"Perhaps they'd settle for their names painted on a spot on the wall, frame it in so it's all pretty." Some men had egos that couldn't be sated, but Leah could make a gesture, even though there was bound to be an uproar.

He chuckled. "It might actually be worth it to do that, just to see the reaction. Especially at the opening and reveal. Can you imagine how appalled they would be to see that they don't have their names etched in brass, but they can't say anything about it in public?"

It would be worth suffering potential consequences to poke at the Council members just a bit!

"Agreed. Besides, the hospital is to benefit the people of the territory, not to boost egos. If they give us a plaque, we'll nail it to the wall, otherwise, just the name of the hospital itself."

And if they did relent and allow 'honored' names to be put on the wall, there was always going to be someone who thought that they deserved to have their name there, too, and cause spats...Jonah didn't understand the need to have accolades to everything a man did, and he surely didn't want any recognition for himself.

As for Leah, she did deserve to be remembered, yet she didn't want to be, at least in that way. Maybe, one day, he'd see about having her portrait hanged in the lobby, and face the consequences later! Or maybe...

"We should have a rose garden in front, something pretty and cheerful." And called after her, not that he'd mention that! "And if there is enough land, I suppose we could grow our own vegetables, too, save some money that way." So long as he wasn't the one to be expected to dig in the dirt!

"Why Jonah Danforth, a rose garden? I would never have expected that from you. But I do like the idea of a garden, and a vegetable garden as well. Now that really does make sense to grow our own. You know, I'll bet we could pay to have our own beef raised as well." She started, "Pay locals to raise the beef, pigs, chickens for us. Better than paying to have it shipped in, and it appears it will be a while before track is laid out this way, no matter what they say."

Jonah had started her thinking. For a while, it would not be a lot of beef or poultry, though chickens would be more in demand, they were smaller and would be used a bit more, she thought. "What do you think, Jonah?" There was already an idea floating around in her head about all of this.

"Well, chickens mean fresh eggs as well," Jonah pointed out with a smile, "I know that all too well!" He'd had to spend money to build a coop to house all the chickens he'd been 'paid' with! "And milk from cows, of course. I do think it's something we should look into once things are settled." 

There was enough to get taken care of before they needed to add this to the mix, but it was something to keep in mind. "Pike is getting that ranch going, maybe we can talk to him about supplying us?"

"Oh, Deputy Pike, that's right. I hadn't even thought about Deputy Pike. She said and then, "Where did they go? He and his lovely wife Emeline? She owns this cafe, right, I haven't seen either of them in sometime now."

"I agree, if we can arrange with farmers, like Aurelian Redmon, and ranchers like Mister Pike and Quentin Cantrell at the Lost Lake Ranch, and there is the sheep ranchers, there are so many we could deal with, except my father of course.

"We've got plenty of resources to draw from, and I think it would be easier anyway to deal with locals, as well as save on shipping costs." It was a given that they wouldn't do any business with her father. 

"I'm not exactly sure where the Pikes are, I heard they went through Portland to San Francisco, and then I believe Virginia City. If I'm not mistaken, Deputy Pike has stake in some mines up there."

That wasn't the sort of gamble that Jonah was interested in, but then, he didn't know anything about gold or silver mines, or copper, borax, whatever.

"Seems like hard, hot work, I suppose unless you are the owner."

Leah smiled. "He doesn't seem the type of man to do either. Though he may well have worked in a mine, I just don't see a man like him owning a mine, or mines somewhere and living in the boarding house, or above the Lickskillet. Makes no sense. But then, I've seen owners of of all manner of businesses, most don't wear two guns and a tin badge."

For the woman that they had called 'little rich girl,' that would be true. Yet she realized that odder men than Deputy Pike had owned successful ventures of all types, so perhaps it was not so queer after all. And if Mister Pike was, for all intents and purposes, a rich man, what could that mean for Kalispell? She voiced that very thought.

"If he is as well off as it sounds, then it is possible he may invest in this community that he was so willing to lay down his life for." She concluded. That was a real possibility.

"Yes, perhaps," Jonah agreed. "And with the house he's having built, cattle, horses, too, if I'm not mistaken, there must be some source to pay for it all." Some of it could be on a loan, but there still had to be a good deal of capital behind it.

"You are right, though, knowing Mrs. Blakesley...Pike, she'd be willing to help in the community. I've seen her give meals to folks who couldn't pay, she's very generous." To each his own, he supposed. "I'd wager they'd be particularly interested in assisting with the orphanage. It won't do any harm to ask, we can use any help we can get."