The Red River Stories

By Fred Harland

Join the five Harland cousins as they travel through time to a Comanche hunting camp, experience a buffalo hunt with two young Indians, celebrate a family Christmas in the 1960’s, be caught in a dust storm with their grandfather (Pocky), see their fathers as children in the 80’s, live through the blizzard of 1957, travel to Tinian Island with their Great Grandfather during World War ll, and travel to the Colorado Rockies and work the thoroughbred horse racing track in 1967 with their Nana. Theses stories are told by Pocky to his grandchildren over a span of seven years as they shared a summer getaway in the beautiful resort town of Red River, New Mexico nestled in the Sangre DeCristo mountains part of the Southern Range of the Rocky Mountains. This unique story-teller, lets you view events that are part of the history of his family’s land and the cousins’ ancestors.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Newman Springs Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9781636920375

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The Red River Stories

Fred Harland

Copyright © 2020 Fred Harland

All rights reserved

First Edition

NEWMAN SPRINGS PUBLISHING

320 Broad Street

Red Bank, NJ 07701

First originally published by Newman Springs Publishing 2020

ISBN 978-1-63692-036-8 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63692-037-5 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

The Buffalo and the Arrowhead

Christmas 1960

The Comanches

The Dust Storm

Good Grief I’m Older Than My Dad

The Blizzard

Tinian Island

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

The Horses

The Story

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

To my grandchildren with love.

To my wife Claudia Harland (Nana).

The Buffalo and the Arrowhead

2013

Written by Pocky

It was the last Saturday of June 2013. A very nice day; the sun had shone most of the day but now scattered clouds dotted the blue sky. The Harland gang was all together to celebrate birthdays. Hayden had just turned thirteen and Wyatt eleven earlier in the week. Pocky and Nana wanted everybody to come to their house for a cookout that evening. They had all gathered and were busy talking and having a good time with each other.

Clara said, Hey, guys, why don’t we go for a walk down to the canyon? We have plenty of time, and we can be back long before time to eat hamburgers.

Broc answered, I think that would be fun. Pocky once took Wyatt and me down there, and we had a lot of fun. But remember Aunt Kambri is making homemade ice cream and Mom has brought a cake so we don’t want to be late for the party.

Aubren said, Let’s do it, we will have a good time. I will ask Dad if Zeke can go.

Zeke was Aubren’s German shepherd dog; he wasn’t a year old yet but he was a big dog and a good companion.

Hayden and Wyatt had also brought their dogs along. Luke was a black Labrador retriever, and Rodney was a black lab mix that Pocky and Nana had rescued along the road. Broc and Wyatt had taken good care of him and he had grown into a faithful friend.

The kids asked if they could go to the breaks. Pocky said, You guys be careful there could be rattlesnakes out on the rocks this time of year. Don t leave the girls alone and watch what you’ re doing. Take your phones and be back here by six thirty.

Nana added, Take some water along.

Okay, okay, okay, the kids all said at once.

Hey, Dad, shouted Aubren. I’m taking Zeke.

Yeh, Wyatt said.

We are taking Rodney.

And Luke, yelled Hayden as they started out the gate. Don’t forget the water, yelled Nana.

Finally five youngsters and three dogs were out the gate and headed west.

Clara said, Let’s go straight west. There is a part of the canyon that hooks into Pocky’s breaks. Hayden and I came through it with Loretta one morning.

It’s kind of neat, said Hayden. Let’s go that way.

Aubren whistled at Zeke and said, Hey, you need to get back here and quit running so far ahead. The three dogs had become great friends and were excited to be going on a walk with the kids. They were running way out in front.

Hayden told Luke to stay close and to walk in front of them. He thought if there were any snakes, the dogs would find them first and warn the kids.

They were making quick time as they walked. It was warm but not hot. They were dressed in long pants with T-shirts and tennis shoes. No one had worn a cap or taken a jacket. Why would you need a jacket? It was summer and not much chance of rain.

Anyway as they walked along they talked and talked.

Broc said, Look back to the south, I know that the town is Texhoma and that the big buildings are grain elevators but what are those big towers?

Those are wind generators, said Clara. They are west and south of Texhoma. They just look close because of the angle that we are looking from.

We have seen the generators up close, said Aubren. ‘Did you know they make enough electricity to power a lot of homes.

Look down at the river, said Hayden. Most of the trees are dead now.

When Pocky was a little boy, the river ran all the time, Wyatt added. He told us about it one day.

Everyone would go down to the river for cookouts and picnics.

Hayden said, Did you guys know it still runs just to the north of where we are right now. If you look to the north, you can see most of those are still alive and green. We’ve been down there before hunting arrow heads and antler sheds.

They were now very close to the canyon as they started to descend they looked around some more. They could see the vapor trail of a jet as it flew across the sky. Someday I’m going to fly a big airplane like that, said Broc. I really think it would be cool to do that.

Have you ever wondered how something that big and heavy is able to fly? said Aubren.

Or how does a big ship made out of steel float, quizzed Wyatt.

There are a lot of things that seem impossible, said Hayden. But if you learn all the reasons it makes sense. The rules of nature are precise, and as long as what you’re doing fits into the facts of nature, you can do it.

What do you mean ‘Rules of nature’? said Clara. What are you talking about?

I think what he is saying, said Wyatt, is a really big thing can float as long as it displaces more weight in water than what it weighs.

Yeah, and big airplanes can fly by having enough wing and speed to get the proper lift, said Broc.

Well, anyway, it is pretty neat that we can fly. In the old days, people could only get around by walking or riding horses, said Aubren.

Now they were in the canyon headed toward the north, and it opened up to reveal the alfalfa fields and sprinklers down at Tim Meyer’s.

Along the bottom of the canyon, they walked beside the washed out ditch. It had rained rather hard a couple of days earlier, and there was water still in the bottom.

Suddenly, Aubren screamed out, Hey, you guys, look at that. There is a large bone sticking in the dirt at the bottom of that gully. Hayden instantly jumped into the washout and began to dig at the bone. Wyatt, Broc, Clara, and Aubren all scrambled to see what it was.

Look! cried Clara. There is something stuck in the bone!

Hayden had removed enough dirt that the bone was becoming more and more exposed, and sure enough, there in the bone just below the joint was a rock (a piece of flint) stuck into the bone. They all began to study the scene. I think it’s an arrow head, said Aubren. Betcha this is a buffalo bone that the Indians shot back in the old days.

Could be, said Hayden. It certainly is a big bone. I wonder what part of the buffalo it come from.

I’ve seen bones from cows down in the bone yard, said Clara. This would be bigger than any of those.

It’s gotta be a leg bone, said Broc. Could be his femur. Some Indian must have shot him in the back leg.

I’ve seen lots of pictures of buffalo, said Wyatt, and I noticed they were really tall and big at the shoulders and had pretty small rear ends. I think that if it is a buffalo bone it would be a front leg, probably the humerus bone. The Indians may have shot him in the front leg and it lodged in the top part of the bone.

You mean that Indians lived right here and hunted buffalo right here! Wow, just think what it would be like to live back then. Do you think that buffalo would be hard to hunt? asked Clara.

My dad shot a buffalo once, said Aubren. When he was in college and working at the meat lab. They butchered some buffalos one time. He said they had to shoot them in the trailer because they were afraid the big buffalo would tear up the pens.

Buffalo were very fast and very big, said Hayden. They could run almost as fast as a horse and because of the way they were built with the big head, large hump and shoulders, and a smaller rear end they could turn really fast. They could be running full speed and spin around very quickly. They could easily kill a horse and a man. You bet it was hard to hunt buffalo!

So do you think this is a buffalo bone? asked Clara. Why did they leave him here, why would they leave the arrow in the bone? Why didn’t the Indians take the buffalo to their camp? Do you think this was an Indian camp? Why aren’t there more bones? What would the Indians do for water if they camped here?

Shoosh! yelled Broc. That’s like a thousand questions at once.

There are a lot of reasons why a buffalo could have an arrow in his bone. He may have gotten shot but didn’t die from it or he got away and died later, but the Indians were gone and didn’t find him until he was rotted.

Or the coyotes may have found him and ate him before the Indians found him, said Wyatt.

What do you mean? questioned Aubren. That the Indians were gone? Where were they going, why would they leave?

There weren’t any wells or roads or grocery stores back then, said Hayden. The Indians had to live along the rivers for water. The same thing for the buffalo. They had to keep moving because they would eat all the grass in one area and kept moving to find more food.

But back then, all the rivers had water in them, said Wyatt. So there was always another place to go.

When Pocky was a boy the Beaver River ran all the time, remember? said Clara. Yes, I remember, said Wyatt.

Gosh, said Aubren, that must have been one hundred years ago.

I wish I could have been alive in Indians times, said Broc.

It would have been cool, said Wyatt. Just think camping out all the time, no school and no homework.

That would have been fun, said Hayden. I wish we were all little Indians, said Aubren. Clara and I would have been little Indian princesses and you boys would have been little braves.

Anyway, said Hayden, take a picture of the bone with your phone. Then we better get moving if we are going to go any farther.

Suddenly Clara was distraught. Where are the dogs? she said. I don’t see Luke or Zeke or Rodney!

They are over there, said Wyatt. Right behind that haze.

Haze? What do you mean haze, it is a clear day, said Broc.

They all looked to the north, and sure enough, they could see the dogs a short distance away and they did look funny, kind of out of focus like the distance on a hot summer day. The way the horizon looks with the waves and things going on, like a mirage.

Let’s go get them, Clara said. So the children all began to run toward the dogs who were paying no attention at all to the kids. The funny thing about the haze was that it seemed to stay in the same place. The kids were very close to it now and could plainly see the dogs on the other side. They yelled, Come here, Rodney, Luke, and Zeke, but the dogs paid no attention at all. Clara and Aubren both threatened their two dogs, You come here or you are in BIG trouble! they shouted. Zeke and Luke did not respond.

All five kids were now standing at edge of the mirage. The dogs were just on the other side but acted like they had no idea the kids were there.

Hayden stopped everybody, Wait, you guys. This is very weird. I think we should turn around and go back home.

We are not leaving those dogs! shouted Clara. They know their way home, said Wyatt.

Don’t be sissies, said Broc. This is nothing but some kind of haze. Probably caused by the hot sun and the rain. No big deal, let’s get the dogs and go home and eat some of Aunt Kambri’s ice cream.

So all five kids stepped into the haze. Suddenly there was a flash of light so bright that they could only see red stars for a few seconds, then a loud boom. Aubren woke up first; she was dazed and felt groggy. Hey, Hayden, Wyatt, Broc, Clara! Wake up! she yelled. She ran to Hayden and began to shake him. He began to stir, then Wyatt and Broc and Clara all began to sit up. They rubbed their eyes. They blinked and began to stand on shaky legs.

Is everyone okay? asked Hayden.

Gosh! I don’t know, said Broc. What the heck just happened?

I don’t know but we all seem to be okay, said Clara.

Don’t be so sure about that, said Wyatt. Be quiet and slowly turn around and look behind you.

The guys all turned and looked back at the canyon wall behind them. Standing there all alone was a massive bull buffalo.

Holy cow! whispered Clara with big eyes. He is a monster. He is way bigger than Pocky’s big homed Hereford bull, Claude Ray!

Quiet! Don’t make a noise, whispered Hayden. If he sees us, were gonners.

Where can we go? What can we do? asked Aubren. There is no place to hide and this grass is so thick and tall, we can’t possibly run."

Get down, said Wyatt. Maybe we can hide in this grass.

All the kids hunkered down into the tall grass and began to crawl away from the buffalo. Quickly they made their way to the bend in the canyon. They paused and peered back at the buffalo.

Where are we? asked Aubren. How did we get here?

Where are the dogs? asked Clara.

I don’t know, and I don’t know how and I don’t know where the dogs are, said Wyatt.

Hey, guys said Broc, take a better look at that buffalo.

As they all peeked at the beast, it became clear that he was hot, tired, and stressed. Protruding from his front leg near the shoulder was an arrow.

Oh my gosh, said Hayden I know where we are!

Well, that is just Jim Dandy, stated Clara. Please tell me, ‘Mr. Einstein,’ where are we?

Look back toward the buffalo. Look at the canyon, said Hayden. Now look back to the northwest. Do you see it? That is the breaks we’ve all hunted Easter eggs in and that is the river over there and THAT is the buffalo bone we found.

Hayden, you are so full of it! said Broc. That water of Nana’s must have had something else in it ’cause I think you are crazy. We were just in that canyon. It didn’t look anything like this. The grass was short, there were washouts and stuff and look at the river.

They all turned and looked back toward the river. In the evening sun, the vast plain extended forever as far as you could see there was an endless sea of grass. The river was wide and water glistened in the sun. There were no trees, only grass and dotting the banks of the river in the distance were horses or at least that’s what they looked like. The kids tried to count them, looked like maybe twenty or so. Further north of the horses, there were teepees, maybe as many as twenty-five or thirty. They could see people moving around in the camp. Laying scattered on the plain just east of the river lay four black spots with three or four people around them. They seemed to be very busy. Finally, Aubren spoke very quietly, I think that is an Indian village and those black spots are dead buffalo.

Hayden whispered back, I think you’re right. They must have just finished a hunt and those people are butchering and skinning the buffalo.

Oh my gosh, said Broc, look way to the north, what is that?

Several miles from the children on the hills north of the river a black shadow was moving across the plain. Dust rose into the evening air.

Wyatt gasped. That black shadow is a herd of buffalo. What do you think happened? Where the heck are we and how did we get here?

Clara added, And where are the dogs?

Hayden said, Sit down, guys, we’ve got to think!

They all sat down in the grass cross-legged you know Indian style, and mulled over their situation.

Aubren said, Good grief, what were we thinking, we have cell phones. I will call my daddy he will come get us.

She grabbed her phone and looked at it…there was no service—no date on the phone and no time.

Aubren, Hayden said, I don’t think your phone is going to work. I don’t know how it happened or how we did it, but I think somehow we are time travelers.

You mean we went back in time? Broc asked. That can’t happen. There is no way.

Yes, that would be impossible, said Wyatt. People, even scientist, can’t travel in time. No, that is not possible.

I know that! said Hayden. But how else can you explain this? We are in Pocky’s canyon or at least just west of it. There are no fields, no roads, no electric lines, no houses, no irrigated circles. Only grass and buffalo and Indians.

Oh, Hayden, get real! exclaimed Clara. That is ssoooo ridiculous!

Broc said, Guys, it may be ridiculous, but that buffalo is real and he is moving our direction. We better move!

Where can we go? asked Clara. We are on the canyon floor and hiding in the grass, if we get up he is sure to see us, if we run he is certain to run us down.

Well, we can’t just stay here! Because he is getting pretty darn close, said Wyatt.

Wait a second, said Hayden. Look closely at that buffalo. He is injured.

No kidding, he’s been shot with an arrow, remember? said Clara. But one arrow in the leg of that big beast wouldn’t kill him, answered Hayden.

He does look like he is hurting real bad, said Aubren. Can we help him?

Listen, he is hurt, said Broc, but he is a wild animal and he will not let us help him even if we could. We better just get out of here and let the Indians down on the river come get him, they’re the ones who shot him.

Let’s crawl to the north. If we can get up on the hill, I don’t think he will be able to come after us, said Wyatt.

The gang began to crawl army style—flat on the bellies toward the rise to the north. The grass was thick, but the rocks were hard and sharp. It was tough going, but the kids kept moving. After about ten minutes, they had made their way to the top of the hill where they paused and turned back toward the buffalo. From this vantage point, the opposite side of the bull was plainly visible. Barely protruding from his side were the feathers of an arrow. Obviously it had pierced his organs maybe even into his lungs. He was in trouble and soon would be dead.

Oh my, that is so sad, sighed Clara. I wish we could help him.

I think he is beyond help now, said Wyatt. The buffalo’s massive sides would heave as he struggled for a breath. Some blood foamed out of his flared nostril as he turned and stared straight at the children on the hill.

Suddenly, a coyote let out a lonesome call from directly behind the kids. They all jumped in fright, and Clara and Aubren screamed. The coyote paid them no attention. He was so close they could plainly see his eyes as he stared hungrily at the dying buffalo.

Good gosh, said Broc, that coyote is calling his friends. Coming from the south, three more coyotes approached the lip of the canyon.

Look! exclaimed Wyatt. If Hayden is right and this is our canyon we should be able to see Pocky and Nana’s house, Uncle Heath’s house and Richard and Loretta’s house but there is nothing there only grass.

Well, Hayden said, if we have somehow gone through time, of course those houses aren’t there. Who knows what year it is. We maybe in the 1800s or even in the 1700s. I don’t know how or why this could have happened.

The coyote that had been close to them had moved on over the north edge of the canyon and was approaching the suffering animal.

Another coyote howled from the east, more and more seemed to be coming into the scene.

The sun was setting in the west. Looking toward the river, they could see the Indian camp still working as the brought the hides and meat into the camp. A large fire was glowing in the heavy evening air. The sounds from the camp carried across the plain. It was a joyous sound even though no one could understand the words the shouts and laughter were sure signs of a happy camp.

Would you look at that! exclaimed Broc. Look down at the buffalo.

It was obvious that he was near death. An impatient coyote moved in toward him. It raced in and bit at his hindquarters without much response from the buffalo. This seemed to embolden the coyote as he darted in to the head. It was a fatal misjudgment. With a final move, the bull hooked his upright horn into the flank of the coyote, throwing his head upward. The coyote was split open and tossed to the side, lifeless. Soon he was joined by the buffalo.

Night was fast approaching; very soon, it would be dark. All five kids sat huddled together in the grass. It was a warm evening, but shivers ran down their spines. All sat there speechless wondering what had happened, what to do. How to do it. How could we ever get home?

Then Aubren spoke, Hayden, you are the oldest, tell us what to do. I want to go home.

Clara couldn’t contain herself any longer, Yeah, you boys have got to get us home. I’m cold. I’m scared and I’m tired and hungry. But most of all, I want Dad to hold me.

Me too, said Aubren. I want Mom and Dad to tuck me in bed and tell me it’s all right.

Wyatt then said, Listen, we all miss our parents. I’m scared too, but we must be brave. If we stick together, we will get through this. Tomorrow will be a good day.

Broc said, Brother, I sure hope you are right because right now I wish we were home.

Hayden had sat there, thinking; finally he spoke up. Wyatt is right. Let’s stick together. We can sleep here. The grass is soft and the night is warm. If we stay strong, we will all be okay.

Is God here? asked Aubren. I think He is.

Of course he is, said Broc. He is everywhere, and even if we did travel back in time, he was God back then too.

I know that, she said. It is just that I want to know someone is watching over us.

He is eternal. That means He has always been and always will be, said Clara. You know even if we have somehow traveled back in time we can’t travel back further than God because he created the earth.

Yes, Wyatt added, if Hayden is right and we are still in the same place just a different time and God will always be here even if people don’t know it.

"Well, even if we are in Indian times, which it is obvious that we are. The