Range War Along the Pecos, by John Theron Crow

Range War Along the Pecos

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

 
Angus Murdoch set out for Wyoming in the early spring of 1844, his destination being the Wind River Range, in the northeastern corner. He'd been informed there would be a rendezvous near there at a place called Brown's Hole.
The "rendezvous" was when the mountain men got together to sell their plews (as they called their furs), and re-outfit for another year's trapping. Buyers from back east would travel out west and meet the mountain men at a designated area, bringing with them money for the furs along with supplies necessary for the mountain man's continued existence. Many of the Indians would also show up in order to trade and gamble.
The rendezvous usually began quietly enough, with the mountain men haggling over prices, attempting to obtain more for their plews, and pay less for supplies. However, after the mountain man had purchased whatever supplies he needed, he would then usually began a session of debauchery that would have made the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah blush. For as long as his money held out (what was left after buying his supplies), he would drink whiskey, gamble, fight, and fornicate with the Indian squaws who came to the rendezvous for just that purpose. It was not uncommon to see them shooting objects off of one another's heads, or participating in eating contests where either participant might consume several pounds of buffalo meat. When it was all over, the mountain man would head back into the mountains for another year until the next rendezvous, where the whole cycle would repeat itself.
Angus arrived in time for the rendezvous. It was every bit as uproarious as he had heard, yet there was an air of futility that seemed to pervade the atmosphere there. It seemed that by that time, most of the beaver had been trapped out, and to make matters worse, the fashion in the east was moving away from beaver felt in favor of silk. Murdoch had money though, enough for a couple of years at least, and was not overly concerned about beaver trapping. His desire was to live in the mountains for a while to test his own metal, and soak in the beauty and majesty of the great northwest.
At the rendezvous, he soon struck up with a mountain man by the name of Zach Baynes, a meeting that would profoundly impact his life from then on.. Baynes was an inch taller than Anguses six feet four, though considerably thinner. However, though somewhat wiry, the man was nonetheless tremendously powerful.
When Angus had first arrived, some of the mountain men decided to test the tenderfoot out and thus, initiated a brawl with him. Angus charged head on into all four, leaving a trial of broken bones and concussions in his wake. He'd had plenty of fights in the past, and had easily won them all, due to his enormous strength. Most of his fights had been against more than one opponent, owing to his size. Against the mountain men, he took a bit of a beating himself, and was amazed at the punishment these men could take, and at the fact that none of them would quit until they were out cold or totally incapacitated-- which was the condition in which he left them all that day.
Much to his surprise, the next morning, all four were up early, with their broken bones having been set by various Indian women. Each one of them then treated him as though he were his best friend, and roundly congratulated him for giving them a sound thrashing. They went right back to their business which at the moment, was to get as inebriated as humanly possible if not more so.
Word had rapidly spread around camp of Murdoch's victory over the mountain men, and many of them were ashamed that any of their number could be beaten by a tenderfoot, much less four of them at once. They complained to Zach Baynes, who was regarded far and wide as the strongest, toughest and meanest of the mountain men of that day, prodding at him to do something to restore the mountain men's reputation, namely, whip Angus Murdoch to within an inch of his life.
Baynes was only three years older than Murdoch, but had spent his life in the wilderness since the age of sixteen, and a good portion of it with the Indians, both Crow and Blackfeet. If there was any trick in fighting he didn't know, then it was virtually certain, that no one else did either. Although the dime novels and moving pictures of today would have one believe otherwise, it was a rare occurrence indeed when the white man bested the Indian in hand to hand combat. Baynes had learned their techniques, and learned them well. He cheerfully promised his compatriots that he'd thrash Murdoch within an inch of his life, and restore the mountain man's reputation.
The next day he approached Murdoch grinning and said, "Sorry tenderfoot, but I'm gunna have to whup yer tail fer ya."
Murdoch merely shrugged his shoulders and replied, "The job's your's, if you think you can get it done." and they went at it.
Murdoch was stunned to find in Baynes, an opponent nearly as strong as himself. Though Murdoch was the stronger, Baynes was faster and cannier. Kicks, punches and gouges seemed to come at Moose from everywhere and yet out of nowhere. The worst of it being a knee to the testicles early on which had nearly ended the fight for Murdoch who had thought he knew enough to prevent any man from striking him there. Murdoch did manage to hit him a few times, and those few times took a tremendous toll on Baynes. Nevertheless, after about ten minutes, Baynes knocked Murdoch cold with a flying kick to the head which slammed Murdoch's head hard against a tree-trunk. However, Baynes, flying kick notwithstanding, could scarcely regain his feet after Angus went out.
Murdoch regained consciousness only to find a squaw hovering over him attending to his wounds. No bones were broken, yet he felt as though he'd been run over by a team of mules. Baynes soon came in the tepee and sat down beside Murdoch. He informed him that Murdoch was the toughest man he'd ever met, and congratulated him. He said. "Brother, ya got whupped only cuz ya don't know the first thing about fightin'. But I'll give ya this, yer the strongest man I ever met, and thar ain't no quit in ya. Fact is, I heard tell ya come up here to learn how to be a mountain man. Wall, my pardner went under earlier this spring. Grizzly got em. I wasn't gonna get me another'n cuz I didn't think I could find me one as game as him. But I can see that with a little learnin', you'd be a right good man ta ride the river with. Ya want to tag along with me?"
"Hell yes!" Angus quickly replied. He'd already learned a lot about survival in the wilderness from his father and grandfather, but this was different terrain altogether, and it was an opportunity that was too good to pass up.
Baynes took Angus under his wing, teaching him how to fight and wrestle, read sign, and track, as well as things like the lay of the land and the trapping trade. In fact, it was Baynes that first gave Angus the moniker of "Moose."
Angus was an excellent pupil, and soon surpassed his teacher in almost every area. He learned to walk through brush without hardly making a sound. His agility soon even exceeded that of Baynes, despite Murdoch's bulk. In no time, he mastered all of Baynes maneuvers in hand to hand fighting and was able to best him almost easily, every time.
Over the next two years he came to know the land, Indians, and many other mountain men. He had several skirmishes with Indians, mainly Blackfeet, and Lakota, but became good friends with the Crow and Shoshone tribes. However, trapping was becoming poorer all the time, and Angus had a longing for home. He tried to persuade Baynes to come to Texas with him, but the mountain man declined. Baynes had told him that the mountains were in his blood, and even if the beaver played out completely, he planned to live out his days there.
They said their terse goodbyes, and after the rendezvous of 1846, Angus Murdoch returned to Texas. He'd been away from his parents for three years with no word whatsoever from either of them. Upon arrival at San Antonio, he discovered that his mother had died of yellow fever in 1845. His father, had become only somewhat successful at ranching, having rounded up only a small amount of the tough, rangy longhorn cattle. At that time, most of the lands south of San Antonio were owned by Mexican ranchers. However, that was soon to change.
In 1846, war broke out against Mexico, and Angus, now in his 21st year, like his father before him, joined up with the Texas Rangers. After Mexico's defeat (for all intents and purposes, 1847), Captain Leander McNelly, who had been a theology student, took charge of, and reorganized the Texas Rangers. After the Mexican war, the Rio Grande finally became the accepted boundary between Mexico and the United States. Nevertheless, many border related difficulties rose to the forefront.
In the lower Rio Grande Valley for instance, the river snaked across a delta-like landscape, continually readjusting its channel. Every time the river changed its course, so did the international boundary. Or did it? Nobody was certain, understandings and agreements were ambiguous. With surveyors unable define and mark the exact border, portions of the see-sawing river became no-man's land. Outlaws, particularly cattle rustlers and murderers, plagued those particular regions. Mexican bandits, uprooted Indians and revolutionaries made the river thickets and curves unsafe for travelers and area residents.
Captain McNelly's rangers were called upon to rid the area of these dangerous inhabitants. Angus Murdoch soon made a name for himself not only because of his enormous stature, but because of his unflinching courage in the face of fire and his ability with either a rifle or pistol. He was soon leading his own detachment of rangers even though only twenty-two years of age. Often, after hunting down and killing an outlaw or group of them, he would ride into the nearest town and unceremoniously dump their bodies into the town plaza as a warning to all who would defy the Texas Rangers.
He cut a terrifying figure, his huge six-foot four frame, carrying three Colt Walker Pistols, two in side holsters, and one tucked into his belt, along with a fierce Bowie knife sheathed on the outside of his right leg on his boot. He was not known to take prisoners, and rarely showed any mercy.
He had learned the use of a pistol from Zach Baynes before the war, even though Baynes himself didn't care for them and rarely used one. However, it was the Rangers who made the revolver famous and who were largely responsible for its rapid proliferation throughout the West.
At first, when fighting Comanches, the rangers had only their single shot rifles. The Comanches would feint, causing the Rangers to fire their weapons. Before the Rangers could reload however, the Comanches would begin their actual charge, discharging their arrows much faster than the Rangers were able to reload their single shot rifles. When Samuel Colt brought out his 34 caliber five shot Patterson revolver (named for Patterson New Jersey, the place of its manufacture), only the rangers seemed impressed by its enormous firepower and tremendous potential for mounted combat. In fact, in 1844, Samuel Walker and a handful of other rangers, defeated a band of eighty Comanches at Nueces Canyon. The Comanches, as per usual practice, faked a charge, and after the Rangers had discharged their rifles, charged in for real. This time however, they were in for an unpleasant surprise. The Rangers pulled their pistols and opened fire repeatedly. Those Comanches that survived, quickly panicked and fled.
During the war with Mexico, Samuel Walker set out to improve the weapon and he and Sam Colt made some significant modifications. They added a trigger guard, and added weight so that the weapon could be used as a club, then increased the firepower to 44 caliber and six shots. The Walker 44 gained recognition and fame during the Mexican war, and became Angus Murdoch's weapon of choice from then on. Even though Colt later streamlined its revolvers, making them lighter and easier to handle, Murdoch would not trade in his Walker Colts. To later gunfighters who needed to be able to pull their pistols quickly, such pistols were overly large and cumbersome (weighing nearly four and one-half pounds). But to a man of Murdoch's size, they fit perfectly.

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