The Saga of the Mackinnon Clan

By Dr. Jerry Love

This novel begins in the eighteenth century with the first generation of an imaginary extended Family and how well documented historical events prompt the family to seek a better way of life. The family initially resides in the British Isles and with the passage of time migrates to the new world in the United States.

It continues with the adventures and experiences of two brothers who, after four years of combat in the Civil War, decide to establish a new life in the Wyoming Territory where they meet and marry two beautiful young ladies. The sensual love shared by one of the brothers and his beautiful bride on their wedding night is described in detail, a deep love they experience throughout their adult life.

After building a successful cattle ranch, they are faced with challenges associated with prote9ting their property from politically active large ranching interests determined to annihilate them with every means at their disposal, whether inside or outside of the law. The determined intent of the large ranchers to destroy the small ranchers results in an all out war that is eventua1ly won by the small ranchers with the support of the duly elected law enforcement officials, determined to wipe out all illegal activities such as lynchings and cattle rustling.

The principal activities of the novel occur in the northeastern frontier area of the Wyoming Territory, where the breathtaking Bighorn Mountains cast a shadow over the Powder River Basin, long recognized as one of the most desirable cattle grazing areas in the country.

Although life on an isolated frontier ranch is often thought of as being very boring with an aster life style, there are many available amenities that the two brother and their two families thoroughly enjoy as described in the novel. These include country style dancing such as the polka, waltz, and the two step, hunting big game including elk, bighorn sheep, and antelope, horse-back riding, bird hunting, fly fishing for trout, and enjoyable experiences associated with visits to large western cities such as Denver and San Francisco.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 26, 2014
• ISBN: 9781493176410

Dr. Jerry Love

The author, Dr. Jerry Love, after receiving post graduate engineering degrees, was employed as a Civil Engineer, managing , designing, and constructing large transportation projects that included assignments in five continents. He served on active military duty with the U.S. Navy in World War II aboard amphibious ships in the Asia-Pacific Theater and in the Korean War with the Navy Seabees, retiring with the rank of Captain, Civil Engineer Corps, USNR. Many of the locations where the novel's principal character, Dan Casey had numerous romantic escapades , were familiar to the author as a result of his own real life adventures experienced when he was on active military duty, and while working on engineering projects. The description of some of Dan's merchant marine studies and his shipboard military assignments in WW II reflect a high degree of authenticity based on the author's own experiences.

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Copyright © 2014 by Dr. Jerry Love.

ISBN:       Softcover       978-1-4931-7642-7

                 eBook           978-1-4931-7641-0

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Rev. date: 05/13/2014

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CONTENTS

Prologue

1   Heritage

2   County Donegal

3   New York City

4   Davenport, Iowa

5   Mackinnon Ranch

6   Civil War

7   Transcontinental Railroad

8   Bighorn Mountains Hunting Trip

9   Gun Runners

10   A Festive Christmas

11   Wild Mustangs

12   Old Three Toes

13   The Spring Hop

14   The Cattle and Horse Drive

15   Indian Reconnaissance Raid

16   An Expanded Horse Ranch

17   The Wedding

18   Blizzard of 1873

19   Grouse Hunting

20   Great Sioux War of 1876

21   The Bighorn Ranch

22   Johnson County War

23   A Second Honey Moon

24   Denver Western Stock Show

25   Sheep Ranching

26   Hole-In-The Wall Rustlers

27   The Next Generation

28   The Spanish American War

Epilogue

TABLE OF FIGURES

1   Mackinnon Castle

2   County Donegal

3   Irish Cottage

4   Erie Canal Boat

5   River Steamboats

6   Davenport, Iowa, Circa 1860

7   Clydesdale Horses

8   Black Angus Cow

9   Sharps Rifle

10   Ft. Sumter, Charleston Harbor

11   Spencer Repeating Rifle

12   Colonel Washington Lafayette Elliott

13   Colonel Edward Hatch

14   Surrender at Appomattox, April 9, 1865

15   Dale Creek Bridge

16   Completion of the Transcontinental Railroad

17   Chief Red Cloud, Ogala Lakota

18   Antelope

19   Bighorn Mountains

20   Log Shed

21   Wild Mustang

22   Magic Square

23   Australian Shepherd

24   Grizzly Bear

25   Bighorn Sheep

26   Mountain Lion

27   Beavers at Work

28   Wild Turkeys

29   Moose

30   Elk

31   The New Ranch House

32   Crap Table

33   Napa Valley, California

34   Quaking Aspens

35   Ruffed Grouse

36   Powder River Basin

37   The Bighorn Ranch

38   Morgan Horse

39   The Invaders

40   Cable Car

41   Slide Rule

42   Abacus

43   Summer Grazing

44   Purebred Shropshire Sheep

45   Pike’s Peak

46   Iowa State College Campus

47   Sheep Herder’s Home

48   Tennessee Walking horse

49   Battle of San Juan Hill

50   LT. Colonel Roosevelt

PROLOGUE

This fictional historical novel is based on the life of an imaginary extended family and how well documented historical events prompted the family to seek a better way of life. The narrative provides a brief description of the imaginary family’s heritage, their beliefs, how they made a living, and an insight as to their will and desire to accept new challenges and adventures.

The novel begins in the eighteenth century with the first generation of the family and continues with following generations into the twentieth century. The family initially resides in the British Isles and with the passage of time migrates to the new world in the United States. It continues with the adventures and experiences of two brothers who, after four years of combat in the Civil War, decide to establish a new life in the Wyoming Territory where they meet and marry two beautiful young ladies. After building a successful cattle ranch, they are faced with challenges associated with protecting their property from politically active large ranching interests determined to annihilate them with every means at their disposal, whether inside or outside of the law.

The challenges associated with leaving a home and family behind and striking out on new and possible dangerous courses of action often necessitates the taking of risks that might seem insurmountable. How the family accepts and copes with challenges even though life threatening dangers may have to be accepted provides a suspenseful and exciting background for this novel.

The historical data utilized throughout the novel is based on well documented information summarized in Wikipedia, the computer on-line free encyclopedia. Some of the photographs were also obtained from Wikipedia.

CHAPTER 1

HERITAGE

The Saga of the Mackinnon Clan begins on the Isle of Skye with James Mackinnon, the first ancestor of record who married Jane Buchannan. Early records indicate that she was born in 1766 but no further information is currently known. The Mackinnon Clan is reported to have supported Robert the Bruce to come to power in return for land on the Isle of Skye and hosted Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745 after he lost at the battle of Culloden, and after Flora MacDonald rowed him across the channel separating the Isle of Skye from mainland Scotland where he boarded a ship and sailed to France for a safe exile. The Mackinnon castle on the Isle of Skye is shown below:

image001.jpg

Figure 1, Mackinnon Castle

The Isle of Skye is the largest and most northerly island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. It is best described as having a mountainous terrain that is non-productive in terms of agricultural crops with the best land use limited to grazing land for sheep. The only other industries of note include fishing and whiskey distilling. Because of the limited fertility of the soil and average temperatures ranging from a low of 36 degrees to a high of 51 degrees, the Isle can only support a small population and throughout history, famines have been a continuing concern.

In the eighteenth century the population was predominantly Gaelic including the Mackinnon Clan. The majority of the Gaelic speaking people are primarily descendents of the Celts, an ancient people that occupied widespread areas in Western Europe and the British Isles. Many of the works in the Irish Gaelic language have been traced to early Celtic writings and literature, surviving from ancient times in Wales and Ireland. The Celtic language is one of the oldest in Europe next after Greek and Latin. In literary descriptions, the physical appearances of the Celts are characterized as having fair skin, muscularity, tall, blue eyed, and light or blonde wavy or curly hair, all of which are quite evident in Irish, Scots, and English ancestors. At somewhere in the past the Mackinnon Clan accepted the Christian religion with many becoming members of the Church of England. The Gaelic speaking Scots, like the Gaelic Irish, are known for their poetry, prose, and folk music.

Samuel Mackinnon was born in 1787 in Sleat, Isle of Skye, Scotland to James and Jane Buchanan Mackinnon. He received a basic education and even though his parents spoke Gaelic, he became well versed in the English language. He was also a devout Christian and regularly attended religious services in the local Episcopal Church. He became aware of a plan, approved by the English parliament, often referred to as the Roberts plan that provided a stipend to pay for the establishment of schools and, teachers in Ireland to teach the Gaelic population the English language. Because of the extreme economic conditions in the Isle of Skye, he saw this as an opportunity to leave the Isle of Skye and be hired as a teacher. He therefore submitted an application and was hired by the British Government to establish and teach in a school in Roxboro Parish Kilcar, County Donegal, Ireland.

CHAPTER 2

COUNTY DONEGAL

County Donegal has a very mountainous terrain as shown in the following photograph. It is in the northerly part of Ireland and like other Irish counties in the nineteenth century, the predominant language was Gaelic. Because of the mountainous terrain and the northerly latitude, the majority of the farms may be described as subsistence farms that only provide enough food to feed a family.

image002.jpg

Figure 2, County Donegal

Samuel immigrated to County Donegal, Ireland in 1805 and immediately commenced building his house and school on the plot of land provided. He started teaching as soon as the school house was constructed and continued teaching in the same building for the rest of his life. He also became an active member of the protestant parish of Kilcar, and served as a clerk of the Episcopal Church.

Samuel’s house was a typical local house with a thatch roof as shown in the following photograph. It was constructed of locally available stone that had to be quarried and hauled to the site. The stone was then stuccoed on both the interior and exterior and white washed. The one room house was approximately 25 ft. long and 15 ft. wide with an earthen floor, and a stone fireplace at one end of the house. A loft was also provided with limited vertical clearance that provided a sleeping space. The fireplace was not only used for cooking but also heated the house. Peat was the locally available fuel that had to be dug and dried by hand before burning. By today’s standards this type of house would not be considered as acceptable living quarters, but in actuality, it did compare favorably with the log cabins and sod houses built by the early pioneer settlers in the United States. The small one room school house that was built near the house was also constructed in the same manner. Needless to say, it was quite an experience for an eighteen year old young man to take on such a project on his own, particularly in a new locale where he was a complete stranger.

image003.jpg

Figure 3, Irish Cottage

Since the goal of the British sponsored educational program was to teach the Gaelic children English, it also became Samuel’s primary objective as a teacher. Once the children could read and write English, they were taught basic arithmetic and then progressed to bookkeeping.

Samuel soon became attracted to a young lady, Anne Chestnut, who operated a sewing school for the local women that was located across the street from his school. They were married December 24, 1809 and raised ten children during their married life. The eldest child, James Hamilton Mackinnon was born April12, 1811, followed by nine siblings—five sisters and four brothers. The youngest, Anne, was born February 17, 1828. All of the children became graduates of Sam’s school and all of the ten children immigrated to the United States, pointing out just how dire the economic conditions were in Donegal, primarily because of the hardships associated with the potato famines, leaving little if any hope of finding a supportable way of life.

County Donegal, like other Irish counties, was severely devastated by famines brought on by potato crop failures as a result of blights. Potatoes provided the primary food source for the majority of the Irish families. According to historical records there was a failure of the potato crop two years in succession-1830/1831that caused severe hardships. Also a potato crop failure brought on what is commonly referred to as the Great Famine of 1847. The extent of this devastation is well documented by Census data. According to the 1841 Census, County Donegal had a population of 296,000 people. As a result of the potato famine and emigration, the 1851 Census was only 44% of what it had been in 1841. This clearly points out why all of Sam’s children were, for all practical purposes, forced to emigrate to find gainful employment and all of them selected the United States. Although all of them became successful in various businesses after emigrating, the continuing saga of the Mackinnon Clan is based on the adventures and experiences of James Hamilton, the eldest son, and his children. James Hamilton was the first to immigrate to the United Sates, leaving his parents and siblings in Donegal.

CHAPTER 3

NEW YORK CITY

James Hamilton was fortunate in that he had first cousins who had previously emigrated from Donegal and were now living in New York City, who graciously provided a place for him to stay while he became acquainted with his new environment and found suitable employment.

He arrived in New York City June 11, 1831where he was met at the pier by his cousins. He soon discovered that the education he received in his father’s school permitted him to find immediate employment as a clerk in a large store that sold clothing and household items. He enjoyed this type of work and after working and gaining experience as a merchant over a period of four years, he decided he would continue working as a merchant but would develop his own business when he acquired the necessary financial resources.

James Hamilton soon realized that New York City was an active and vibrant city that had an excellent financial base with its bustling retail business and an active port that not only received imported products from European markets but also shipped a large volume of export products. New York City became the chief U.S. port, due primarily to the Erie Canal that was opened to traffic in1825 after being under construction for eight years. The Erie Canal is in New York State, running about 363 miles from Albany, New York on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, on Lake Erie, providing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal not only fostered a population surge in western New York State but also opened regions farther west to settlements.

image004.jpg

Figure 4, Erie Canal Boat

Before leaving Donegal, James Hamilton had met Susan Devitt, a young lady in a nearby town in Donegal who he proposed to with the understanding they would be married after he could afford to pay for her fare and a place to live in the United States. True to his word he made arrangements for Susan to leave Donegal and come to New York City where they were married April 14, 1835. At the time of their marriage James had become a successful merchant and was ready to go into business for himself. He also believed that his best opportunity for success was to follow the migration of people to the new western settlements where federal lands were being opened for homesteading. The availability of federal lands for settlers in the western United States was made possible by the Louisiana Purchase, an agreement signed by President Jefferson in1803 with France to purchase all lands west of the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains.

James Hamilton’s first move in his overall plan to eventually establish his own business in one of the new settlements in the west involved moving from New York City to Albany, New York in 1835 where he and his new bride stayed temporarily with an aunt and an uncle before moving to Seneca Falls, New York the same year. He commenced his own business by selling as a peddler to the growing community of Seneca Falls and also to people traveling west on the Erie Canal. This proved to be a lucrative business prompting him to continue living in Seneca Falls for nine years where the first of their ten children was born.

CHAPTER 4

DAVENPORT, IOWA

Davenport was a port city on the Iowa side of the Mississippi River that provided access to river transportation for the shipment of cargo, not only for importing manufactured goods but also for exporting cargo such as grain.

After considering many options, James Hamilton decided that Iowa would be a good place to establish his own business. This decision was based on a number of advantages he believed made Iowa and particularly Davenport a good logical location. The Iowa Territory was officially established July 4, 1838 with the territorial capital located in Iowa City thereby providing a territorial government to enforce law and order, a court system, and a territorial land office to sell and record the legal ownership of acquired federal property. He believed that new settlers would arrive via steam powered river boats and use Davenport as a jumping off place from which to move on to desirable areas to settle and commence farming. Iowa was considered to be one of most fertile states for growing crops and livestock.

Before leaving Seneca Falls, James Hamilton knew that it would be to his advantage to submit orders to the merchants in England as well as the United States that he had been doing business with for a number of years. He therefore placed large orders for all of the goods that would be needed by newly arriving settlers in Iowa. He also advised the merchants to ship to Davenport via New Orleans where the goods would be transferred to river steam boats sailing upstream to Davenport. He placed the orders in sufficient time for the goods to arrive in Davenport before or shortly after the family arrived. This would permit him to go into business immediately even if it meant erecting and utilizing tents as a temporary store while a new permanent building for the store was being constructed.

Iowa had long been home to many Indian tribes. Approximately 17 different tribes, including the Sauk, Ioway, Mesquaki, Sioux, Potawatomi, Oto, and Missouri, had resided here at various times. The Sauk and Mesquaki, constituted the largest and most powerful tribes in the Upper Mississippi Valley. They had earlier moved from the Michigan region into Wisconsin, and by the 1730’s, they had relocated in western Illinois where they established villages along the Rock and Mississippi Rivers. They lived in their villages for only a few months each year and for the rest of the time they traveled throughout western Illinois and eastern Iowa hunting and fishing.

In 1829, the federal government informed the two tribes, in accordance with a treaty signed in 1804, that the federal government owned the Illinois land and directed them to leave their villages in western Illinois and move across the Mississippi River into the Iowa region. The move was made but not without violence. Chief Black Hawk, a highly respected Sauk leader, protested the move and in 1832 returned to claim the Illinois village of Saukenauk. Black Hawk was known to have a strong dislike for the settlers encroaching on what he considered Indian land. In the War of 1812 he sided with the British and was instrumental in the decision to evacuate Ft. Madison.

Federal troops were called to support the Illinois militia and for the next three months, the combined forces pursued Black Hawk and his band of approximately 400 Indians northward along the eastern side of the Mississippi River. When the Indians surrendered at the Bad Axe River in Wisconsin, their number had dwindled to about two hundred. This confrontation with the Indians, known as the Black Hawk War is interesting from an historical viewpoint in that two future presidents of the United States were active participants. Zachary Taylor was in charge of the federal troops and later became the twelfth president but unfortunately died from natural causes while serving as president. The second future president was Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president, who unfortunately, after successfully leading the country to victory in the Civil War, was assassinated shortly after beginning his second term as president. During the Black Hawk War he was in charge of a small group of Illinois militia that was mustered to protect settlers from possible Indian attacks.

As punishment for their resistance, the federal government required the Sauk and Mesquaki Indians to relinquish some of their land in eastern Iowa. This land, known as the Black Hawk Purchase, constituted a strip 50 miles wide lying along the Mississippi River, stretching from the Missouri border to Northeastern Iowa. This land was then officially opened for settlement in 1833 and settlers immediately began establishing towns and homesteads in Iowa along the western side of the Mississippi River. Davenport was officially established as one of the early river towns May 4, 1836. Since James Hamilton and his family left Seneca Falls, New York in 1844 and arrived in Davenport the same year, the town had only been in existence eight years. The town center had already been laid out showing surveyed land plots available for retail stores and one enterprising pioneer, recognizing the need for a saw mill to produce lumber from the stands of readily available timber, had already imported a steam powered saw mill that was now in operation.

James Hamilton recognized the many risks and hardships associated with the establishment of a new retail business and a home for his large family in a new pioneer settlement. The first task was to determine how the family would travel from Seneca Falls to Davenport, Iowa. The trip was divided into legs based on the mode of travel to be utilized. For the first leg of the trip from Seneca Falls to Buffalo, New York, the family could travel by train. The New York Central Railroad had been completed and opened to traffic from New York City to Buffalo in 1841. However, from Buffalo to Erie Pennsylvania, railroad construction had not yet been started so this leg of the trip had to be made by overland stage coach and wagons to haul household effects and other items that would be needed when the family arrived in Davenport. The same was true for the third leg from Erie to Pittsburg.

Although it was a long trip, the last leg was made by traveling aboard river steamboats. A river steamboat operating on the Ohio River was boarded at Pittsburg that continued sailing with numerous stops and layovers along the way on the Ohio River to its confluence with the Mississippi River at Cairo, Illinois. The last leg from Cairo to Davenport was made by sailing north going upstream on the Mississippi River via a river steamboat. Steamboats played a major role in the settlement of areas in the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio River valleys. Steamboats were used not only for transporting passengers but also for transporting all types of goods.

image005.jpg

Figure 5, River Steamboats

Although the family left Seneca Falls in the early spring of 1844, it wasn’t until early fall that the ship docked at Davenport. It was an arduous trip but the family enjoyed seeing so much of the newly settled areas and particularly the new towns that were being populated along the Ohio River. After arriving in Davenport, the first task the family faced was to get a place to live. Fortunately, the town already had a hotel where they stayed until a house could be built. They soon discovered that Davenport was a busy settlement with new settlers arriving by river steamboat as well as overland by horse and wagon. Many of the new settlers were from Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. There was also a large contingent of German settlers comprising approximately thirty percent of the population that had arrived by steamboat by sailing up the Mississippi River from New Orleans after making the passage across the Atlantic on sailing ships. Fortunately, many of the new settlers were experienced artisans such as carpenters, black smiths, and bakers. The City grew by leaps and bounds and by 1860, it was a bustling river port with modern brick buildings.

Although most of the early buildings were made of logs, James Hamilton found an excellent German carpenter who contracted to build a frame building using locally available lumber. Construction started immediately on the building, a two story structure with the store occupying the ground floor and living quarters for the family on the second floor. Two adjacent lots that had already been surveyed were purchased on the main street for the new building. Fortunately, the building site was well above the elevation of the Mississippi flood plain, even though there were a number of log buildings already built in an area that was subject to flooding. Tents were immediately erected on the lot to serve as a temporary store. The merchandise that he had ordered before leaving Seneca Falls had arrived so he was soon in business. He was pleasantly surprised at the number of settlers arriving almost daily on their way to establish farms in the interior of Iowa, all of which had now been opened for settlement. He was soon doing a brisk business and had to place large orders to keep his tent store stocked. He also discovered that there was a demand for items that he had not previously sold such as hardware, stoves, hand tools, and building materials. He also discovered that new settlers arriving by ship created a demand for draft horses and wagons for transportation as well as for farming.

image006.jpg

Figure 6, Davenport, Iowa, Circa 1860

In recognition of this demand, within a year of his arrival in Davenport, James Hamilton took the bold step of purchasing a section of land in Scott County of which Davenport was the county seat, to provide land for a horse farm as well as cattle and grain production. He began placing orders in England, Scotland, and France for studs and mares for breeding stock—Shires from England, Clydesdales from Scotland, and Percherons from France. These horses were strong large animals weighing approximately 1600 pounds. In addition he also began raising all purpose riding horses and horses for pulling light wagons and buggies. He also recognized the need for cattle production and ordered Angus breeding stock from Scotland.

image007.jpg

Figure 7, Clydesdale Horses

image008.jpg

Figure 8, Black Angus Cow

His retail business continued to flourish and after six years he found it necessary to double the size of his store to stock all of the additional items he was now selling. He also built a family home in a residential area to provide adequate space for his growing family. The living quarters above the store were then reconfigured to provide additional retail space. By 1855, there were eight children. The eldest was James H. Jr., born in 1838, followed by Samuel, born in 1840, Eliza Anne, born in 1842, Margaret born in 1846, William, born in 1848, Sarah Jane, born in 1850, John, born in 1852, and Mary Emma, born in 1854 Fortunately, the first school house in Davenport had been constructed and all of the children began attending when they became five years old. The school year began in September and ended in April. James Hamilton was a strong believer in the need to have all of his children acquire a basic education that was comparable to what is now a high school diploma.

The big event that accelerated the growth of Davenport and in like manner James Hamilton’s business was the construction of the first railroad bridge across the Mississippi River in 1856 by the Chicago Rock Island and Pacific Railroad that provided a rail connection from Davenport to Chicago. Davenport immediately became an important rail hub with spur connections to Iowa City and Muscatine. In addition, this railroad continued construction of the first railroad across Iowa that provided rail service from Davenport to Council Bluffs and Omaha. The rapid growth of Davenport as a result of the railroad is apparent by comparing the population of Davenport in 1850 which was approximately 2,000, to the population in 1860, which were approximately 11,000. The railroad provided good transportation for settlers moving into Iowa as well as improving the shipment of manufactured goods ordered by James Hamilton. It also provided a means of shipping cattle to Chicago where there was a growing need for beef.

The rapid growth of the Davenport community spurred the local citizenry to establish a church. James Hamilton, a very religious man, was one of the prime movers and shakers in financing and building the first Methodist church that he and his entire family regularly attended.

CHAPTER 5

MACKINNON RANCH

By 1852, the advantages of the initial decision by James Hamilton to acquire a section of land for a horse and cattle farm in Scott County, Iowa within a short distance of Davenport became quite evident. The herd of pure bred Angus cattle had now grown to approximately 200 head of cows and there were ten draft horse studs, fifty mares to foal every spring, and twenty riding horses. Improvements included a ranch house for the ranch manager, bunk houses for twenty full time employees, horse stables, cattle sheds, a well equipped blacksmith shop, corrals, and fences. The amount of land under cultivation for growing corn, oats, and hay had increased to approximately 300 acres. It was soon recognized that additional land was needed to provide the necessary crop land and pasture to support the growing cattle and horse herds. Additional land adjacent to the original section was purchased until the ranch had a total acreage of approximately two sections.

One of the successful business ventures on the ranch was the production of wagons which were needed by settlers as they continued moving west to establish farms in the fertile interior areas of Iowa. Wagon boxes were made from native lumber and wrought iron hardware crafted by black-smiths. The boxes were then mounted on a chassis with wagon wheels that were purchased from wagon equipment manufacturers. Since many of the settlers arrived on river steamboats they also needed a team of horses that were available for sale after being raised, broken, and trained on the ranch.

The two eldest sons, Jim and Sam, were now in their teens and like many teenagers, they were always looking for something to do and a new adventure. They soon fell hands over feet for all of the activities that seemed to occur nearly every day on the ranch. They therefore spent the majority of their leisure time on the ranch and became quite attached to it. Every weekend would