They reached the base of the mountain trail somewhere around two that afternoon. They sat at the foot of Ishmael's Gate, and that was the trail to Kalispell, but for most of the afternoon, they had been on Lost Lake Ranch property. There would be no men riding the property line to worry about, not that Case was worried, but Lost Lake Cattle would be no where near there.
The idea of riding into town was not something that Case was interested in doing, instead, they could cross the corner of Lost Lake, pass by the Redmond farm on evergreen range to the Whitefish trail, if it was still called that, cross it and hightail it through whatever range was taken toward the hideout that awaited them.
Riding the way he wanted, would pretty much avoid any contact with anyone. Not just those he did not want to see, but being seen by anyone. It was possible, and for Case Steelgrave, and the men riding with him, the chance of riding through undetected would be very helpful to the actions they planned for the near and immediate future. It would mean, they were back in business!
Storyteller / Shared NPC
Now a body might just ride unnoticed by the route Case had laid out, slipping by the Redmond place would be a bit more difficult, especially with he and the others, fifteen men and horses tend to make some noise in their passing. there had been no objections, not that there ever seemed to be to a plan of Cases.
The problem with the route was up until that corner of the Redmond place it was all Lost Lake, slipping by the Redmond farm might be difficult, depending on how deep they rode on the Evergreen, where case may be unknown to any Evergreen riders, but is was possible, and with better than average odds. The plan was to follow Chogun Valley Road, almost to Harper Meadow, then ride north to the Redmond fence line, then northeast, past the small lake that sat on the property line of both the ranch and the farm, then due north again to the end of Redmond's fence and due east to the Whitefish trail.
He could deal with any Evergreen riders, if they saw any, which he doubted, by telling them who he was. Not something he wanted to have happen, not just yet. Redmond might see them, that too was possible, but what Redmond might or might not do was the unknown of his plan. So, they pushed on.
Storyteller / Shared NPC
Because they had not met up with Steelgrave and his bunch, or even crossed paths with them, Walt Shannon pulled the plug on hitting anymore banks, though there were several towns in their path. He had directions to Steelgrave's hideout and figured that was the best course to take.
They rode at a steady pace, one that would not raise eyebrows. Three men, now with a pack mule they had bought along the way. In fact, they had bought it with a pack tree, tent, spare canvas, some tools, and a couple spare canteens. This transformed them into miners, at least they now had the appearance of miners.
They rode past an Army fort, which they had no name for, or interest in, other than to realize there were soldiers there. They pushed on. Walt was all to aware that Case would not be stopping in Kalispell, which he reckoned was not to far ahead of them. But they could., and would. The hideout could wait, as it was another chance to eat food they didn't have to cook. A bath and maybe clean clothes, even if they needed to buy them first.
They would simply be drifters, miners by the look of them and the country was filled with them, and with any luck at all, they would just blend in.
Storyteller / Shared NPC
Far as it went, they saw no one as they followed the route Case led them on, They had made camp for the night in the rocks where the fire would be a bit more inconspicuous, visible, but not as easily. yet the question would remain, who would be out looking for anything in the dark. Better safe than sorry.
The next morning the pushed on to to what had once been called the North Trail, or the Kalispell trail until it reached the town, and then the Whitefish Trail, but since it's demise, it was likely the North Trail once again. But they would not take it north, they would cut cross country as they had so many times before, yet on this trip they noted new outfits, and several farms that had popped up since they had last been there.
But they pushed on, staying out of site when they could, riding easy. They would be far from these new outfits long before the day was through. But they were seeing new targets for rustling, along some of the older ones which would be revisited. It appeared that life would be good in the near future, and when Shannon and his boys showed up with whatever they had taken along the way, things would be richer!
Case Steelgrave smiled to himself, things were working out just the way he planned. Speed Guyer? He was working that out. He would have a plan in no time for the town Marshal.
Killing the town Marshal would be something that would require a plan that would not immediately shine the light of suspicion on him, if that was even possible. The feud between the two was not a long one, just since Guyer had humiliated him, jailed him and had him bound over for trial, but he had beat him in the courtroom, shown him who was the top man in Kalispell. Yes Kalispell, if thing broke right, he could be top dog in the town. He could be strutting the streets wearing the badge and running things his way.
His way, just like Whitefish had been, yes. The businesses that wanted to stay in business would pay for protection, his "Deputies" would see to that, and speaking of Deputies, Pike would need to be dealt with as well. But he could see it all, yes, he could run Kalispell, with an iron fist and there would be no one to stop him!
They cleared the ranches and barbed-wired homesteads, which would be among the first to go. The range was no place for sodbusters, and he would see to that. Tilling the soil, rolling under good graze that cattle needed, no, there was no place for farmers out here, so change would have to come to the prairie, as it were. Case Steelgrave change!
Storyteller / Shared NPC
They came into town slow and easy, looking the town over as most travelers would do. They rode past the Municipal Building, the Town Marshal was seated at his desk oblivious to the riders. Across the street several businesses and a hotel, but the saloon, the Stardust, and next to it, the Lickskillet Cafe. They pulled up and stepped down at the cafe, tying their horses.
Drinks might be good, but food they didn't have to cook, that took precedence to men who'd been on the trail for sometime, even though they ate cafe food in Rollins, but that was a while ago. There were no words of caution or care to be taken, they knew what they were about. First a meal, then a couple of drinks and some information on mining in the area and then, ride on. The word was, leave the bank alone. Case had been firm on that. So it would be.
They went to the door, opened it and stepped inside, removing their hats as they found a table and took seats to wait on the waitress, or whoever.
Continued in "New In Town."
In a way it was good to be back 'home', if that's what he could call it. Familiar territory, familiar people, familiar law. One might say that that was home. For Case Steelgrave it was about as close as he would get. Whitefish had been home, or the only home he had known as an adult. There was the Evergreen of course, but that was his fathers home. It had not been his since his teen years when he was away at school. He had hated it. Yet now, as a grown man, he was grateful for the education that had to be beat into him.
Too many people could not read or write, but that was his advantage. Numbers, words written and read, things many could not do, other than make their mark. One day he supposed all of that would change, as would the country. In the near future Montana Territory would be added to the United States and things would certainly change with the arrival of the Federal Government. But he had little to worry about, the new state would be a ling way off from changes that would threaten him.
True, the army was there, but then, they were all over the unsettled west trying to keep the peace with the Indians. But they could do very little as far as enforcing local and territorial laws, another advantage for him, and his lawless ways. The red man could be bartered with, the Army or the local law not so much, unless the local law was owned, that was not the case in Flathead County.
As the sun faded in the west, they arrived at the old hide out. It was deceptive as there was but a single building visible, in the notch, and behind the hills, were three other cabins, holding pens and a barn. Everything looked exactly the same as when they left. All that was necessary with to clean out the buildings of intruders and move in.
Storyteller / Shared NPC
I suppose you might call them Lieutenants, perhaps something else, but three men met with Case in the main cabin to discuss what they were going to do, and perhaps how. Toole, Dyer, and Sloane. Before them on the table was a hide that had a rough image of the Chogun Valley complete with not only Lost Lake and The Evergreen ranches but every piece land that was owned, from above White Fish Lake south to just above Somers and Big Fork. East through the pass and beyond the town of Coram, and west, well there just wasn't much cattle raising going on to the west. too mountainous, though there was grasslands, but getting a herd or herds there would be a difficult task as one would need to cross Lost Lake land to get out there.
"So," Case began, we get out and see who's who and where they are. We've plenty of men to get the job done. We need to see about fences, if there are any, what ranches there are and how big their herds are. We need to know who and where the sod busters are, Goddamned farmers!"
There was a time when may pa wanted to extend the reach of the Evergreen, I don't care a hoot about doin' that, I like bein' fancy free, able to move when we want or need to, free to come back when we please. That means we're free to hit who we want, when we want, including both Lost Lake and the Evergreen herds." Case now had far different ideas than he had had previously. The boy was not out for land, but for riches gained from others hard work, even his own fathers. Of course with his brothers all settled down he had little worries other than the Evergreen riders.
"Lost Lake, well boys that's just something we can do to put a burr under their saddle. Maybe even shoot up a few of their riders while running off some cows."
It was not uncommon that no one spoke while Case was laying out a plan of action, and what he was putting out was a lot to take in. "We'll call the boys together in the morning and start diving up the territory so we know which outfits are where and how big. Comprende?"There were murmurs of agreement. The three standing there looking at the hide liked what Case was planning.
"Question boss." Toole spoke up, About Kalispell and about Guyer."
"We leave it be for now. Guyer? Well, I want to think on that. Need a new man to drift into town and see what's what there. We need to see how things are being run these days." Case explained. "No sense gunnin' folks down, 'less we have to, I'm none too keen on startin' trouble down there, just yet."
"So here's what I want done, Slone, I want you to take some men, not a bunch, maybe one or two and start looking over who has what. Take your time, wait, no, you and one other. Take it east, Dyer, you and one more head south and try not to be seen as looking them over to heist their cattle. And Tool, you're too well known to be riding into town, so pick one no one would know and send him to just look it over, see what, if anything has changed down there.' Those were the orders being laid out.
The plan, see who had how many steers were on the range without regard to who owned them, that was unimportant. He was looking at going back to the same methods as before, cut out the herds, not take them all. That would insure that there would be other cattle to rustle in the future.
"But Toole, I saved the best job for you, I want you and whoever you want to take with you, to scout out the Evergreen and maybe, Lost Lake as well. Cattle's cattle, Lost Lake might be harder to move their steers, but not the Evergreen."Case directed. "You can make the call on Lost Lake, cuz drivin' their cows our way, might just be more trouble than it's worth."
There were a lot of "Yes Bosses" They knew the bigger picture, hit the herds cut out some, leave the rest then drive a good size herd north to Canada and sell then. Just like they had never left.
Sizing up what was available to rustle was the first thing to be done, and Case laid that out well, not knowing that his father was already sizing up Lost Lake's cattle situation. But Case realized, because of the way the land was, with its mountainous terrain, that might be more trouble than it would be worth, and he had said as much.
As far as outlawing was concerned, Case Steelgrave would be considered a good field general. He liked the risks to be as little as possible. To do what he wanted to do, he needed men, getting them killed, or putting them in harms way was not a good business practice, and it was a business. So they would scout out places, note the size of the herds, the number of men that they could see and so forth.
They would only be able to do their scouting once, because once they started, there would be no casual checking the other herds, as all of the ranchers and their hands would be armed and ready for any attempt on their cattle. This would be where men would find themselves in peril, no matter which side they rode for. Case was determined to risk as few men as possible for the most gain. It wouldn't be long now, and where was Shannon and his money?