The Hunt

By William H. Wakefield

"What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, man would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected.” Chief Seattle

Texas 1813. The Great Plains.

Seeking to make a quick fortune from their hides a motley crew of buffalo hunters ride out into the wilderness of the Plains in pursuit of the Great Herd.

But getting rich quickly by slaughtering the great beasts is not as easy as they had anticipated.
Unseen forces begin to make their presence felt and in the vast unpopulated wilderness of the prairie there is no place for the hunters to take refuge and no one to rescue them from their fate.

• Language: English
• Publisher: William H. Wakefield
• Release date: Sep 29, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301449668

William H. Wakefield

Born in Dublin, Ireland in 1953. I have been and am a teacher, writer, historian and actor. I taught English, Theatre Studies and Religious Studies in Yorkshire, UK, for 20 years. I have a wide ranging historical knowledge with an emphasis on 11th and 12th century Ireland, The American Civil War 1861-1865 and the German/Russian conflict of 1941-1945. I arrived at being a writer via a quite circuituous route! In the 1970's I worked in catering including a spell as chef in the famous Captain America's Cookhouse of Dublin. I was a political activist until I got sense and moved to England in 1979! there I worked in construction for many years until I began teaching and acting. Rugby has been a lifelong passion of mine since I began playing competetively as a school boy culminating in my playing for Headingley R.U.F.C. (now Leeds Rugby) in the 1980's. I am a brother of the poet George Wakefield and half a son and a step daughter. I live in Dublin and am very appreciative of the medium of epublishing and the attendant social media that allows me to engage with my readers.

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THE HUNT

By William H. Wakefield

The Hunt

Copyright 2010 by William H. Wakefield

Smashwords Edition

For Joe and Marie

Table of Contents

Preface

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Preface

At the beginning of the 19th century Spain ruled a vast empire in the Americas. This empire, stretching from Chile to Mexico, had become almost ungovernable by the early 1800’s. No European power could really hope to control the vast number of peoples in such distant places and much of the empire was exactly as it had been when the Spanish first came to the Americas.

Mexico had proved to be a treasure trove to the Spanish but as they had pushed north from Mexico City they had encountered the vast wilderness that became known respectively, as Texas, New Mexico and California. These provinces were claimed but not colonised. They became the limit of the Spanish expansion. Texas and New Mexico became buffer zones. Though Spain claimed it, the truth was, it had virtually no say in the area.

Texas, for close on two and a half centuries, remained an unmapped territory and ungovernable. The people who controlled it were the same people who had controlled it before the Spanish, the Indians. When these aboriginal tribes acquired the horse it not only changed their culture but it enabled them to resist any white incursion into their territory. Europeans had been dealing with Indians for several hundred years before they encountered Indians who were mounted and it came as a profound shock. European expansion faltered. Texas was the first place where this occurred.

The great horse cultures which were to flourish briefly for approximately one hundred and fifty years on the great prairies of America were born in Texas. No one exemplified this better than the Comanche people. For more than a hundred years they resisted all Western attempts to explore or colonise most of Texas. At the time that this story is set Texas was a virtual no go area for whites. Mexico was in turmoil with a revolutionary movement which would finally force Spain to grant independence in 1820’s but during this time Texas was left to its own devices.

The neighboring state of Louisiana had belonged to France and because it was centered on a great navigable river, the Mississippi, it was more westernised. Napoleon the First had sold it to the new nation, The United States of America, in 1803, but it was scarcely as civilised as the rest of the country. None the less it was the jumping off point for the exploration of Texas from a northern point of view.

Prologue

East Texas. October 23rd 1813. It began with the disappearance of four men. Charlie Saint had led them off at a full gallop and they just vanished into the landscape. They rode over a ridge chasing buffalo and never came back. It ended in Pea Town; or so they say.

Chapter 1

The hugeness of the sky, filled with purple grey clouds, and the immensity of the rolling sea of grass which spread to the horizon, made the riders halt to take in the scene. The vastness of the landscape seemed to mock humans. They were insignificant compared to it. Below them, shimmering in the afternoon light, a broad silver stream swept eastwards.

And what’s that called? asked the youngest rider.

That’s the Sabine River, son. And beyond it is Texas. That’s where we’re going.

Texas. The name seemed exotic to Elias Maguire and he savoured the sound. It seemed to vibrate in the air. Texas.

And who owns it?

This caused a ripple of amusement among the older men.

That’s a good question.

The older man smiled and shifted in his saddle. Colonel Roberts was a big man, well over six foot. Long shanked with a square jaw. He’d been coming out on these plains for nearly forty years. Something in the emptiness spoke to him. When he issued a command there were few who would refuse him. He liked the boy. He didn’t seem to be a fool like so many who were willing to come out to this desolate land. He reflected for a moment before he continued. Some say Spain or Mexico, or even France. Some say the United States. Even the English claim it I think!

The Comanche own it Colonel, said Jack Muntoff. Or so they reckon. The old plainsman was emphatic.

Or the Apache, or half a dozen other tribes Jack. They all got their claims. But I’ll tell you what; this land is really owned by the buffalo.

This was from Slim Willis who was the group’s principle guide.

A critter can’t own anything, answered Muntoff sternly, no matter how big it is.

Well, replied Willis laughing, You try telling that to a bear next time you wander into its cave.

The other riders chuckled at the image.

Well it seems empty to me, said Maguire still awestruck at the vast emptiness.

It mostly is son, but it’s big. The biggest land in the world some say, answered Colonel Roberts.

And it sure ain’t empty, added Willis. There’s millions of buffalo out there somewhere. All we got to do is go find ‘em.

And avoid being found by the savages, said Muntoff.

Why don’t people come out and farm this country? queried Elias.

This caused a burst of laughter from the riders. Colonel Roberts smiled indulgently.

We’re already a week out from the nearest settlement Elias. The Comanche, or the Apache or whoever, don’t live on the land so much as in the land. This is a wild country and no place for farmers. Not yet anyways.

Well if they don’t use it I can’t see why a man can’t set up a farm, continued the Irish boy stubbornly.

Ain’t you told those boys about our Indian cousins? asked Muntoff with a touch of concern.

Sure the Colonel told us. But I seen Indians in New Orleans and Baton Rouge and they didn’t seem up to much to me.

Them’s town Indians boy, said Muntoff with scorn. He spat out the dust of the day. The ones out here are very different. They ain‘t like your Indians back east either. All these Indians are mounted. They got horses. None of your Indians back east got horses. That makes a whole lot of difference.

It’ll be a sorry day for any redskin who attempts to impede our lawful progress. Town Indian or otherwise, shot back Elias.

Well ain’t he the one, laughed Willis, I reckon he’ll talk the first buffalo we meet into givin’ up its coat without even shootin‘ ‘im.

I ain’t seen the farmer brave enough or foolish enough to come out this far, said Willis. The buffalo would tread any farm into the dust anyway. Ain’t no way of stopping them.

Let’s go on down and find a place for the wagons to cross, said the Colonel. "Then we’ll