Kate Mulhall A romance of the Oregon Trail
farther than he had attempted heretofore.
"Do you believe, mother, if you were to go out on {194} the Trail you
could identify the spot where father was killed?" he asked rather
hesitatingly.
"I know I could--the river crossing, the low bluff and the narrow
strip of valley are all there. I can see them in my mind as plain as
the day it occurred."
"But there are probably several crossings now; how could you identify
the particular one?"
"It was where the Trail crossed and was worn two or three feet deep
on both banks of the river; Ben, I have seen where it was worn down
ten feet deep. Yes, I could find the crossing, and even the spot
where your father was buried."
"Mother, I have long wanted to go, find the grave and put a monument
on the spot."
There was a long silence during which both seemed to be pondering the
subject. The mother spoke first, "Kate has several times written
that she would like to visit her mother's grave and wants me to go
along; but that is nearly a thousand miles, I should judge, beyond
where your father was buried."
As had been the case before, the conversation ended without reaching
any conclusion. Years passed, and from one cause or another, the
journey to visit the grave of Benjamin Hardy, away out on the
sage-brush plains, was not undertaken.
Finally, when the Pelton family and Aunt Sarah were about ready to
make the long-anticipated trip to the grave of Catherine Mulhall near
the summit of the Rocky Mountains, and sent an invitation to Linda to
join the party, she had to sorrowfully decline. {195} For some time
her health had not been good; in fact, she had become a prematurely
broken-down woman without any apparent cause, unless it was the
silent grief gnawing so many years at her heart.
She was never able to revisit the scene of the tragedy where the
young husband whom she adored had been ruthlessly slain by the
bloodthirsty savages; but could not forget the cruel blow fate had
dealt her, and often thought how the bright prospects and hopes of
her young life had been so irretrievably shattered. Though absent in
the flesh, her spirit was ever hovering over the grave by the river.
Isaac Pelton enjoyed doing things, and from the day when he selected
a tract for his home until the final call, he was a busy man. He had
a worthy helpmate in Kate, mistress of the household, who was as busy
in the cabin as he was in the field. After the birth of their eldest
child, a new purpose in life--a bond of union bringing higher aims
and ambitions--opened before them; both enjoyed excellent health and
were supremely happy and contented.
Their thoughts centered on the baby--Isaac Pelton, Jr., and heir to
their estate. Both lovingly watched his growth from day to day and
were well repaid, for the boy grew rapidly in health and vigor
inherited from his parents and aided by the healthful climate and
nourishing food of the frontier farm.
It was before the time of the transcontinental railroads, and the
markets of the world had not yet {196} been opened to that region by
the steamship lines that came later; so the country developed slowly.
The mails were tardy in reaching them, but the few letters were as
welcome and interesting as if delivered the day before or even a
fortnight earlier; and the current literature of the day supplied by
the newspapers of the period, was abundant and furnished subjects for
serious thought. When the steamers were delayed by storms or
accidents, sometimes missing connections that made letters and
newspapers two or three weeks late, plenty of topics were open for
study that had only a passing reading before.
The newspapers occupied the field later taken by the conservative
magazines; the common practice of re-reading articles developed
topics for speculative thinking and deep study as interesting and
often more instructive than when fresh from the mails with only a
light reading. Neither Isaac nor Kate had received more than a
common school education, which was all that was expected in their
childhood days. Little did they realize how they had acquired a
"higher education" in the broad and thorough school of active life;
but such was the accomplished fact with many pioneers of their day.
Pelton never tired of taking their little boy on his knee, and
reading aloud while the mother plied the needle on their garments, or
knitted evenings for companionship as well as to provide them with
comfortable clothing. Another stranger came into their {197}
household; and to the great joy of the mother, it was a girl. "Now
we're even," said Kate; "and let us call the little one Catherine."
She never forgot the grave high upon the mountains, the scene of the
burial of her mother Catherine, or the planting of the little tree
upon it; and always cherished loving thoughts of her. Sarah, one of
the twin sisters, often talked to Kate about it and recalled Craig's
well remembered words, "I'll mark your mother's grave so you can find
it the longest day you live," which had sunk deep into her heart and
kept alive the desire to revisit the sacred spot.
Time passed and another child--a boy--came; Isaac said the name
should be Adam to perpetuate the memory of his own father, Adam
Pelton. Next a girl was born to them; and Kate selected the name
Sarah, after her sister who faithfully administered to the wants of
father David Mulhall to the last days of his life.
There were now in the Pelton household two boys and two girls, each
in time to share in the intense love of their parents, and receive as
much care and attention as the first-born. It was in every respect
an ideal family, held in high esteem by all who dwelt in the
neighborhood.
Isaac and Kate had long wanted the Squire to come and share the
comforts and joys of their household; but he was reluctant to give up
his own home, and hesitated until the unexpected call came. "He
{198} just went to sleep," said Sarah, who watched by his bedside,
and died without a struggle, beloved by his children, respected by
all who knew him, honored by his business associates and the church
to which he belonged. Sarah, who had never married, soon left the
village homestead to live with her sister Kate, and was a welcome
addition to the Pelton household.
As time passed, Sarah's thoughts would revert to her mother's grave,
and the words of Douglas Craig kept echoing in her ears. Even in her
dreams the fond hope of revisiting that well-remembered spot kept
recurring, and strengthening the resolution that some day and somehow
she would realize the hope of making the long journey to where the
little pine was planted and the grave marked by a wagon-tire.
Isaac Pelton, Jr. was a precocious child, and in his father's mind
was destined to be a distinguished citizen of the Republic. He did
come to honorable manhood, married early and made business
connections that called him to a foreign land; but died in middle
age, without returning to America.
His sister Catherine married young, raised a family of six children
and following in her mother's footsteps, filled an honored place in
the community. While experiencing more of the hardships of pioneer
or rather frontier life, she was uncomplaining and happy. Adam and
Sarah, both unmarried, remained at home with their parents, Isaac and
Kate--now "the old folks."
{199}
During the lapse of years, while the events recorded in this volume
were passing, a great change had taken place in nearly all the
world's affairs. From a retrospective view, the transformation in
the facilities and conveniences of life and habits of the people, the
advances in the arts and sciences, and growth of religion and
political freedom in the period from the burial of Catherine Mulhall
on the high mountains, to the arrival of the pilgrimage at her grave,
was greater than in the preceding thousand years.
Within that time, a great Civil War had been fought and the Union
preserved; slavery had been abolished in name, and finally in fact.
After the Emancipation Proclamation, no one could any longer place
men, women and children on the auction block like cattle, sheep or
any other chattel. This was but one step in the great drama of which
it was a part, though the United States had become known throughout
the world as the land of the free, which it was in comparison with
the majority of other countries.
Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, had been assassinated, but his noble
acts and the cruel manner of his death had enshrined him in the
hearts of the liberty-loving people of the world. Religious progress
was no less pronounced than political, though not by legal
enactments. In the beginning of the period here recorded, many
orthodox ministers taught that all who did not believe in the tenets
of their church were doomed to everlasting punishment {200} in a lake
of fire, portraying a God of vengeance, not of love--driving people
into the church through fear and not from motives of righteousness.
A great step forward was the establishment of a uniform common school
system, soon to become free; though crude at the beginning, it
contained the germ of the educational development prevailing at the
end of the period. The marvelous progress in the arts and sciences
is beyond question the most far-reaching of all, medical discovery
increasing the average span of life from thirty-four to forty-five
years by conquering the plagues or epidemics, preventing the spread
of violent diseases and reducing infant mortality in amazing
proportions.
Applications of electricity for power and light have advanced
civilization in many ways; but we are too near to that era to see it
in correct perspective. The discovery and rapid improvement of
internal combustion motors brought the automobile to the state of a
practical vehicle during the period just before the long-anticipated
trip to the grave.
Sarah Mulhall, who never forgot the words of Douglas Craig spoken to
her when in deep grief beside the freshly made grave of her mother,
the little tree, the rose bush and the flowers planted there, or the
inscribed half buried wagon-tire, assured her sister Kate--Mrs.
Pelton--that she could locate the spot. The North Star, the rift in
the mountains and the marks on the trail would be her guides to it.
She was possessed of a competence, more than needed for {201} comfort
during a long life; and was willing to expend any necessary amount to
reach the sacred spot and erect a monument to the memory of their
mother.
* * * * * * * * *
About this time an elderly man who had been among the pioneers of
1852, drove slowly over the old Trail, erecting monuments as he
progressed to preserve its identity, and to perpetuate the memory of
the unknown dead along the way. Upon completion of the Oregon Short
Line R.R., paralleling much of it, the original track had been
abandoned in some places, and became known to many as the "lost
trail." A national interest had been aroused, and two or three of
the States through which it passes had taken measures to aid the
elderly man's work.
Isaac Pelton and Kate often contemplated the possibility of visiting
the grave of her mother, and like Sarah, planned to do so. But while
their family was being raised, and afterward when the children were
attending school, circumstances always seemed to postpone the trip.
Besides, Sarah could not leave her father who wanted very much to go
with them, but was prevented by the hand of time on his shoulders.
If the automobile had come twenty years earlier, the Squire and Sarah
could and would have done so; but the long journey with an ox-team,
or even with a horse and carriage was thought too much for his
strength, and he died without undertaking it.
Adam Pelton, the second son, was of an {202} adventurous nature and