Republic

Chapter 1

A Girl Named Republic

Spring, 1859

A moment after the hills, seeming to draw apart as we advanced, disclosed Fort Laramie itself, its high bastions and perpendicular walls of clay crowing an eminence on the left beyond the stream, while behind stretched a line of arid and desolate ridges, and behind these again, towering aloft seven thousand feet, arose the grim Black Hills.

- Francis Parkman, 1846

Republic Scott was not an extraordinary girl; certainly there was little about her in the spring of 1859 to suggest the extraordinary woman she would become. She was tall for fifteen (and still growing!) with some childish pudginess about her face that might or might not vanish with the years. Her blonde hair was regularly combed back and cut just below her shoulders, as would well become the typical young girl she still was. Her large brown eyes were set off by bangs cut across her forehead, but they did not attract any unusual attention. She was the baby of the family and had a touch of childishness all about her. It was likely she would someday mature into a beauty, yet she did not yet have the feminine charms that turned heads the way her older sister did. All of this and everything about her was very common.

Only her name was perhaps unusual. There were a lot of young ladies from the South sporting names like Virginia, her elder sister, or Caroline, her cousin from Georgia. But no one she knew had been named for ALL of the states. As a child she thought she had been named after the nation, and, in her early days, thought the celebration on July 4th was entirely for her. This demonstrated what her critics thought to be her most serious problem: being spoiled and willful. To an extent, as the youngest child, she had been shown great favor by her parents and her elder brother and sister. She had a certain pride that could have bordered on arrogance, but she was very well-mannered and well-schooled despite a lack of classrooms where she made her home: Fort Laramie, out in the western territory.

Republic wore the standard uniform of the time for little girls who were not yet out in society. Her hoop skirt was small and her dress above the ankles. She always presented a pleasant picture while walking about with her older sister across the grounds of the great old fort.

This was her best claim to being unusual at this time: where she lived. Republic Scott lived with her family at the very end of the known world, according to her mother, at Fort Laramie in the Dakota Territory. She was made to understand by her father that when the government bought the fort they had relocated it and made sweeping changes. He was with the army-- a major of infantry-- and they had a large home on the post which looked more like the West Point campus in New York than a fort on the edge of the unknown. Only the bluffs and the black hills off in the distance remained the same from Parkman’s day.

Their home here was nothing compared to the home they had enjoyed in Virginia, but We are no longer in Virginia, as her father had to remind her mother when she would complain. By army standards they had the second nicest home on the post, as befitted the rank of Major Randolph Scott, a distinguished Virginia gentleman in his fifties. His wife, Emma, was younger, only reaching forty that very year. The eldest brother, Edmond, was away at West Point studying to become a soldier, but the older sister, eighteen-year old Virginia, was living in their post home. She was now a young lady, having come out into society at a Richmond ball before coming west to the frontier. Republic did not regret that she was not out in society as her sister-- there were no great parties on this post and very little dancing. There were enough young single officers to offer Virginia some diversion, but she sought no suitors from this lot. There was very little cultured society here at the post and she could wait until they returned to the east, as promised at the end of the summer.

Republic had one other little girl on the post with whom to play: Susan Madison, the ten-year old niece and ward of Lieutenant Prescott Madison. Susan Madison lived next door with her uncle and an eight-year old brother: Clarence. Lieutenant Madison, recently a widower, had a young black housekeeper named Angelique who had been with him all his life. Angelique looked after the two Madison children for him.

Republic liked to visit the Madison household. Angelique always had cookies for them and wonderful stories about animals and spirits that talked. She also told a full repertoire of Bible stories, as Angelique was a very devout Christian, but other stories she told were about a family of small pigs who lived in a barnyard. Little King Pig and his brother Bartholomew were Republic’s favorites in the pig sagas. Sometimes Angelique would act out the stories for the children with little puppets she had made.

At such times, Republic had no objection to being a little girl. Her sister was too old to sit with them and enjoy the social life of the children anymore. It was too bad, because Virginia had liked the stories about the little baby pigs and Republic could only half remember them for her when they would talk at night. She was never sure she got all of the stories straight for Virginia, who would laugh like a little girl herself at the tales when no adult was around to hear.

A favorite game of Miss Republic and Miss Susan was to pretend with Virginia at being ladies. With nothing whatsoever of a social nature to do at Fort Laramie, the young girls found a routine that mimicked what they wanted to be doing back east. Every morning after breakfast, Miss Virginia Scott would leave her residence with Miss Republic and call upon Miss Susan. Miss Susan would meet them at the door and walk with them across the parade grounds to the only store on the fort: the Post Sutler's. Here they would enter the small dark building and examine everything for sale as if they had never seen it before. Of course, what was on display was there every day and never changed. Resupply had to come several hundred miles from Saint Joseph, Missouri, and even when a shipment arrived it was nothing but the same items they had thoroughly examined before.

But they were not dissuaded in their daily shopping ritual. Miss Scott would usually buy a needle, thread, button or ribbon. Miss Republic would drift between a ribbon and a piece of candy. Miss Susan nearly always purchased a half penny’s worth of candy. If she did not have the money, Miss Republic would purchase it for her. Republic knew the Madisons did not have the money to throw about as her family did.

Their shopping complete, the trio would walk about the grounds of the fort looking for anything strange, unusual, or diverting as Virginia called it. In the spring, camped across the creek, there were always wagons full of emigrants heading for California or Oregon. There were also Indians who camped outside the fort, although the girls were not allowed in the Indian camp without a proper military escort.

One spring day they were distracted by the sight of some foolish easterners leaving the post, intending to walk south to the new gold discoveries said to be along the South Platte in the Kansas Territory. The ladies had learned of their intentions yesterday and today it appeared that a bookish young man had put together a company of five other men to walk with him. They were off to the south before the young lady and girls could do more than wave their handkerchiefs in farewell. That was too bad, because, given the proper time to prepare, they could have made quite an occasion of it.

On some days when the Overland Stage was due to pass through with the eastern mail, the little ladies would parade over to its office. If it were on time, they would wait to see who was traveling west or who was going back east on the express service. News was always wanting on the frontier post, and the passengers were usually very pleased to tell them what they knew of matters east or west.

Although the Scotts were from the south, Republic had never lived in the deep South-- only Virginia. Father had always been an officer in the United States Army, so Republic had grown up in the old army traditions. They had lived all over the country: California, Oregon, Kansas, Illinois, Missouri, and New York, so hers was a very national viewpoint. Now they were posted at Fort Laramie in what was then the Nebraska Territory-- or was it Utah or Dakota? She was never sure, and neither were many of the officers passing through. It was enough that it was the end of the world.

Growing up all over the United States had been a very educational experience for Miss Republic. Although she had seldom attended formal schools, she had gone to such schools as the army might have on each posting. While at West Point, New York, she had gone to a wonderful school. The rest of the time her mother and even her father saw to her education. She was an avid reader and considered very intelligent. This, too, increased her pride.

But all the education and knowledge had not equipped her to look very far into the future. She lived in 1859, now the very cusp of great and moving events, but that summer she saw no shadow on her future. She had grown up with the great debate over slavery, and could even remember the last compromise in 1850. She had studied Senator Douglas’ Kansas-Nebraska proposals from five years ago. Her training and her education had taught her that, while the politicians might rant and rave, the matter would eventually be resolved by yet another compromise. She supposed slavery would eventually die out-- she certainly thought the discussion of its extension to the Territories a silly one to anyone who had traveled in the west. They might grow cotton in part of Texas, but the Great American Desert defied the very thought of such slave-intensive crops. Around Fort Laramie, the army had to travel miles in all directions just to gather enough hay for the horses in the winter. Cotton could not be grown even along the banks of the North Platte River nearby.

Republic supposed everything in the nation would go along as it had for her entire sixteen years. She did not see the events on the horizon that might change everything about her life.

As the spring came to a close, Republic was looking forward to both the arrival of her brother, on leave from West Point, and her grandmother, coming for a visit. Her maternal grandmother had announced her intention to travel there and come back with them when they came east in the fall. Republic called her father’s mother Grandmother Scott, but, for her mother’s, Grandmother York just would not do. She was English royalty and was always called Lady Catherine York. In contrast to Republic, she was a very unusual lady, as Republic was about to discover all over again.

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Chapter 2

A Grandmother Named Lady

Spring, 1859

"I wish thee all thy mother’s graces, thy father’s fortunes and his places."

- Bishop Richard Corbet, 1582-1635

Republic Scott looked forward to the arrival of her maternal grandmother at Fort Laramie with a great degree of excitement. As lacking in singularity as Republic was, her grandmother was the most unusual person she knew. She was the widow of a famous and rich British sea captain who had somehow achieved a royal status. Republic did not understand British royalty and presumed her grandmother was in some way related to Queen Victoria. Certainly, her grandmother always acted like a ruler whenever she visited Republic’s mother, her eldest child. When they had left New York for the frontier, she promised her she would visit, and now she was coming by stagecoach with Republic’s brother Edmond, who had a summer leave from West Point.

The entire family turned out as the eastern stagecoach approached the post, along with a number of other officers and their families. Almost as soon as it stopped, Edmond was out the door to be greeted with excited hugs and kisses from his sisters. He was shadowed demurely by Lady Catherine’s Irish maid: Erin, who quickly made herself scarce as the crowd hushed expectantly. Lady Catherine’s visit was probably the most exciting event of the entire year at Fort Laramie, and she did not disappoint, exiting the coach with a flourish. All of the gentlemen officers bowed and their ladies curtsied.

The Lady York was not tall and her brown hair had turned a blondish sort of gray. She quickly greeted the entire family, remembering each person’s name flawlessly and patting Republic’s cheek with affection. Her accent was clearly British, sounding unlike anyone else Republic knew.

Words flew about the station as her baggage was unloaded and carried over to the house. Her maid would bunk with the other domestics, Lady Catherine York had the spare room, and brother Edmond would bunk next door with the Madisons while they were here.

There was a grand dinner that night in Lady Catherine’s honor. Republic thought she may be a little tired after so much travel to get all dressed up and greet all of the ladies of the post, but Lady Catherine rose to the occasion and displayed no weariness to anyone. She seemed to delight in all the attention paid to her.

Republic knew her grandmother had lived an exciting life. Her husband had married her in England and had taken her off to war with him on his big ship. They had lived in Oregon when the British and Americans were jointly occupying that part of the country. Republic’s mother had told her of growing up in the northwest, then the Yorks had gone east for a time, where the children married. Finally, Lady York and her husband had gone to California during the gold rush. Those were exciting tales. Republic loved to hear about her exciting grandmother’s past and was more than pleased the next day when Lady Catherine insisted taking a turn about the post with Republic alone.

I always wanted to see Fort Laramie, Lady Catherine explained as they walked brusquely along. But it does not look at all like I expected.

I was disappointed, too, Republic replied. But father explained that when the government bought the post they tore down the old walls and built all of this. It is nothing like Francis Parkman’s description.

Not at all, Lady Catherine agreed. I heard many descriptions of it from the emigrants who came to Oregon over the years. In those days it was very nearly the last place before the end of the world.

Virginia thinks of it as the end of the world, Republic teased.

Lady Catherine giggled girlishly. Being out, she would, I suppose. But tell me that you can appreciate it a little.

What do you mean?

You are on the edge of adventure here-- you must appreciate that!

It is no good being on the edge without ever going over, Republic sighed.

You sound like me. As a young girl I thought nothing would ever happen in my life! The greatest adventure I could imagine was a trip to Bath. My little town of Longborn had not one store-- we had to walk a mile to Meryton to buy anything! And there was not much there, I can tell you!

If I wished to buy something not sold at the single store here, I would have to walk 1000 miles to Saint Joe, Republic pointed out.

Lady Catherine giggled again. You and I must shop London together. Your sister now disclaims any interest whatsoever in going to England and to school there. What would you think of some time in my old country?

It would be like going to a fairyland, Republic admitted. I have no idea what to expect!

Well, I will speak with my daughter about this, Lady Catherine declared. And she did.

It came as little surprise to Republic to have her mother tell her that when Lady Catherine would take ship for England in the fall, Republic might go with her to study abroad.

But you will still have a coming out party in America! her mother insisted, upon your return.

Republic said nothing, but her grandmother had a sly smile about her as she agreed, dismissing the notion as of little consequence.

There only remained the matter of the expedition her father had planned this summer. The government wanted the army to investigate the gold mining to the south along Cherry Creek in an area of western Kansas, already being called Colorado.