I've Got Two Guns, One For Each Of You!
Character: Elias Steelgrave
Posted November 3, 2018
It was getting on midday when Elias Steelegrave rode into the main street of Whitefish. He could well have taken a buggy, buckboard or been driven, but Elias still liked the feel of a good horse under him. He first looked to the hitch rail at the Silver Dollar, but Case's horse was not there, so the next stop would be the Marshals Office and sure enough, Cases chestnut stood three-legged at the rail. Elias turned in next to it and stepped down tying his gilded grey and stepping toward the door.
Stepping inside he saw Case behind the desk, reading the Police Gazette. "Son." He greeted, though Case had not bothered to look up when he entered.
Case looked up and set the paper down quickly. "Pa, there trouble?" He asked.
"Some." Then he went on, "Need you to get on to that lawyer fella, Ashworth. I want information on a Matthew Wentworth from the east. Son of a bitch bought the hotel in Kalispell and your sister don't like him. That's plenty good enough for me."
"He'll be back on this afternoons stage, I'll get him right on it." Case assured him, and he would. His sister was savvy. If she didn't like this man, there was bound to be a good reason. "And I take it there's something else?"
Elias smiled. "Indeed. John Caron's spread, well he needs a few less head of beef, and the family needs the land. Set your boys to it soon as you can."
I've Got Two Guns, One For Each Of You!
Character: Case Steelgrave
Posted November 16, 2018
Case smiled, yes the family could use the land and the livestock that was on it. This should be easy, Caron had few hands, none were gunmen and from previous surveillance, he only had one man on night herd. "It will be taken care of Pa, we'll drive the cattle to Lake Canyon like before. I'll have the boys get busy with the runnin' iron, Toole's real handy carving ears with our split crop." He laughed then. "Easy as eatin' pudding."
"No witnesses. Understand?" Elias stressed. "This has been pretty smooth, no need to get caught because we're greedy. Take what takable, if it isn't the who herd, don't force it. Get in, get out."
"Yes Pa, not going to be a problem. Not at all." Case assured his father.
"Good, and boy, you remember to see you mother, she worries some."
"I'll ride over once this job is done. I need to send a man, likely Ashworth over to Kalispell. New man over there that shapes up as a hard case. Need to see if he's ridin' for Thornton."
"If he is, maybe something needs to happen to him." Elias proposed.
"Rough country out that way, most anything could happen. I'll see to it."
Without another word, Elias Steelgrave walked out of the office, mounted his horse and rode out of Whitefish.
I've Got Two Guns, One For Each Of You!
Character: Case Steelgrave
Posted November 19, 2018
The door closed and Case Steelgrave sat a long moment. All of a sudden the McKenna spread was taking a backseat to what his father wanted. Perhaps demanded would be a better word for it, however, that was Elias Steelgrave, and that was the way he worked. So, when Sorroco and Slone got back with their information, things would change in a hurry.
He got up and walked to the stove to pour a cup of coffee. It wouldn't really be long before the Steelgraves controlled everything around Whitefish and then whatever plans his father had for Kalispell would be out and into action, and if there was one thing case knew, Elias Steelgrave had plans for Kalispell and very likely Shade Thornton and the Lost Lake Ranch.
I've Got Two Guns, One For Each Of You!
Character: Elias Steelgrave
Posted November 19, 2018
Elias Steelgrave all but strutted to his horse, he would be speeding up the timeline to evict the small ranchers. He'd take their cattle first, as he always did. Then, if necessary he'd burn them out. Killing was not out of the question for him. If they wouldn't leave, then there would be an accident, a fatal accident and his son had just then men to do it.
He stepped into leather and swung aboard the animal. A satisfying trip indeed. Another step in the plan for the Whitefish area was in motion. He touched a spur to the horse's flanks lifting him to a canter as he rode out of Whitefish, headed home to the Evergreen.
I've Got Two Guns, One For Each Of You!
Character: Case Steelgrave
Posted November 21, 2018
Case Steelgrave had his orders and the men that could get it done. he had made the plan know to four of his best men, and no one else. The four would not talk, that was how things worked. He managed to get the lawyer Ashworth headed for Kalispell to ferret out exactly who and what this Pike fellow was all about. A busy afternoon indeed. With his men out, he could relax perhaps with one of the girls at the Silver Dollar. There were others in town that he had his pick of, but he simply wasn't in the mood for any of them.
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A bit later as the sun began to sink the night raiders topped the ridge overlooking Joh Caron's herd. It was on the smallish side and had only one rider with the herd. His job, of course, was to ward off coyotes from taking down a calf and generally keeping the herd bedded down. He'd be on the lookout as well, but once the moon began to rise another rider would replace him. This night-hawk might be more experienced and more cautious about the two-legged coyotes that might be about. He would be mounted on what was lovingly called a 'night mare' because of it's sure-footedness in the dark, the ability to sense another animal in the dark.
But Steelgrave's riders would be patient and let the evening pass into the night and the change of riders. Let the man and animal settle in and then make their move. They would come in a rush to cut the herd whooping and hollering to start the cattle. One man, generally the best shot would be responsible for the night-hawk because he would open fire the instant it began.
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They came out of the dark four abreast guns drawn and making as much noise as possible. The night-hawk reined in and drew his pistol, but before he could get off a shot a bullet took him through the chest and in moments the four raiders were driving the cattle north of the Caron range.
They would make several cuts in different directions before driving the cattle in a sandy wash that would hide their tracks the rest of the way to the branch that would lead them to Lake Canyon holding ground where the brands would be changed and then allowed to graze for a few days before they were driven to evergreen range. Elias would already have a contrived bill of sale needing only a head count. When he felt he had enough, they would be driven out of the country and shipped east, at a tidy profit and John Caro? He was down a man and a good part of his heard.
Storyteller / Shared NPC
Posted November 30, 2018 | Written by Flip
Lake Canyon was long and deep. A wide green valley with good grass and water for the stock, some of which was the Steelgraves and some of which was not. The altered brands and forged bills of sale from out of the area covered what was going on to the unsuspecting eye.
Off of the main range was another of many offshoots, one they had dubbed Horsethief Canyon, and that was where the brand artist did his work before the rebranded cattle were returned to mingle in with the rest. A pretty smooth operation all in all. Not that the Steelgraves were the first to use it, hardly. It was first used as a hideout in the fifties and on and off for some twenty odd years by outlaws and the like. Of course, things change, the secret dies and the land is quiet again, that is until Case Steelgrave stumbled on it while hunting in the late seventies.
A cabin, water, most everything a man could want including game to be taken. However, his ideas for Lake Canyon were much much different. The graves of maybe a dozen men were there scattered in the hills. And then the idea of rustling came to him between time spent in Texas and Montana. It would take men, a certain kind of men, but Case Steelgrave knew a lot of the right men, some from Texas, some from Montana. So he began filling the Evergreen Ranch with cattle.