The Long Journey Home: Bonus added the sequel "LOST"

By Bill MacVeigh

The Long Journey Home follows the path of a young man that suffers hurt but rebounds to survive the Civil War. He travels West after the war and experiences life-changing adventures along the way. Finally, after many trials, he finds a home, friends, and love.

About the Author
Bill MacVeigh was a history teacher for twenty-eight years in historical Lincoln County, New Mexico, where Billy the Kid once roamed. He grew up on stories told by his grandmother about White Oaks, a gold mining town in the southern New Mexico mountains. MacVeigh is now retired in Capitan, New Mexico with his wife Dottie. They enjoy playing the growing sport of Pickleball with their friends.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Company
• Release date: Apr 30, 2024
• ISBN: 9798890276230

Book preview

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The contents of this work, including, but not limited to, the accuracy of events, people, and places depicted; opinions expressed; permission to use previously published materials included; and any advice given or actions advocated are solely the responsibility of the author, who assumes all liability for said work and indemnifies the publisher against any claims stemming from publication of the work.

All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 2024 by Bill MacVeigh

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted, downloaded, distributed, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented without permission in writing from the publisher.

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Visit our website at www.dorrancebookstore.com

ISBN: 979-8-8902-7125-9

eISBN: 979-8-8902-7623-0

DEDICATION

To Ernie Smith, the first editor of this story.

And to Lauren Smith Beam, beautiful, strong, never forgotten!

Also to Preston and Willa Stone on whose ranch this story lands.

COVER ART BY:

Deborah Harris

Angus, New Mexico

The man rode in from the north between the Tucson Mountains and the east end of the Capitans.  The horse the man was riding was a big buckskin of some seventeen hands in height with three black stockings and a black blaze between its eyes. The people at the stagecoach stop who noticed the man riding in from the North watched him as he rode down into Salado Creek. The man and his horse disappeared for a time. When he and the buckskin emerged from the creek bed and rode up to the stagecoach stop, the people standing around waiting for the next stagecoach finally got a good look at him. He was a big man that looked to be about six feet three inches tall when he finally stepped out of the saddle. Men this tall were somewhat of a rarity in these parts, so the people waiting for the next coach stared. One of the young women preparing to climb into the awaiting coach was trying to get a look at the man’s face. The tall man was wearing a tan flannel shirt, brown corded pants, and he wore a brown flat-brimmed hat that was shading his features. The men standing and watching immediately noticed that he also wore a big ole Colt .44 dragoon pistol on his hip in a cutdown holster. The man looked as though he knew how to use it. These were Western men who noticed things about a man such as his weapons. The men at the stage stop also noticed that the man carried a Henry repeating rifle in a sling for easy access on the side of the big buckskin. Only a few of those had been seen by these men of the West. The weapons the man carried told the men standing around the stage stop a story. The weapons looked well used and these men, being the Western men as they were, figured this man they were studying could probably handle any situation coming at him if forced to do so. Somehow you could just see the look of a man.

The people around this stagecoach stop saw a man with a sharp, chiseled face dark from the sun, and brown curly hair when he finally removed his hat to run his hand through his hair while he was also observing the action going on around the coachyard. The big man was sporting a day’s growth of beard. Many men of the time wore beards and mustaches in this country. This man must keep himself groomed when he could.

 He had ridden up slowly and sat the big buckskin for a time and looked carefully around studying the scene before stepping out of the saddle. He even seemed to notice the pretty young woman that stood ready to board the westbound coach, causing her to shiver under his gaze. It seemed to those watching that every movement the man made was easy and measured. Some of the men at the stagecoach stop noticed the brand on the left-front shoulder of the big buckskin. The brand was a US burned into the animal. They realized that this big man may have fought for the Union during the Civil War. One man standing ready to board the departing coach that noticed the brand on the buckskin’s shoulder spat when he saw it. The big man was also studying the men and women around the stagecoach station and noticed several things quickly. There was a swirl of dust in the air as a fresh team of mustangs was brought from a corral to hitch to a coach that was pointed west. He heard the jangle of harness chain along with the snap of leather harness. There were the yells and some curses from the men wrangling the horses for the coach. Every part of the swirl of activity was taken in by the man on the big horse. There were chickens that scurried out of the way when the men and horses came near and then continued to scratch in the corral for any seeds they could find. When he finally stepped down from the big buckskin, he identified the man who appeared to be in charge at the stage station.

 Walking up to the man, he asked if indeed the man was running the place. The man nodded and introduced himself as Seaborne Grey as he looked up into the tall sun-browned face. The stage stop, ranch buildings, and the few houses that could be seen were named for him, Grey, in this, the New Mexico Territory. Mr. Grey and the big man moved away from the swirling dust so they might talk. Coming directly to the point, as he always did, the big man asked Mr. Grey if he might know of any land that would be available in the area to purchase. He explained that he had been riding down from Denver looking for ranchland, but everywhere he stopped and asked there was nothing available to buy, so he kept riding south.

Seaborne Grey studied the man for a long moment, deciding whether to help this stranger. Seaborne Grey wanted good solid people to settle the area. There were some hard and ruthless characters about that the stagecoach station owner knew were hurting the area. He did not want any more of those. Mr. Grey looked closely at the tall man and knew from his speech that he was from back East somewhere, but probably well educated. Not many Yankees had come to this part of the country as yet. There were some at a cavalry post a few miles away but those men were not seen often there in Grey unless riding through with their troop. Mr. Grey thought that this man seemed to be well set up and was not just some two-by-twice character as some were that were drifting into the area.

 Seaborne Grey did not care where a man came from as long as he would contribute to building this land in a good and solid way. Mr. Grey finally told the tall man that he thought that there just might be some land available in the area. He explained to the tall man that a few people were now moving into the area looking for land, but most of them had been Southerners after the conclusion of the war. Seaborne Grey had also noticed the brand on the shoulder of the buckskin. He wanted to ask the big man about that but it was not his way to pry unless asked a direct question. If the big man asked the right questions, he could find what he was looking for. Mr. Grey told the man that he would need to talk to a fellow named Homer Evans, living in a town twelve miles east of Grey. The big man thanked Mr. Grey for the information and introduced himself as Jim Slade when he held out his hand. Seaborne Grey took the hand that swallowed his and received a firm handshake. He explained to Mr. Grey that he had been riding a long trail from Virginia looking for this chance to find land on which to settle and build. Seaborne Grey figured that there must be a story here when this stranger said that he had ridden all the way from Virginia rather than from the Northeast. Jim Slade smiled then, and it was a smile that seemed to Seaborne Grey to be one that was warm and honest. Seaborn Grey judged men by their manner and whether they spoke to him with respect. He had seen every manner of man and women come through his stagecoach stop over the years since his ranch headquarters had become a regular stop to change horses for coaches going both east and west. Mr. Grey wished this Jim Slade good luck in his quest. These were uncertain times after the Civil War and there were some rough characters about in the area.

Seaborne Grey was hoping that he was gauging this stranger in the right way. Mr. Grey thought the man’s smile reached his eyes and was genuine. He then warned Jim to be careful, however, because there just might be some people around these parts who would oppose a stranger acquiring land in the area, especially someone from back East, as he seemed to be.

This Jim Slade smiled and said, Mr. Grey, I have heard that often while riding and searching. I rode on a cattle drive from South Texas to the railhead in Kansas and those  Texas cowboys took real exception to where I was from. It was a real adventure. I will take your advice. I always ride easy and have for a long time.

Seaborne Grey wondered why a man with an obviously Eastern accent would be coming from Virginia. Then to hear that he rode on a Texas cattle drive was a surprise. The tall man also just told him that he was riding down from Denver, Colorado, so there must be a real story to be heard from this man and he would like to hear it. Seaborne Grey was never a man to ask such questions, for he kept his own counsel. He judged men by their actions after he got to know them.

 As Jim Slade walked to his waiting buckskin, a stagecoach came over a low hill from the west and the driver could be heard urging his team down the hill and into the ranch yard. When the coach pulled up, the horses were stamping and blowing from the run into the station. Then a cloud of dust blew past the coach and the tired team of horses.

 Jim heard Mr. Grey yell up to the coach driver, Hey, Hardy, how was your run? Hope ya didn’t have any trouble!

 Jim heard the coach driver respond, Hard pull up the Nogal as usual but no more trouble. Lucky it’s downhill from there. Team is beat like always.

 Jim Slade stepped into the saddle and rode out of Grey heading east, and some of the people at the stagecoach stop watched as he faded into the distance wondering who this tall stranger might be. Some of them were Southerners and realized the man they watched talking to Seaborne Grey was most likely a Yankee and wondered what the big man was asking of the ranch owner. Some of these people were still hurting and their feelings were raw after losing the recently ended war. They had left the South because of losing the war. Some other of these people always wondered where new people came from, especially a man who looked as capable as the tall stranger seemed to be. They noticed that he walked with an easy grace and the men noticed his movements might convey an air of command. A couple of men asked Seaborne Grey about the man, but the station owner was never one to talk or spread rumors so he said nothing. He merely shrugged his shoulders, Seems to be a capable man, and moved to help unhitch the tired team of mustangs from the coach that just arrived. They would be given water, feed, and rest in the corral while a new team of four mustangs was hitched to the arriving coach. People were climbing out of the coach that just arrived to stretch their legs and hopefully get a drink of water. All of them were covered with trail dust from the previous ride.

 To see strangers here was not common for them because the country around was not really opened up completely. Generally these were hard working people just trying to make a place to live peacefully in a land that could be harsh and unforgiving at times and build something from scratch. Many of these people were Southerners newly come themselves, and many would take a dim view of a Northerner, or Yankee, as many would call Jim Slade coming into the area looking for land.

 Seaborne Grey, on the other hand, just wanted good steady people to come to the area and settle.  

He had his ranch and stagecoach station, but he had procured some more land on the Nogal Mesa to keep it away from some hard cases that had come into the area. It was a big parcel on the Nogal Mesa that no one knew that he now owned.

 Jim Slade rode into the small village east of Grey, where he learned the town was called Las Placitas, Spanish for a small, quiet place. People stared at him as he rode into town, again as strangers were not common here as yet, but he was used to this behavior from his travels. He stopped in front of a large building that was clearly a new mercantile store with the words painted on the front of the building that read Murphy-Dolan Company and asked directions for finding a Homer Evans. He was told by a man sitting on a bench on the porch of the store which building down the road belonged to the land man.

 The man on the bench gave Jim’s retreating back a hard look when he realized the man who asked about the land man was a Yankee. The man was chewing tobacco and spit a stream of tobacco juice out onto the hard-packed road and grunted and spoke to no one in particular, That’s all we need in this country, another damned Yankee. Although he knew that there were a few of them around.

 As Jim rode from Grey, he thought and hoped that maybe this time his quest might be coming to an end. He decided that he was really tired of constantly riding and looking for the land that he wanted. He was ready to settle and build something that would last. When Jim stopped in front of the clapboard building, a smallish man with a somewhat receding hairline stepped out on the porch in front of the building and looked up at him. Jim asked if he knew a man named Evans. The man in front of him chuckled and acknowledged that he was indeed the Evans that Jim was looking for. Asking if Mr. Evans could give him a few minutes to talk, Jim was asked to come into Homer Evans’ office. Jim Slade had already noticed that most of the buildings in this small village were adobe. He had seen many of those when he stopped in Santa Fe some two weeks earlier.

When seated in front of a beat-up oak desk, Jim asked the question he had been asking all the way down from Denver, and thinking about since leaving Appomattox Court House. Is there any land available to buy in the area?

 With a shrewd look, the land man replied that there just might be. Homer Evans explained that he was now the agent for land that came back to the court for nonpayment of taxes that were due to the recently formed new county. Homer Evans also explained that the name Las Placitas would soon also be changed to Lincoln in a ceremony to match the name of the brand-new county. Homer Evans explained that the new county of Lincoln was approved just recently by the Territorial Legislature in Santa Fe. So the new county was going to be strict on nonpayment of current taxes due the county.

 Homer Evans explained that the old practice of claiming land and keeping it by force was a thing of the past in the territory. The new county of Lincoln would require a legal deed for the land owned within the county. Also the new county badly needed that money to operate, so anyone not paying their taxes on time was forfeiting their land to the county if they did not have a clear deed for that land they were holding. Evans went on to explain that a section of land amounting to a little over forty thousand acres just came back to the county after being foreclosed for nonpayment of the money due on the land and an unclear title to that land.

 Holding in his excitement, Jim asked if Mr. Evans would be able to show him the land that he was talking about. Homer Evans learned that Jim was originally from back East and thought to himself, What a wonderful chance this will be to get rid of what I consider a worthless piece of wasteland.

 Homer Evans considered the land of dry canyons, flats with no water, and cliffs as well as mountain land that could not be used for grazing cattle as not worth the money he would be asking in back taxes. He would receive some extra money from the county for doing the transaction. The area’s only saving grace might be the timber on top of the mountain and ridges, but again not any good for cattle grazing because of the lack of water on most of it and the steep terrain above.

 Homer Evans said that he would take Jim out to see the land. Homer decided this just might be a chance to get rid of a piece of land that nobody here wanted to buy because of who it belonged to before the county took it for the back taxes owed to the county. He might even make some money in the deal. It would take two days to ride through a pass to the northwest of Las Placitas to get into the area where the land was for sale. Homer Evans thought the trip might just be worth the effort if this man had any money.

 Jim tried to hold in his excitement that maybe, just maybe this would be the end of his long search for the ranch he long dreamed about having. Early the following morning, Jim and Homer Evans rode out of Las Placitas with Jim’s packhorse on a lead rope loaded with some supplies he bought at the Murphy-Dolan store trailing behind them. While in the store, he noticed a very beautiful young woman with long auburn hair. She almost seemed out of place when he saw her. Some of the townsmen learned where Homer was taking this newcomer and chuckled to themselves thinking that Homer Evans really found a fool this time. They also laughed when they saw Homer Evans on a horse because they knew that he wasn’t much of a rider. He rarely left town if he could keep from doing it. They all wondered if Homer Evans told this character about who owned the land before the new county took it back that he was trying to sell.

 Jim spent the night camped down along the Rio Bonito, which was a creek below the town. Jim was amazed when he thought of some of the fast-running streams in Colorado where he camped and then compared them to the Rio Bonito. After living and fighting back East and having been forced to cross many of the rivers there on ferries to get across the wide rivers, he chuckled as he looked at the Rio Bonito. He did realize that in a dry country that any water was important. He had been told that fact all the way down from Denver. The big ranchers were already settled on the good water. Now Jim was riding out to look at some land that he hoped would be just what he was searching for.

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As Jim and Homer Evans rode down out of the pass that led from the south side of the mountain, Jim’s breath was taken away when he saw the vista that spread away in the distance before him. They camped the previous night in what Homer Evans told Jim was called the gap by the local residents. Jim was very impressed with the variety of trees that he saw while they camped in the gap. They were also able to see deer and elk from their campsite. It was clear that the animals had not been hunted, for they were not skittish.

 On top of the mountain was ponderosa pine with juniper, pinõn, and cedar trees at the lower levels along the mountain.

 Homer told him about the pinõn nuts and Jim gathered some of them and enjoyed eating them. Homer Evans told Jim that often the Spanish collected and roasted the nuts to give them a different flavor. The land he saw from this vantage point toward the north as far as the eye could see. He saw the hills that he rode through to get to Grey to the west.. All Jim Slade could think when he looked at the vista that spread before him was what a big country he was able to see. Homer said the land available would be back toward the west when they rode out of the gap, along with the land they saw before them to the north, as well as some of it back to the east.

 Homer hated to say it but finally explained that the man who lost this land to back taxes was named Charlie Strong, but that he still owned a fairly sizable amount of land back to the northwest if he paid the taxes on that land. Homer Evans finally told Jim Slade the truth and explained that Charlie Strong was a quarrelsome man who was often difficult to get along with. He told Jim that Charlie Strong came into the country several years before the war from somewhere in the South or maybe Texas and laid claim to a large tract of land. Some deeded and some not.

 The land that Homer was going to show Jim Slade was not clearly titled land, but Charlie Strong had claimed it as part of his ranch. Homer Evans did not tell Jim that he would have to be careful of Charlie Strong and that the man could often be dangerous. Especially with the men that he had riding with him. people of Las Placitas considered Charlie Strong and his men as no more than a group of outlaws.

 He also did not want to tell Jim that Charlie Strong would not look kindly on this stranger, especially a Yankee such as Jim Slade, buying this land that he still considered to be his, even though he lost it to the new county and had no clear title for it in the first place. Charlie Strong had threatened Homer and told him that he better not do anything with the land because it still belonged to him. Everyone in the area knew that Charlie Strong came from somewhere in the South, but he was always so surly and mean that no one ever bothered to ask where he actually came from. Charlie Strong was a man that most wanted to avoid if they could manage doing so.

 When Jim and Homer reached the ranchland that was for sale, Jim was again amazed by the panorama that swept before him. They camped at a small water seep that came out of the cliff above. Jim immediately noticed that there was a large basin below the cliff that he thought must have once held a good flow of water long in the past. While looking at the cliff above, he saw where a spring may have been located and where the water ran down the rocks and into the basin in the distant past. The rocks below appeared to be wet and green with slime from the slow trickle of water. The rock along the face of the cliff displayed a different color, and there was a green appearance where the water had once flowed from above. Earlier in the afternoon, Jim and Homer rode out on the land to the north and Jim saw the different types of grasses that were growing on the flats, as Homer called the rolling land. Jim learned something about grazing on a cattle drive from Texas to Kansas that he made as a drover. He was sure that this