I was feeling a little pain, and was stiff but no worse for the wear, especially considering the alternative. Wells Fargo wanted to me check the wagons that traveled out of Silverton to the little mining towns, and I felt that Molly and the other ladies would be safe now that Bates was out of the way. Old Nickleson, the undertaker, said that he was planning on a section of the cemetery dedicated to me. Guess they call that graveyard humor.
The train ride to Silverton wasn’t bad, and they had a car where a person could go up and get sandwichs and coffee. Sure did miss not having a stove in the car and the coffee handy, but it was better than nothing. However, the car was still cold, so except for the one excursion I stayed bundled up. I didn’t even bother to get out when the train stopped to take on more water.
Wells Fargo had a room reserved for me at the Silverton Hotel. The plan was to stay there, and I could leave anything I needed to in that room and then travel with one of the wagons up through the mining areas and into the neighboring communities. It would be a rough trip, as there was still snow and the roads had not been worked on since the snow had been melting. The plan was to visit Howardsville on the way up and by-pass Eureka and make a stop there on the way back. We would spend the night in Animas Forks. All three of these mining camps were seemingly at peak production.
My job on this trip was just to ride along, see how the transfers were made, evaluate the guards, and to make small-talk with the driver and guards. Amazing what a person can learn about an operation with just some down-to-earth get-to-know-you talk. A person can learn attitudes, character, what they think about their jobs and employers, and the best places to eat where they keep the coffee strong and hot.
We were not planning on picking up much in the way of gold. The mines had been working with skeleton crews through the winter and the mills had not produced much, but in another week they would be moving toward full production again. Miners were coming up from Durango, the passes were open, and they were looking for jobs. That was another side-line to this trip; finding out who was hiring and how many.
It was a time when people were hired, and if they couldn’t do the job, got hurt, or did some thievery, they were fired or place in jail. Mining was hard work and dangerous and if a person was hurt, well, it was tough. There were actually very few attempts at robbing the mines; the ore was too heavy and still had to be milled. Most robberies was went to gold was shipped out of Silverton to Durango, or from Durango over to Denver. Even then there were few because it was so heavily guarded.
The road was washed out in places and it was slow going. There were a few times that we all had to get out and help push the wagon. Coming back wouldn’t be as bad, but the teamster had to be careful not to go too fast, he sure didn’t want to break a wheel.
We arrived near evening at Animas Forks. It was getting a mite chilly as the sun was dropping behind the mountains to the west. I dropped my stuff off at the Mercer Hotel. This was the first time I had been up this far and was surprised at the size of the camp. In fact, it was no camp; it was a small city. Mostly tents or store-front buildings, but things were being built to stay. I was staying at the Mercer, but there were two other hotels in town–the Kalamazoo and the Flagstaff, and they had a solid-built jail.
“Do you always carry that shot-gun around?” asked one of the guards as we were going off to eat.
I smiled, “It’s a comfort to have in my hands; sorta like holdin’ my wife’s hand.”
He snorted. “Ever had to use it?”
“Time or two, but usually it gets a person’s attention and I don’t have to worry ’bout pullin’ the trigger.”
He snorted again. I wondered what his problem was. It was a good meal; we had our choice of bear, elk, or mountain sheep. Not much on the side, a few shriveled up potatoes, and not even a piece of pie. The coffee wasn’t bad though.
I was getting ready to go in my room, when this feeling came on me. I kicked open the door…