at the time with nowhere to go. Tilly had taken her in and groomed her to be a prostitute.

  Tilly was now in her sixties. She had run her own brothel in town, for a long time, until the people of La Grande insisted the sheriff shut the place down. She turned it into a boarding house, even though everyone wondered if she still used it for the same purpose. She did rent out several rooms, but the three other girls who worked for her had their own rooms at the boarding house. Tilly came into the saloon nightly usually for dinner and drinks. She spent much of the evening talking to the customers and introducing them to her girls. Once in a while she left with an older man. She had been a pretty woman once, but her hair was now gray and her face was wrinkled. She painted her cheeks and lips red, which gave her a kind of ghoulish look. When she smiled her face lit up, and you could tell that she had once been a pretty lady, but the hard life she had lived took its toll on her looks. Her low necked dress showed off a drooping but still lively pair of breasts. A red jacket trimmed in feathers was almost always on her shoulders. Tilly had been brought up in a brothel, as her mother was a prostitute too, and she never knew her father. Anton liked Tillie and knew that the woman never had a chance for a better life. He just asked her to please be discreet, and to make sure nothing ever happened on his premises.

  Amanda was a natural red head. She had arrived in town about a year ago. Anton couldn't understand how she had ended up as a prostitute, until she told him all about her past one night after she had imbibed a few whiskeys. She was in her early twenties and had soft, pretty features, and a voluptuous figure. The girl was tall, about five foot ten inches with wide hips that accentuated a tiny waist and made her breasts look large
r than they were. She didn't wear makeup because she didn't need to, as she had a natural glow that made her stand out in a room. Amanda told Anton that she had met a man when she was fourteen who told her how beautiful she was and how much he loved her. Although she looked older, she was naive and didn't know anything about sex, and she didn't know that he was married. When she found out that she was pregnant she went to him, but he told her to get lost. She had been living with her grandmother, since her parents had both died of scarlet fever when she was four. Her grandmother had been ill for a long time, and when she found out that Amanda was pregnant she had a heart attack and died within a few days. The people in the town she lived in were very religious, and when they found out she was pregnant they chased her out of town. They told the children to throw rocks at her if she tried to come back. She came to La Grande big with her child. Tilly took her in, as she had taken in Dolly many years before. After the baby was born she put Amanda to work. The girl was now ten years old, and she stayed in their room when she wasn't attending school. When her mother brought a friend home, she would go outside and sit on the porch of the boarding house, or go into one of the other girls' rooms that wasn't occupied,

  The fourth woman was D'Alene Dampierre, but she went by "Dolly" in the Saloon. Anton didn't know her very well, but he felt sorry for her too. She didn't talk a lot about herself, but he knew that she had been beaten up pretty badly before she had arrived in town. Anton had purchased the saloon only four years ago, so he only knew what he had heard from the previous owner about her. She had been pregnant and given birth to a boy, whom she had let go with a couple who wanted to adopt him when he was four years old. That was all he really knew about the woman. He thought she was probably part Indian, mostly because she had long straight black hair and dark brown eyes. Anton thought she was the saddest of the four women, as when she wasn't in an animated conversation with someone her dark brown eyes looked sad.

  Anton wished he was rich, so he could help these women get out of the life they were leading, but he was just holding his head above water. He told his wife, Delia, about the girls and how sorry he felt for them. Luckily, Delia was not a jealous woman. She knew her husband was a good Christian and trusted him implicitly. If Delia had clothes she wouldn't wear anymore, she would send them down to the saloon to be given to the women. If they were having a bad night and there was a lot of extra food, he would make sure they got a good meal too.