The High Man - Danger on the Santa Fe Trail

By Bob MacDonald

The year was 1861 and Jacob Stephens, a seventeen-year-old farm boy from North Carolina, enlisted with the Confederate forces at the outbreak of hostilities between the States; a conflict also known as the United States Civil War.

Following recruitment, he took up arms with the 1st Regiment North Carolina Volunteer Infantry. His ability in handling animals (he excelled with horses) and his skill with both rifle and handgun saw him often chosen to carry out perilous scouting assignments.

The first couple of years saw him spend time scouting, or otherwise engaged in behind the lines clandestine missions. From there Jacob graduated to that of riding with William Quantrill and his band of guerilla fighters. The group who rode under the name of 'Quantrill's Raiders,' to begin with acted within the accepted rules of warfare; but as the conflict continued, those rules fell by the wayside.

Jacob's above-average height of six feet and five inches soon saw him dubbed with the name of 'The High Man,' after a legendary Irish warrior hero. But Jacob's penchant in sending his foes to the Promised Land saw him as something other than a hero by the Northern Union forces. This unfolded in the posting of a sizeable bounty on his head and, alive or dead, it mattered not.

Teaming up with a sixteen-year-old abused river-barge girl, Jacob made his way south along the Santa Fe Trail to dodge his pursuers. Northern guerilla militants, the Red Legs, took a particular interest in him; as they did with anyone who rode with Quantrill.

Throughout their travels, the pair encountered army deserters, river men, outlawed longriders, muleskinners, ex-guerrilla fighters, red Indians and drifters. Many of whom were willing to put a bullet in him to correct the reward money Jacob carried on his head.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bob MacDonald
• Release date: Mar 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393015611

Bob MacDonald

Bob MacDonald is a retired West Australian Police officer of thirty years experience. Bob's last day at school was his 14th birthday - commencing work, the very next day, in a timber mill in his home town of Pemberton, West Australia.He later self-educated and enlisted in the West Australian police force, retiring as a superintendent in the Internal Investigations Branch of the Professional Standards portfolio.Since retirement Bob has been working at remote aboriginal communities in Central Australia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. He also did a tour of duty on the island nation of Cyprus with the United Nations Blue Beret Peacekeepers.Bob, a keen sportsman continues with various sporting activities; which also includes fishing and camping trips. Writing articles for various magazines and now venturing into anecdotal short story compilations and fictional manuscripts ensures Bob leads a busy life.

Book preview

The High Man

Danger on the Santa Fe Trail

Robert A MacDonald

The High Man

Danger on the Santa Fe Trail

Other Books by the Author

(Also by the same author -published under the name of Robert A MacDonald)

Glencoe Massacre Revisited

Books under name of Bob MacDonald

El Paso Bounty Hunter

Smyth alias Smith

The Making of Wally

The Breaking of Wally

Where’s Wally?

Paradise Found

Black Hearts, Gold Minds

The Snowdropper

Tales from a West Australian Cop

The Thin Wobbly Blue Line

Domestic Violence in Australia

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Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. All characters and other entities appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, dead or alive, or other real-life entities, past or present, is purely coincidental.

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The High Man

Danger on the Santa Fe Trail

Author’s Note

The year was 1861 and Jacob Stephens, a seventeen-year-old farm boy from North Carolina, enlisted with the Confederate forces at the outbreak of hostilities between the States; a conflict also known as the United States Civil War.

Following recruitment, he took up arms with the 1st Regiment North Carolina Volunteer Infantry. His ability in handling animals (he excelled with horses) and his skill with both rifle and handgun saw him often chosen to carry out perilous scouting assignments.

The first couple of years saw him spend time scouting, or otherwise engaged in behind the lines clandestine missions. From there Jacob graduated to that of riding with William Quantrill and his band of guerilla fighters. The group who rode under the name of ‘Quantrill’s Raiders,’ to begin with acted within the accepted rules of warfare; but as the conflict continued, those rules fell by the wayside.

Jacob’s above-average height of six feet and five inches soon saw him dubbed with the name of ‘The High Man,’ after a legendary Irish warrior hero. But Jacob’s penchant in sending his foes to the Promised Land saw him as something other than a hero by the Northern Union forces. This unfolded in the posting of a sizeable bounty on his head and, alive or dead, it mattered not.

Teaming up with a sixteen-year-old abused river-barge girl, Jacob made his way south along the Santa Fe Trail to dodge his pursuers. Northern guerilla militants, the Red Legs, took a particular interest in him; as they did with anyone who rode with Quantrill.

Throughout their travels, the pair encountered army deserters, river men, outlawed longriders, muleskinners, ex-guerrilla fighters, red Indians and drifters. Many of whom were willing to put a bullet in him to correct the reward money Jacob carried on his head.

Table of Contents

Chapter 01 - On the Run

Chapter 02 - The High Man

Chapter 03 - Friend

Chapter 04 - The Mississippi

Chapter 05 - Corn Cobs & Desperados

Chapter 06 - On the Mississippi

Chapter 07 - An Angel’s Warning

Chapter 08 - Female Company

Chapter 09 - Pleasant Company

Chapter 10 - Musket Ball in the Back

Chapter 11 - Going Shopping

Chapter 12 - A Campfire Banquet

Chapter 13 - Being Followed

Chapter 14 - Eight? Nine? Ten?

Chapter 15 - Playing Nursemaid

Chapter 16 - Travois Travel

Chapter 17 - Visitors in the Night

Chapter 18 - Kickapoo Village

Chapter 19 - A Wanted Man

Chapter 20 - Savages

Chapter 21 - The Santa Fe Trail

Chapter 22 - Bounty Hunters

Chapter 23 - Butchery at Fat’s Spring

Chapter 24 - Red Legs’ Posse

Chapter 25 - The Drygulcher

Chapter 26 - Forts Zarah & Dodge

Chapter 27 - Taken Hostage

Chapter 28 - Cold-Blooded Killer

Chapter 29 - More Than Three is a Crowd

Chapter 30 - Muleskinner Blues

Chapter 31 - Alone Again ….. At last!

Chapter 32 - Shootout at Night

Chapter 33 - The Noose or the Firing Squad

Chapter 34 - Angie’s Eatery

Chapter 35 - Trouble Comes to Town

Chapter 36 - Next Stop, Mexico

Chapter 37 - Santa Fe Shootout

Chapter 38 - Punished for his Sins

Epilogue

Chapter 01 - On the Run

Jacob Stephens removed his forage cap from his head and, using the sleeve of his shirt, wiped the sweat from his brow. He smiled as he yielded to the fact that his ambience of distress lay more at the feet of his current predicament than the heat of the setting sun.

The perspiration, drying on his forehead by a gentle breeze waffling across the Missouri River, had formed during the time he called on his skills and that of his mount, to outrun a patrol of Red Legs militiamen hell-bent on capturing him.

Jacob, a native of Pinetown, North Carolina, walked off the family’s small farm at the start of the War Between the States and volunteered to join the Confederate forces. On recruitment, he took up arms with the 1st Regiment North Carolina Volunteer Infantry. Only seventeen years of age, he soon came under the notice of senior officers.

His ability in handling animals and his skill with both rifle and handgun saw him being singled out to carry out perilous scouting assignments; and other dangerous missions.

*

As Jacob sat, mounted on his faithful steed, ‘Friend,’ he reflected on his lot. With the war ending, the defeat of Confederate forces became cut-and-dried. Large numbers of southern soldiers clogged the byways en route to their homes. These stragglers travelled solo, in pairs and rag-tag groups.

The northern forces’ authorities demanded surrendering Confederate combatants swear a pledge of loyalty to the Union. This oath of allegiance and the handing over of arms allowed prisoners of war to return to their homelands. Likewise, the bands of guerilla fighters found themselves called upon to disband and take the pledge.

A number of the insurgents refused to surrender their weapons to the victorious Union authorities and continued with the law-breaking practices. Similarly, the war’s end did nothing to change the ways of many and as a result, became the target of ‘Red Legs’ militiamen.

The Red Legs, (also called ‘Jayhawkers’ in some circles) comprised a group of guerilla fighters set up in Kansas to counter the unruly and unlawful radical groups of the southern forces. The Red Legs served as a somewhat secretive organization in the area of one hundred personnel, handpicked for service along the state’s borders. This group knew well that Jacob served with Quantrill’s Raiders - the most bloodthirsty of all guerilla bands of the south.

*

After spending the first two years of the conflict involved in scouting and behind the lines covert activities, Jacob graduated to that of one of riding with William Quantrill and his band of guerilla fighters. To begin with, the group, identified as ‘Quantrill’s Raiders,’ acted within the accepted rules of warfare.

However, things changed when Quantrill, (when the mood suited him) attacked not only Union forces and its sympathisers but along with those who supported the Confederacy. Jacob rode with Quantrill during these times and even took part in the town's attack of Lawrence in Kansas. This incident, described as a massacre, saw a gathering of 450 guerilla raiders, under Quantrill’s leadership, slay up to one hundred and eighty men and boys.

During the raid, a fire destroyed much of the township, and, to this, Jacob played his part. The raiders heeded Quantrill’s order not to violate or assault females during the onset but property, in the main, firearms and ammunition became the primary target for the marauders. During the looting, Jacob scored, for himself, two .36 calibre Navy revolvers, together with ample munitions. These weapons replaced his aged single-action revolver, an unreliable handgun well past its usefulness.

He made the most of the weapons seized by the group by grabbing a .52 calibre Sharps rifle and munitions and a wicked-looking sheath knife. Up to that stage, Jacob only carried the revolver, having discarded the army-issue musket as being too cumbersome for cavalry duties.

Quantrill targeted Lawrence because he believed it to be a hotbed for Red Legs. The early morning raid, in darkness, caught the town unprepared to mount a defence, and they slaughtered the menfolk as they might, animals. Red Legs, Jayhawkers, innocent townsmen, or boys; it mattered not to the raiders as they carried on with their destructive ways in a reckless manner.

Killing the enemy did not faze Jacob as he figured his contribution stood over and beyond his fair share. Still and all, the butchery to which he could be held responsible came into being during the heat of battle. He did not take kindly to the cold-blooded slaughter of innocents, after being dragged out of their homes in their night attire.

While those depravities came to be taking place, he busied himself torching townhouses, outbuildings and business houses. This allowed him to upgrade his accoutrements and search private dwellings for valuables. Cash, a gold pocket watch, several signet rings and pieces of women’s jewellery went into a flour sack he carried for such purpose. Apart from the money, he figured the other items may well do for sale, or trade, in hours of need.

*

On satisfying himself that the pursuing vigilantes lagged far behind, he looked about for a suitable place to camp for the night. The riverbank provided the most fitting for his needs, but he headed at right angles and away from the run of the stream. He, from years of living on a knife-edge, chose his campsites with care.

To strike camp beside the river could well lessen the avenues of flight, should anyone disturb him during the night. Red Leg posse members, wandering deserters of both armies, and freed slaves, each posed a threat. Most of them were likely to shoot first and ask questions afterwards.

So, with safety the primary concern over comfort, Jacob headed away from the waterway and established his camp in a grove of cottonwood trees. As per usual practice, he tethered Friend by utilizing a long length of rope he carried for such purposes.

In case the Red Legs remained in the vicinity, he dare not light a fire and made do with cold left-over beans and a drink of water from his canteen as his evening meal.

Chapter 02 - The High Man

After the surprise attack on the township of Lawrence, Quantrill and his band of marauders retired to Texas to see out the winter. However, infighting, desertions and other factors resulted in the group disbanding. Quantrill labelled a war criminal, saw fit not to surrender but renewed his ways with a straggle of loyal followers.

Jacob, though he, too, got to be a wanted man, decided on returning to his birthplace in North Carolina. Travelling alone and mindful of the dangers the Red Legs posed, made it back to his home state only to discover it ravaged by the Union General Sherman’s march of destruction, which took place not long before his arrival.

Nothing, other than ashes and charred timbers, remained of the farmhouse at where he spent his early years. His parents and younger brother, he knew not of their movements or whereabouts. Carpetbaggers, vigilante bands, army deserters and outlaws roamed the countryside, making it perilous for Jacob to stay in the vicinity.

*

Jacob, standing six feet and five inches in his socks, towered over most men of the time. Though his height proved helpful at times, it turned out to be a bane regarding his involvement with Quantrill’s Raiders. His stature, plus sitting astride a large Friesian station, caused him to stand out from others as akin to a sore thumb. When adding the inches of his riding boots and crown of his cap to his height, he loomed near to seven feet tall. To many, he embraced their mind’s eye image of a giant charlatan.

After one raid with Quantrill, a victim of the onslaught recounted how one raider, a very tall man, played a prominent part. He described this person (Jacob) as being ‘The High Man.’ The High Man resonates with many of Ireland’s myths and legends. Worshipped as a warrior hero of the land, the name stuck to Jacob and in effect, overnight a new legend roamed the territory.

If ever his ego became inflated by being compared to a legendary warrior hero, he soon came tumbling back to earth when he heard the tales describing his latest deeds. From the stories told, the brutal acts committed by those of Quantrill’s Raiders, no matter what happened or who involved, Jacob copped the blame.

Whenever a raid took place by being the best-known guerilla leader of the southern forces, Quantrill’s name popped up as being the culprit - even though he may be one-hundred miles away from the action. Those false accusations flowed on to Jacob. Being renowned to ride with Quantrill, he, too, ended up tarred with the same brush. So, he, along with his leader (Quantrill), Jacob, too, wore a price on his head.

Frightful atrocities continued to be exaggerated and attributed to him and as, with his height, he stood out from others. That meant naive witnesses met with no trouble when asked to describe ‘The High Man’ on his magnificent black steed. Jacob, just by being taller than the average person and riding an outstanding beast, thus made himself a target of the Red Legs. Many an evening, while gathered around a campfire, his name cracked a mention;