Jacob's Coat

Prologue

When I was a small boy, in the shop, a small building next to the windmill and horse tank, my Grandfather told me a story of when he met John Wesley Hardin. To a small boy the shop was a wonderful place. It had the smell of coal, kerosene, wood, and occasionally the smell of the corral just outside.

So have some vision of the man when you read this story here is a picture of Charles Wesley Crotts standing and sitting with his brothers.

My grandfather was a man of small stature but to me of heroic proportions. At that time, he was in his nineties but still had his faculties. He listened to an old radio to keep abreast of world affairs but because of his failing hearing at volume where it could be heard at the farmhouse some thirty yards away. He had a sense of humor as well as a code by which he lived. There was always a sparkle in his eyes.

He had homesteaded the farm, built the house, worked the land, and brought it into modern times from a piece of prairie. It was an anchor for the family no matter how far they spread out in the world. He was in a time when men and women were only able to live based upon what they were able to accomplish and died if they were not. I have tried to portray the man as I remember him and believe he was.

I have written this story based on what he told me and every word is the truth — give or take a little lie or two.

It is late April in eighteen seventy-one and the Kansas prairie extends in all directions as far as it possible to see. The breeze from the south wafts the smell of clover and hay enhanced by an early morning shower. Two men are riding in the early morning just after dawn. Bob stopped, stood up in the saddle, pulled off his hat used it to shadow his face and scanned the horizon to the rear. Jacob pulled his horse to a stop and asked, Bob what is the matter. This is the third time you have stopped. We need to move along.

Bob said, I have this feeling we are being watched. Jacob turned his house around and rode back next to Bob. Bob said, I guess it is nothing. Since Antietam I get these feelings upon occasion.

Jacob stood in the saddle and scanned the prairie. He said, I do not see anyone, just prairie grass.

The two men resumed their ride with Jacob in front. There was a slight rise in the prairie just ahead and at the top, a slight movement to the right caught Bob’s eye. He pulled his horse up short and pointed in the direction to the left of the trail they had followed.

Bob said, Jacob, watch out. Jacob pulled his horse up short and there was gun fire from the trail they had followed. The round landed in the ground and kicked up a cloud of dust.

Bob said, I was right. There is a man with a black hat on a white horse. He had the horse laying in the grass to hide out of sight. When he got the horse up, he came up riding on it. He was out of range but he was shooting at you.

Jacob pulled his Henry rifle from his saddle holster raised it aimed and fired a round. The round kicked up dust to the right and twenty yards behind the man who had just fired. The man turned his horse completely around and then rode off to the east.

Bob said, I do not see as well as I used to. Do you know him?

Jacob shook his head.

Bob squinted his eyes and said, He rides like an Indian. He must have skill with a horse to get the horse to do such a thing. He paused and again said, He was watching us and if not for this hill I would have not seen him. Do you know this man?

Jacob said, No, but I have seen him before. I judge we have an hour or so more before we get to the farm. We better move on.

The two rode in silence for a while and Bob said, A man with such a singular purpose must have an equal portion of ill will.

Twenty five miles away to the southeast and five hours later the scene was It was ten in the morning and the scene bleak and muted. It was a low hill rising above the prairie with a large rectangle marked by young planted trees no more that two feet tall. The trees are young cottonwood, oak, maple, and evergreens chosen to provide shade in the summer and a windbreak in the winter. The curved wooden sign over the entrance reads Kingman Cemetery.

It is nearing mid-day and at the entrance, there are four carriages pulled by a single horse, a wagon pulled by a two-horse team, and several saddled horses. Inside to the left near the middle of the rectangle is a new open grave with the dirt from the preparations at the two ends of the hole. A coffin is on one side of the grave and is the center of attention of the crowd that has gathered there.

A small boy is holding on to the hand of his sister Elizabeth. She is wearing a dark blue skirt and starched white blouse. She has a blank look on her face with red eyes and cheeks from crying.

The small boy looks at the crowd, the casket, kicks at the dirt under his feet, and moves his chest inside his shirt. In his other hand is a bunch of flowers. They are wild flowers picked today, Buttercups, Wild Alfalfa, Moonflowers Tansy Asters, and Bittersweet wrapped with Tickle Grass to keep them in a bunch. The crowd had come from their work for the funeral. Wanting to look presentable for the event the men had brushed off their work pants and slipped on a suit coat of some type they usually wore to church. The small boy holding his sister’s hand was also dressed in this manner. But as young boys the dress attire was not comfortable and at times, he pulls his hand from his sister’s hand and tugs at the shirt collar and tie.

Isaac Crotts, the small boy’s father his black hat cast a shadow over his face and with his black beard gave him a dark look. Isaac’s older sons John and Luke were next to their father. John was the more serious of the two and looked about as if wanting to be sure nothing went wrong with the event. Luke looked as if he did not understand the proceedings, which could be because his haircut made his forehead look large and his countenance that of a man that is slow.

There is a large thumping noise. It causes the boy and his sister to jump. There is a slight sob as she catches her breath. The blacksmith from the Penny Stage Stop uses a mallet to drive pegs into the casket to seal the lid. The first three strikes they jump but after that, they just watch as the blacksmith seals their mother and new baby sister inside.

The boy turned away from the coffin to look at the rest of the crowd. Mr. Johnson, who runs the Stage Stop and General Store in Penny, is there with his daughter Ellen. Ellen is a friend and the boy’s age. She looks at him and wipes away a tear. There are three neighboring families there and the Reverent Blevins who made a circuit preaching between three small towns in the area.

The boy pulled on his sister’s hand and whispered, Where is your beau Frank?

Elizabeth looked up at Isaac, put her finger over her lips to quiet the boy, bent down, and whispered, Running the Stage Stop for his father.

There are four men that worked at the neighboring farms, standing two on each side of the hole. Two ropes are between the four men so the end of a rope is around their back. John, Luke, the blacksmith and Mr. Johnson, lift the casket and place it on the ropes. The four men begin lowering the casket into the hole. His sister made a small sob as she drew a breath. The boy pulled on her hand. She whispered, Charles Wesley Crotts stop squirming. Charles pulled his hand away and pointed to the west, Old Bob is back.

There in the distance two men on horse back were coming this way. Elizabeth said, Bob is back with Uncle Jacob. Isaac turned and looked down the road toward the men. Mr. Johnson asked, Shall we stop?’ Isaac said, I sent for him long ago, he had time to get here earlier, keep on lowering it.

The men continued lowering the coffin to the bottom. At the bottom, the men on the close side let go the ropes. As the men pull out the ropes, they rub against the underside of the coffin to cause a rumbling sound that came up out of the hole. Elizabeth let out a large sigh as if now there was no taking it back.

The two men dismounted at the entrance and tied their horses to one of the posts. Old Bob a hand at Isaac’s farm wore overalls with a dark blue shirt. The second man, Jacob Green wore a long leather coat that came almost to the ground. He removed the coat and laid it across the saddle. Under the coat were two double-barreled shotguns slung on a leather strap that went over his shoulders around the weapon below the trigger guard, a separate strap tied the stocks to his belt. He lifted the strap to the shotguns over his head and placed it over the horn of the Mexican saddle on his horse. Next, he went to a bedroll and tarp tied to the back of the saddle. He unrolled it removed a suit coat and tied it back up. He slipped the jacket on and bushed it out with his hands. Old Bob leaned over and pointed to the two tilted cross holsters at his waist holding two cap and ball pistols. Jacob shook his head no.

Jacob looked up the hill to Isaac and began walking up to him as Bob walked up and behind the neighbor families. As Jacob walked, he pulled off his hat and hit it against his leg to knock off the dust. When Jacob reached he family group Isaac motioned to the Reverend Blevins.

The preacher began, Lord we are gathered here to lie to rest Sarah Green Crotts and her child Mary, who did not get a chance to breathe life before your call. The men in the crowd all removed their hats. Elizabeth snatched the hat from Charles’ head and handed it to him. He placed the flowers in the hat and returned to holding his sister’s hand.

The preacher continued, by saying the Twenty First Psalm. Many in the crowd repeated it along with the preacher. Elizabeth whispered it as Charles looked up at her face. At the end the preacher said, Lord we commit these two souls to your care in the certain and sure hope that you will bring them to your bosom in heaven forever. Amen. The crowd echoed the Amen. The men put their hats back on and Elizabeth nudged Charles forward. He hesitated then walked to the edge of the grave and tossed the bouquet of wild flowers on the coffin below.

The crowd began to disperse and walk back to the carriages. Mrs. Van Delt came to Elizabeth and said, We should have the covered dish dinner setup by now in front of your house. As Elizabeth pulled Charles toward the carriages, he looked back. His brother John handed the preacher some money while Luke watched the four men that lower the coffin down with ropes shovel the dirt on the ends of the grave back into it.

Jacob walked up to Isaac, That was short for a preacher.

Isaac said, It should, we paid him to keep it short.

Jacob asked, What happened, when I was here two weeks ago she was fine.

Isaac said, She was bleeding and she did not tell me. She had helped enough women give birth, she knew there might be problems, and she kept to herself. The baby came early and the midwife could not stop the bleeding and I lost both of them.

Jacob said, That sounds like Sarah.

Isaac said, When the baby started to come she had me send Old Bob to Hays after you. She wanted you to take Charles to her sister in Coffeeville.

Jacob said, Hold it, I cannot — .

Isaac said, She made me promise to have you do it. She wants the boy to go to school and there is no school here. She was teaching him at night. You need to find a way. Isaac turned and began walking to the carriages leaving Jacob standing there.

Jacob said, I need to go back to Ellsworth and then over to Abilene.

Isaac said, Take the boy, when you finish, take the Lawrence, Leavenworth, and Galveston Line to Coffeeville. Sarah said she wrote your sister Mary and she agreed to take him if she died. She knew this might happen for a long time and making plans for it if it did and she did not let me know. She did not give me a chance to take her to a doctor in Kingman or Wichita.

It was a two-hour ride to Isaac’s farm so finally getting there was welcomed by all. The entrance to Isaac’s farm is in the middle of the homestead. The road in leads north to the stone foundation of a farmhouse, that is under construction. There is a sod house on each side of the road facing each other. Isaac constructed them in the typical manner for such structures. The hill side was dug out into two foot squares of grass and soil down to the roots about six inches. Placing the squares around the edge creates the walls. The doorframe base provides a wooden barrier also keeping water from running down into the earthen floor during a rain. The roof is wooden planks covered with a layer of sod. The pitch of the roof is away from the front no more than seven degrees to keep rain run off from eroding the roof coating. One end of the structure as was the practice provides shelter for livestock. The livestock also provides heat during the winter. Isaac built the house on the right to secure the homestead as an improvement. The family out grew the dwelling and constructed the second house across the road to the west. Isaac constructed the second dwelling to appease Sarah while he constructed the wooden farmhouse. Isaac, Sarah, Elizabeth, and Charles lived in the newer dwelling. The two sons John and Luke as well as Old Bob live in the older dwelling. A fenced in corral area on the older dwelling housed three horses, four mules, and four pigs including cantankerous sow. A fenced in corral area in the newer building housed, a brown pony, a milk cow, and a chicken house with a dozen chickens.

The long promised house has the floor beams constructed and the west and north wall erected. There are four more wall sections constructed and laying on the ground to the east of the house. A pile of two by six ceiling and roof beams is stacked on the west side of the house. The women providing the food laid the beams across sawhorses to make two long tables. The makeshift tables are set up in the shade of the large cottonwood tree to the west. A series of boxes, beams, and chairs from the sod house provide a means for the crowd to sit at the tables. The neighboring women today built a cooking fire, while others worked with plates, eating utensils, and bowls of covered dishes on the tables.

The mourners entered the farm, the neighbors that provided the meal all offered Isaac their condolences, and one of the women led him and the other men to the table nearest to the house. The neighbor women husbanded Elizabeth over to work in the feeding. One of the women each went to get a plate of food for the men. There was stew, roast chicken, and catfish.

Elizabeth handed Charles a plate of catfish, beans, and potatoes. Charles looked up at her and asked, Can I take off the tie? She smiled and helped him off with the tie placing it in the pocket of his suit coat.

The boy was sitting next to Jacob. He took a bite of the fish and sat there for a long time looking at it. The women began taking a seat at the other table. Charles looked at the woman managing the cooking fire, then got up leaving the meal, and went to talk to her. The woman pointed to a bucket a few feet away. Jacob watched the boy.

The talk at the table was about the height of the Russian Wheat. Isaac said, Harold got his wheat in a week ahead of everyone in the fall so I expect his will be ready to harvest first. We can all get together at his place and then work west. If it does not rain or hail we can be finished in two weeks."

One of the men asked, Where is Preacher Blevins? John said, He had a sick woman to see east of Penny before he came over. The man said, I can not believe he is missing a free meal. John smiled and said, He is liable to beat that horse to death getting here. There was a collective laugh.

Isaac asked, Where is the boy?

Jacob said, "He is over there next to the garden digging.

Isaac said, Luke go get him back here.

Jacob placed his hand on Luke’s arm and said, Wait a minute, I think he will be back.

Isaac asked, What is he up to?

Jacob asked, He has not cried since his mother died has he? Luke shook his head. Jacob said, When I rode through here two weeks ago I brought Sarah some Iris bulbs she asked for from Kansas City. He has been planting them. Kind of strange. He went to the woman cooking the fish and got a bucket the parts from cleaning the fish then mixed them with dirt. He dug a trench, put in the fish mixture, covered it with dirt, put in the bulbs, placed a flower from the Honeysuckle bush on each of them, and then covered them up. The boy is grieving. We all do it in different ways. Let him finish and he will be back.

Isaac turned around and looked at Charles for a moment then turned back and said, He has always been impenetrable, like deep water in a creek.

Charles smoothed out the plot and took the box of Iris bulbs back in the sod house. He emerged and came back to his meal and began eating it in earnest. Jacob turned to him and asked, I saw you planting the Iris bulbs, why did you mix the fish parts with the dirt first?

Charles looked at him for a long moment then caught his breath. He looked down at the beans, moved his spoon around in them, and whispered, Momma read me a story how the Indians taught the pilgrims to plant corn by mixing fish parts in the ground along with the seeds to make them grow good.

Jacob said, You could have used some of that pile of dirt and manure over at the end of the sod house to do the same thing.

Charles nodded and said, The fish seemed better.

Jacob jumped up and his hand crossed in front of him to the handle of one of the cap and ball pistols. Isaac looked out at the road. There were two horses. The first had an Indian man and a boy on it and the second an Indian woman and a small girl. Isaac said, Sit down Jacob that is Michael. He is one of them tame Indians.

Jacob said, I have never met a tame Indian. Jacob lowered himself slowly to his seat.

John said in a low voice, Tame does not by nature mean smart. As I hear he is gonna give up his homestead and go back to the old states somewhere. If not for Momma giving them food, they mighta starved last winter.

The Indian family made their way toward Isaac greeting