Preparing for Winter: An 1896 Western Adventure

By R. Hess

Summer over and winter quickly approaching, Preparing for Winter An 1896
Western Adventure is fi lled with action, character, historical happenings, and
dozens of family recipes of the era. It is a companion story from her fi rst novel,
Second Chance A Western Adventure.
Arriving in Burns, Oregon, from Brockport, New York, Rachael Carver settled into
her daily duties during the summer months as cook and housekeeper. Now fall
fi nds her learning many new tasks as she helps the Preston family prepare for the
upcoming winter. With the garden produce nearly canned, fruit dried, and jams
sealed, she discovers the many ways of preserving meat.
With the fall roundup over and cattle moved to winter pasture, the cowboy chores
are nearly halted while the buildings are repaired, equipment cleaned, and wood
cut and stockpiled. Th e annual event is about to begin.
All family members are expected to help prepare the ranch for winter. No one
escapes these dutieschildren or bunkhouse crew. Over the next several weeks the
repairs that were postponed during the long work hours of summer, horse training,
moving cattle, riding fences, and tending gardens which kept everyone busy, are
now high priority before winter sets in and the fi rst snow falls.
With her past still haunting her, Rachael continues to keep her emotional distance.
Always in constant motion, she is beginning to appreciate her new life while
learning to rebuild a level of trust among the members of the Preston family and
their bunkhouse crew.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 25, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524509545

R. Hess

Fifth generation in the Pacific Northwest, Rebecca Hess was raised on a farm in Matlock, WA, with three siblings. Her ancestors migrated to the area filing for a homestead in 1889. Although leaving home to explore life, her roots of rural living remain. With husband Ron, they made their home on ten acres outside his hometown of Reno, NV. After raising a daughter, and the passing of parents, Rebecca is following her passion of writing historic novels about rural life, self-sufficiency, and family commitments. Self-sufficiency has lead Rebecca to learning the traditional art of blacksmithing following in the footsteps of two of her great grandfathers; Grandpa Singleton, and Grandpa Peterson. An outdoor enthusiast, Rebecca and her husband enjoy prospecting, camping, and the simpler things in life.

Book preview

PREPARING

FOR WINTER

AN 1896 WESTERN ADVENTURE

R. Hess

Copyright © 2016 by R. Hess.

Front Cover – Library Archives Burns, Oregon

Edited by Elizabeth M. Brehmeyer Daneker

Maps by Ronald H. Hess

Library of Congress Control Number:   2016909855

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-5245-0956-9

                Softcover        978-1-5245-0955-2

                eBook             978-1-5245-0954-5

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 08/04/2016

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

739802

CONTENTS

Prologue

Chapter I

The Ranch Family

Chapter II

Three Pigs; Sunday Morning Greeting; Fresh Meat For Dinner; Change In The Work Schedule

Chapter III

Cleaning The Cellar; Routine House Maintenance; Annual House Cleaning; Tattle Tale; Helping At School; Letter Sent East; Learning New Recipes

Chapter IV

Innocence Of Children; Saturday Night; Wood For The Winter; Cleaning Equipment

Chapter V

News From Winnemucca; Stage Stops; Making Sausage

Chapter VI

Postponed Hunting Trip; Mid-Week Wood Delivery; Finding A Bride; Laundry Service

Chapter VII

Making Dresses; Arriving Home; Art Work

Chapter VIII

Milking Lesson; Reading The News

Chapter IX

News From Town; Catalog Orders; Saturday Night Card Games

Chapter X

Planning For Christmas; Planting Trees; For The Children; Sunday Dinner

Recipes

Dedication

I graciously dedicate this book to Dorothy Daneker Mann, who at the time of publication has celebrated her 105th birthday. Aunt Dorothy, you are my inspiration!

739802_usa_interior_Preparing_For_Winter.tif

Acknowledgments

I wish to thank everyone for sharing their family recipes. Also a special ‘thanks’ to the historical and archival librarians, and the experts who assisted with the historical equipment:

Karen Nitz – Claire McGill Luce Western History Room, Harney County Library, Burns, OR

Michael P. Maher – Nevada Historical Society, Reno, NV

Dana Toth – Humboldt Museum, Winnemucca, NV

David and Kelsey Brizendine – David’s Crosscut Saws, Shoshone, ID

Prologue

The muffled sound of a scream reached Earl’s ears waking him from a deep sleep. Scared, he shook Martha. She rubber her eyes with her forefingers before speaking, What is it Earl? What’s wrong?

Earl stared at Martha for several long moments before he could speak, Martha, I thought I heard Mamma screamin’. Did ya hear it?

Earl already knew the answer to his question. He had just woken Martha up hoping to reduce his own fears of the noises coming from their mother’s room. Martha sat up and listened. She now heard the sounds that had woken Earl.

Earl slowly slid out of bed and pulled on his night robe and hesitantly walked toward the door; Martha followed. Together, they tip-toed to their mother’s bedroom. Standing face to face, with their ears pressed to the door, they listened to the sounds emanating from the room.

The muffled screams and thrashing of blankets frighten Martha, and unchecked tears began trickling down her cheeks. Earl put his finger to his lips gesturing for Martha to keep quiet. She silently wiped away her tears and pointed to the doorknob wanting Earl to stop whatever was happening on the other side of the door; Earl complied.

Opening the door just wide enough to sidestep through, Earl took hold of Martha’s hand, and the two children entered the room standing silent and looking for an intruder. Seeing no one, together they shuffled toward the bed.

Releasing a loud scream, and throwing off the covers, Rachael jumped out of bed with clenched fists, and a cold harden look etched on her face. They were not going to abuse her tonight. She was not going to let them touch her.

Earl slapped his hand over his mouth to contain any noise from escaping; Martha’s scream matched the volume of her mother’s. Both children stood frozen, staring through the shadows of darkness at Rachael, and not knowing what to do, Earl yanked Martha’s hand pulling them back through the open door. Earl quickly closed the door behind them.

It took several deep breaths before Rachael realized where she was, and that she was alone. Sitting down hard on the bed, she closed her eyes trying to remember if she had heard someone scream, or if she had woken herself with her own scream. Horrified that Earl and Martha may have heard her, she made her way to their bedroom and found both children in Earl’s bed. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Rachael returned to her bed with thoughts of her past filling her mind; she needed to bury these memories deep, deep and forever. In the midst of pushing out her past, she heard the faint sounds of footsteps just before the door was slightly open. She heard Earl whisper, Be real quiet, Martha. We don’t wanna wake Mamma up. The two children quietly, and slowly, crawled up onto the bed and under the covers.

Rachael did not move, pretending to be asleep, and all three slept together until five o’clock when Rachael stirred with the sounds of the rooster crowing. Rachael got up to start her day leaving the two children to sleep.

FALL 1896

Chapter I

The Ranch Family

Rachael dressed and combed her waist long brown hair, swirling it up onto the back of her head and securing it with multiple hair combs. After washing her face, she stared in the mirror at herself for several minutes realizing she was now twenty. Her dark blue eyes that had been dull and hollow for the past four years were beginning to come back to life. Her new employment at the ranch, two thousand miles from her birthplace, was breathing new life into her soul. Brockport, New York, would need to become a distance memory, and she would need to bury the last four years of her memories forever.

Walking from her new home, The Garden House, to the main ranch house, Rachael had many thoughts of her past filling her head. She knew she had to push the memories deep down into the crevices where they could never surface. Being here, at the ranch, was her second chance at having a new life. Rachael liked her new employers, Nathan and Ethel Preston, and her new position. At twenty, and having been put in charge of two young children when leaving New York, she needed this position. Earl, only eight, and Martha, six, were a huge responsibility and she would do her best to make everything work. She needed to for her own sake, as well as the children’s.

Within a few yards of the Main House, Rachael stopped and looked at the big two story house. The wrap-a-round six foot wide porch, with swings in front and back, made the house inviting. The style of the two houses, Folk Victorian without the gingerbread details, were nearly identical; the Garden House was a mirror image of the Main House only smaller. The large porches of both houses Rachael found calming. She enjoyed her quiet moments sitting in the back porch swings of both houses. After hearing how the Garden House received its name, Rachael appreciated even more the sweet smell of the honeysuckle, lilacs, and the numerous flowers that Gene had planted for his late wife.

To bring herself back to the moment, Rachael ran her right hand around the side of her face and continued to the Main House. Taking the front steps two at a time and walking round the porch, as she turned the corner, she noticed the back door was open. Knowing the day was going to be busy, she suspected Nathan and Ethel Preston were up and discussing the work schedule with Gene, their foreman. She doubted any of the remaining family, or crew, were awake at this hour. She gathered her breakfast supplies from the cellar before entering the kitchen.

Stepping into the kitchen, she was surprised to find the fire going and coffee made. Nathan and Ethel Preston were sitting at the end of the table with the bunkhouse crew, Gene, Burt, Frank, Marion, Harry, and Phil, in their unassigned chairs at the table. Three of the Preston brothers, Charlie, Craig, and Ike, were standing by the kitchen stove, sock-footed, drinking coffee. The two elder Preston sisters, Lucy and Minnie were stepping through the inner kitchen door as Rachael was entering the house via the back door. The younger two siblings, Cliff and Dona, were not yet present.

Rachael took in her surrounding, observing everyone, something from her past that she had learned to do quickly; a survival tactic. Scanning the room and the occupants, she made her mental notes of the new people in her life. The three elder Preston brothers, she found, all had a kind nature. Charlie, nearly twenty-eight, and the oldest of the siblings, was shorter than his father and his brother Craig. At a full 6' 2, he had a slim build, dark brown hair, and his eyes so dark brown they were nearly black. His broad shoulders made him an intimidating figure. Craig, at twenty-two and four years younger than his sister Lucy, stood 6'5, equal to his father’s height, however, he too had a slim, muscular body build just like his elder brother, whereas Nathan Preston, now in his late fifties and the stocky body build of an older gentleman, had nearly white hair. Unable to tell Nathan’s original hair color, Craig did have his father’s deep blue eyes. But unlike his father, Craig tended to have a problem with shaving – he always received a curt look from his mother requiring him to leave the dinner table to perform the deed, whereas his father was always clean shaven.

Ike was a definite mixture of his father and mother. In his last year as a teen, Ike was shorter than his two elder brothers, standing at 5'10", stocky, sandy colored hair, and brown eyes; like his mother. Ethel Preston was full figured and stout. She and Ike were the same height, and Rachael thought probably the same weight. Ethel’s hair was now salt and pepper indicating it was once black, just as Lucy’s was now.

Moving her gaze to the two elder sisters, Lucy and Minnie, as they entered the kitchen standing side by side, Rachael noted both had the same body build as their mother, however they were a tad shorter, standing the same height at about 5'7". Both had the same black hair and attractive blue eyes, however, their facial features were different; Lucy taking after their mother, and Minnie after their father. Lucy, twenty-six, was the second eldest sibling, and Minnie was two years younger than Craig, and Rachael’s age, twenty. Rachael thought they were attractive, and smart; they held their own during the family discussions.

Rachael shifted her attention to the bunkhouse crew. Gene, the ranch foreman, had become a close friend. She was glad their relationship had matured to the point that she considered him a father figure, calling him ‘papa’ in private. Gene, a few inches taller than her 5'5", was in his early fifties, slightly graying, stocky, and gently weathered. Gene had been a cowboy all his life, and his character fit Rachael’s preconceived definition of a true cowboy: quiet, hardworking, and knowing what needs to be done with the cattle and horses.

Frank, Gene’s right hand man, mirrored the two elder Preston brothers in physical stature; slim, muscular, and broad shouldered. Standing a straight and tall six feet, he had coal black hair, dark blue eyes, and was generally all business. He had a dry sense of humor, and Rachael would catch him trying to hide his smiles as he watch Earl and Martha, in their childhood innocence, listen to Harry’s and Phil’s stories as they captured the two children’s full attention.

Burt, the ranch blacksmith and all around fix-it man, was a jovial man, with sparkling green eyes and blond hair. Having a stout body build, he generally did not require much help with his projects of repairing the wagons, carpentry duties, or other heavy work. He had just turned forty in August, and Ethel Preston had made a special point acknowledging his birthday; an unknown reason to Rachael.

Marion, Harry, and Phil summed up the bunkhouse crew. Marion and Phil stood the same height, 5'10", however, very different in body build: Marion was stocky, and Phil was a bean pole. Harry had a couple inches on his two bunkmates, he stood an even six foot, however built like Marion. Looking at them, Rachael blended them together, Marion with his dark hair and deep blue eyes, and Harry with brown hair and blue eyes, and Phil with his blond hair and brown eyes. They all wore the same type of clothing, making slight changes in their shirt patterns – sometime Marion wore a flower pattern, Phil’s was striped, and Harry’s was plain. The next day, Marion’s was plain, Phil’s had flowers, and Harry had stripes; did they just share their clothes? She was beginning to truly think so.

Setting her handful of breakfast makings on the sideboard, she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Turning her attention toward the inner kitchen door, in walked Cliff with Dona one step behind. Cliff was the youngest brother, and wanting to be just like his elder brothers. Just sixteen, Cliff was taller than his brother Ike, and just as tall as Frank and Harry. For a sixteen-year-old, Rachael observed this was a triumph for Cliff. His body mass and hair color matched Ike’s; however he had his father’s deep blue eyes. Cliff was still young at heart, and Rachael appreciated the attention he showed Earl. Cliff played games with Earl treating Earl like a younger brother.

Dona was the youngest of the seven siblings. With nearly eighteen years between Charlie and Dona, Rachael noticed that Dona was considered a nuisance by the elder brothers and bunkhouse crew, and Lucy and Minnie tolerated her. Dona had thick strawberry blonde hair and her mother’s dark brown eyes. In several more years, as she grew and became more mature, Rachael believed she would become a beautiful young woman. Mimicking Cliff’s behavior toward Earl, Dona and Martha were attached nearly at the hip – where one girl was, the other was sure to be close by.

Chapter II

Three Pigs

Now that the cattle had been sold and the remaining herd moved to winter range, it was time for the fall butchering of pigs and steers. Burt was always in charge of slaughtering the pigs, usually three, and Nathan Preston always prepared the scald pot. The pot was cast-iron, approximately four feet square, and erected permanently behind the hog pens. Charlie and Craig would build the fire under the pot while Nathan Preston, Ike, Cliff, and the three ranch hands, Harry, Marion, and Phil, filled it with water. It would take half a day to bring the water up to scald temperature.

Burt fed the doomed pigs, and taking a small sharp knife, one that he designed and made, would quickly stick the pig, slitting the jugular vein. The pigs would not feel the sharp prick and literally eat until they bled to death.

Once on the ground, the four brothers would drag the pigs out to the back of the barn. With the help of the ranch hands, each pig was tied to a pole and quickly dipped into the scalding water and then scraped to remove the hair. The process of dipping was repeated. The pig could not be in the scalding water too long or it would set the hair rather than loosen it. The carcasses would be hung in the cooling shed overnight then cut into the proper-size pieces for processing.

Rachael had the barrels and crocks cleaned and ready for preserving the pork and making corned beef. Much to Rachael’s surprise, Charlie inquired if she had the large glass jars ready for his ‘pickled pig’s feet’. Lucy burst into laughter at the look of utter disbelief on Rachael’s face.

Charlie, looking dumbfounded at her, spoke quietly and sincere, Rach, I’m serious; there’re big glass jars in the dry shed. We’ll be bringin’ in twelve nice plump trotters.

Rachael stood silently, staring at Charlie, until Lucy walked over and put her arm around Rachael’s shoulders, leading her out of the room with the promise to Rachael that her mother would be curing the pig’s feet for her brothers. After the laughter died down, Ethel Preston assured Charlie that she had all the necessary supplies for making his pickled pig’s feet and had helped Rachael order the supplies for processing the bacons, hams, corned beef, and water glass to keep the eggs fresh for weeks. Never helping with smoking of any meat products, Rachael was eager to learn this process but remained very skeptical about the pickled pig’s feet.

Ethel Preston joined Lucy and Rachael in the dry shed and patting Rachael on the back, chuckled, Don’t worry, my dear, we’ll get you through this! We have many ways of preserving our meat, and I know some people hang their meat in their well to keep it cold. However, we have never done that.

Leaving the pig’s feet for later, Ethel Preston began explaining the procedure for smoking the bacons, We’ll rub the hams and bacons with salt and let them set overnight. We’ll layer the pork, hams on the bottom and bacons on top, in the barrels. For each barrel, we’ll mix brine consisting of ten pounds of salt, three pounds of brown sugar, and two ounces of saltpeter in four to five gallons of water. We’ll pour the dissolved solution over the meat, adding more water if necessary, to just cover the meat. We’ll let the bacons set in the solution for five weeks. After that, we’ll pull them out, soak them in clear water overnight, and hang them in the smokehouse for two or three days. Taking them from the smokehouse, we’ll wrap them in cheese cloth and hang them from the supports in the cellar. The cellar has a good airflow and holds a steady temperature year round.

While the crew attended to the slaughtering of pigs, Ethel Preston and the women continued with the final harvesting of the garden and picking the last of the fruit and berries. This year, the cellar would be full.

The scald pot was near temperature when the crew came in for noon meal. Charlie put the bucket with the pig’s feet on the back porch next to the door; Rachael stared at him. Charlie gave her a tease of a smile, Might wanna get these in the kettle before the bunch come in for noon meal; I don’t want ’em playin’ with ’em. Cliff, no doubt, will be showin’ Earl and Martha the finer points of how pigs walk if the bucket is still settin’ there, unattended, when they hit the door expoundin’ on their mornin’ adventures. Rachael moved her look from Charlie to the contents of the bucket.

Suppressing a laugh, he rested the palm of his hand on her shoulder, "Honestly, Rach, they’re pretty tasty. Mother has the recipe down pat, and I don’t