Learn more about Rio Pecos Compound: Book Six of The Clint Mason Series
Copyright William F. Martin. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 14.
Rio Pecos Compound was rapidly becoming a village. The Pueblo masons were building some beautiful buildings. The clay deposit had turned out to be excellent for adobe brick. The Pueblo ladies were preparing their first batch of pots for sale at the market square. They were so proud of what they had made that it was hard for them to maintain the low profile look that was their custom. To show too much pride would bring resentment from others. It was best that your good works spoke for you, with no bragging on yourself. The recognition for something well done was someone else’s choice.
The second well had been completed with good water flow. A pulley bucket and rope system had been built under a small covered area to draw the water. A second watering trough had been constructed for horses, sheep and cattle. The well was also the water source for the adobe work.
A set of corrals had been put up along with a shed anticipating the arrival of the Cruz family horses and cows. The first two families had left their wagon and tent homes to occupy the first two completed homes. Those two families had opened their doors to all the others that wanted to bunk in a real house. Both houses were full all the time. The Pueblo crew’s pace was to finish about one building a week now. The roofing systems were taking somewhat longer. More logs were ordered from the sawmill. Two of the Mexican guards were more than happy to take four days off for the ride through Santa Fe to the sawmill. Clint knew the young guns would ride straight to the sawmill, then to Santa Fe, spend their money and limp back home broke. It was a pattern that these young, energetic men could do over and over without regrets. In time, they may learn better, that is if they lived that long.
It was time for Clint to have a meeting with Sr. Bond to work out the spring or early summer sheep drive. He also needed some additional intelligence about the Apache area. If the Navajos were going to return to their homeland, Clint needed to find their best pathway. Clint sure hated to see the Navajos leave Rio Pecos. They had added a lot to the community. They had taught the Pueblos, Basque and Kansas settlers their arts of weaving and jewelry making. The Pueblos were showing their skills of pottery work and adobe brick building with everyone. The Basque shepherds had found some deposits of turquoise gems up on the high range and had brought down several large stones for the Navajos to inspect. The Navajos and Pueblos were now working some of the stone into their jewelry. They were guided by the Basque shepherds and went back up the mountain to locate more good rocks. It would take some work before the Navajos would know the quality of the stones.
The meeting with Sr. Bond covered a lot of items. The drive would try to start the first full moon in June. This would give Clint one month to reach the plateau just north of the Raton Pass. Bond’s herds should be at that point after they had joined the herd near Taos Pueblo. Sr. Bond has a planned meeting in Santa Fe with the sheep owner from up north of Las Vegas. Clint should join them the first weekend in November at the Western Plaza Hotel. They could jointly refine the dates and routes of travel. Sr. Bond had a small herd headed to the Durango mining camps right then. He should have a good report on the area and the Apache situation when his men returned.
Another area of interest was the need to find some top quality horses. Clint confided in Sr. Bond that he was breeding the best line of horses that he could. Clint had some superior horses by now, but would like to buy two or three additional top quality mares or stallions. Sr. Bond had seen some of Clint’s horses and confessed that his ranch stock did not reach the quality of Clint’s existing stock. However, he had heard that a large land grant holder south of Albuquerque, who was at least one day’s ride away, had brought such horses over from Europe years ago.
This ranch he spoke of was one of the original Spanish land grants given to a Spanish nobleman by the name of Perez. It was Sr. Bond’s understanding that this family still owned a lot of the original land grant. The horses were brought as gifts from the royal family in Spain as a payment for the Perez family’s contributions in settling the New Mexico Territory for Spain. The story was that these horses could out-run the other western horses. They were bred for strength and endurance. Sr. Bond had been at a horse race near Santa Fe several years ago when two of the Perez horses took every race. Those horses were so fast that after a few races none of the other horse owners would let their horses compete against them.
The word was that the Perez Ranch did not sell their horses because they wanted to keep this high quality horse line for themselves. But, the rumor also had it that some of the Indian tribes south of the Perez ranch had stolen some of the horses in the past. They in time had also developed some pretty good horses. Clint’s best chance of getting his hands on that breeding line might be through the southern Apache tribe. That particular tribe was difficult to deal with, but they did often run out of food during each winter. A small herd of sheep might do the trick for a trade for a few top quality horses. Sr. Bond told Clint that each winter a group of Spanish land grant holders would meet in Albuquerque to exchange information about politics and any pending threats to their grant holdings. This organization of those of Spanish ancestry had a paid, long-supported lobbyist in the U.S. capital and Mexico City to represent their interests. The next meeting was scheduled just before New Year’s Day. The Perez ranch usually had a representative at the meeting. So, Sr. Bond would inquire about the possibility that Clint could buy some horses directly from the Perez Ranch.
The last item was the trading for the sawmill work, lumber and logs. Sr. Bond had seen some of the Pecos blankets at the Santa Fe market square and had decided that he would like payment in blankets. His main ranch house could use a number of them for floor coverings and wall decorations. So, it was agreed that at the November meeting in the Santa Fe Western Plaza Hotel, Clint would bring a selection of Pecos blankets for Sr. Bond to pick through. In response, Sr. Bond would send four more wagon loads of lumber and roof posts to Rio Pecos immediately. He wanted plenty of established credit so he could pick a choice selection of blankets.
Clint headed back to Santa Fe for a few days of entertainment and the opportunity to make some money the fun way – gambling.
It took a good day to clean up his house and barn. Not the kind of pleasure he had come for, but it had to be done. A trip to the feed store and all the barn stalls were well stocked for a few months. Then he dressed down to his Mexican hide-trader look and hit the gaming tables. It must have been payday for the soldiers for they were throwing around shiny $20 gold pieces. The word around town was they had not been paid for six months. The payroll wagon in the late spring had been robbed by bandits up around the Raton Pass. The new payroll wagon had just arrived with a heavy guard unit. That explained why extra men were being sent to Santa Fe command to start building Fort Union.
The other piece of information from back east told of a political split between the northern and the southern states. So, these additional soldiers were being sent to defend the New Mexico Territory’s capital of Santa Fe if war broke out. It was rumored that a group of people in Texas had organized an army and might try to take Santa Fe if fighting broke out back east.
Clint was busy making some easy money from the hard drinking but reckless soldiers. He kept his winnings at a moderate level at each table and moved around between gambling houses over a two-day spree. He pulled in enough gold coins that he had to make three trips to his hideaway house in order to unload.
During Clint’s last day in Santa Fe before heading back to Rio Pecos, he made a hefty deposit of gold coins into his bank account. Mr. Jenson was always glad to receive these deposits. His bank was funding several builders in the region, thus he could use all the capital that his bank could attract.
Mr. Jenson had heard that Clint had purchased a rundown house on the lower side of town. If Clint was interested in more of those old houses, he knew several that the owners were desperate to cash out. In fact, the house right beside the one he had purchased was being foreclosed on by this bank. If Clint would pay the balance on a discounted loan which was less than $200, the bank would turn the building and lot over to Clint. The bank didn’t want to own and maintain any property. The house was in terrible shape, but the three-stall barn and lot space would be great for stabling horses. Clint knew the house and he agreed to the purchase. He had made many times over that much money in two days at the gambling tables. This double house, barn stalls and open lot would make an excellent station when he traveled, and also for storage. Clint spent a few hours with Mr. Jenson signing all the papers and seeing them recorded before he headed back to Rio Pecos.
When he pulled onto the little plateau overlooking Rio Pecos Compound, he was impressed with its progress. The new adobe buildings and the new footers were forming a mall area with the original adobe ranch house at one end and a water well building and community workshops at the other. In addition, all along the mall were new adobe buildings and even a few frame houses. The general store and trading post were arranged along one side as well as along the building that housed the school.
The Kansas carpenters had built several covered boardwalks in front of some of the buildings. He could see that the large stable and blacksmith shop had new living quarters attached along one side. Clint was impressed with the progress and the workers he could see were hard at the task. Clint could see six or maybe seven new foundations where some adobe block was being laid.
Clint’s method of making sure the materials were available, provide a general plan, then getting out of the way was producing unbelievable results. He wondered if the compound people realized how much they had created out of mud and lumber.
The new adobe buildings were almost identical to the style and workmanship of the original ranch house. Thus, Clint was sure that Juan Cruz’s ancestors had probably help build the ranch house.
Several people observed Clint’s return, so it wasn’t long before a group had gathered in front of his home. Juan Cruz said his group was ready to bring the rest of his clan to Rio Pecos if he could get some wagons, horses and guards. The Navajos had made quite a bit of jewelry out of the new gems and would like to make a trading trip to the market square. They too would like some protection for their trip. The Kansas school teachers would like to obtain more school supplies if Clint would fund such an expenditure. Finally, the head Mexican guard would like to escort the whole wagon train to Santa Fe and San Juan Pueblo with all his men. If he could give them some leave time in Santa Fe, they would really appreciate the break. The Basque group just wanted some basic supplies, but didn’t want to make the trip. They would stay at the compound to provide cover while everyone was away. The Basques knew that the Navajos and Pueblos were better traders than they were, so they were welcome to trade the Basques’ wool for their needed supplies.
Listening to all those plans, Clint could see that this community had worked everything out between themselves. All he had to do was to stay out of the way… and nothing would please him more.
The group was told about the two houses and the barns purchased in Santa Fe that were in need of major repairs. Clint’s plan was to have some of the men take turns working on these two houses and barns while they were in Santa Fe. The barns could store their trade stuff and would be a lot closer to the market square. Some of the traders could stay in the second house and keep watch on their supplies. Most everyone would still have to camp out at the traders’ campsite south of town. The in-town buildings would be a convenient storage and resting place for the traders during the day.
Within the week, the caravan was headed to Santa Fe. The Pueblo men were riding some of Clint’s freshly broken horses, so it could be a rough trip for them. Joe Black was sending three new wagons on this trip along with all the old wagons in top shape. The blacksmith was proud of his handiwork, but was staying behind. Santa Fe had not been kind to him in the past. He now had a comfortable new place, and people that appreciated his craft. Rio Pecos was his home.
On arriving at Santa Fe, most of the wagons were unloaded into the barn and house that Clint had just purchased. The three new wagons plus Juan Cruz’s wagons were sent out empty to San Juan Pueblo. Some of the Pueblo and Navajo women set up their trading stations at the market square. The Kansas carpenters and two of Juan’s men started repairing the run-down house and barn. The balance of wagons and tents were set up out at the traders’ camp.
Clint knew they were going to be stretched rather thin for protection. Three guards had gone with Juan to help move the Cruz clan to Rio Pecos. Given the two locations in Santa Fe, plus the market place, providing adequate protection was very difficult. Clint spent most of his time behind the scenes trying to spot any trouble that might be brewing.
Having the reputation that harm would quickly come to anyone who messed with Rio Pecos and its people probably helped, but there was always that risk that the spoils looked too good and a raid might be tried. Clint was spending most of his surveillance time watching over the pottery and jewelry traders. These trades were mostly in cash and a lot of money was changing hands. Besides, the jewelry was easy to carry and hide if stolen. Clint was also aware that most people wouldn’t associate the Pueblo and Navajo traders with the Rio Pecos Compound. Thus the reputation of that association may not work as well as planned.
Clint’s guess about the particular target that a robber might choose was right. The sudden attack came when two of the pueblo women along with one of the Kansas carpenters were walking from the market square back to the old house with a load of cash. The attack came quickly. Four men surrounded them, knocked them down and stripped them of all their bags. Clint was too far away to stop the beating, but he did get a good look at all four men and their horses. When he got to the fallen people, they were hurt, but not seriously. One woman had a big gash in the back of her head and it was bleeding. Clint went to the house for help. Once they were settled into a safe place, it was time for payback.
It didn’t take long for Clint to spot the horses at one of the saloon hitching rails across town. He slipped up and cut the saddle cinch on each horse so they could not ride off. Then he moved into the saloon to see what he was up against. The four men had joined two others at a table near the back door. They were enjoying the fruits of their evil deeds. Clint got a drink and moved close enough to hear part of the conversation. They were discussing the way they would spend their easy money. The top floor of this saloon had a lot of beautiful women that would entertain you for a fee, and they had enough money between them to stay for a day or two. It was agreed that two of them would walk all six horses down the block to the saloon’s stable, then rejoin their friends upstairs.
Clint eased himself out the saloon doors and worked his way down to the stable. As a serve yourself, this stable had no attendant. Clint was beginning to think the robbers might have changed their plans. It was almost an hour before the six horses were brought in and stalled. The two men were so intent on their task of retrieving some cash and jewelry out of their saddlebags that the first one dropped with a single blow on the head. The second was drawing his gun when Clint’s club put out his lights. The whole thing was over in a split-second, and all was quiet again. Clint then went through everything and collected the loot these two had with them.
Some of the jewelry was not the Rio Pecos type so it was probably taken from other traders. Clint wrapped the two bodies in canvas sheets and loaded them on their horses. He then mounted one of the horses that did not have the cinch cut and led all the other five out the back alley and out of town. He located a wash that was not too far off a well-traveled path. The two bodies were laid out, and then Clint cut their throats for effect. The horses were stripped and turned loose. Clint rode one horse bareback close to the saloon and then turned it loose. He had recovered almost the complete amount that had been taken from his people. He also knew who the remaining four were and would deal with them later. Now it was time to check on the health of his friends.
A lot of pain was lessened when they saw that most of their money and jewelry was recovered. No questions were asked as to how Clint had gotten their money, as he then headed back to the saloon and boarding house to see what the remaining four thieves were up to. To Clint’s surprise there was a lot of excitement about a shootout. It seemed that the four men had gone upstairs for a while, then one of them came down and went to the stable up the street. Shortly thereafter, word came back that they had been robbed by some of their own people. A big fight broke out near the stable and two of the four were shot. The sheriff had taken the other two to jail and would try to sort out their stories. One surviving shooter accused the other men of stealing his horse and money. The other survivor contended that someone else had stolen their horses and must have taken their two friends hostage. Clint listened for a while to the numerous possibilities that were flying around the saloon. Most of the customers thought that these six were all crooks and had gotten into a fight over money or women. No one seemed to care a lot.
To most of the people in the saloon, including the deputy sheriff, this was a fight among thieves. Business as usual would be the order of the day. Clint felt that his revenge was adequate. When the other bodies would be discovered, it would only add to the mystery and to the legend of a protective dark angel around Rio Pecos people. He would try to encourage that myth in a few comments here and there. A good myth or tale was so much easier to remember than any bits of the truth.
The next day saw the Cruz clan and all their wagons and cattle arrive at the traders’ camp. It was agreed to stay for a few days while all the trading was completed and everyone had had a chance to shop and relax in Santa Fe. The relaxing was mostly for the young people and especially some of the young Mexican guards. But this arrangement only lasted one day, because the Cruz family wanted to head out toward Rio Pecos. They had cattle and horses to herd and the families wanted to get to their new homes. Juan knew he had a lot of building to complete before winter weather arrived. Two of the guards had had enough of spending their money and agreed to go with the Cruz clan.
The Kansas carpenters said they needed at least four more days to finish the repairs on the old Santa Fe house and barn. They had moved into the building while the repairs were underway. This put them close to the market square so they could keep watch over the goods and supplies of the Pueblos and Navajos.
The Rio Pecos people were having very little trouble from the riff-raff and the thieves. The two bodies had been found out at the edge of town in an arroyo wash with their throats cut. The legend of a vigilant or dark angel protecting the Rio Pecos traders was circulating around the square and beyond.
The sheriff’s men and even the U.S. Marshal had come by to question the Rio Pecos Compound people as to what they knew about the killings.
The guards convinced Clint to stay in Santa Fe through the weekend. Then the entire caravan headed out to Rio Pecos. They were well-stocked for the coming bad weather and to complete the last of the houses for the Cruz families. The bigger buildings would be build next spring and summer. Some of the rock footers could be done during any weather breaks during the winter. Winters were fairly mild there with the exception of an occasional storm, but that never lasted more than a week or so.
The trip back to the compound was made especially enjoyable because of the successful results from the pottery and jewelry sales. The new clay had done wonders for the pottery makers. They had sold nearly everything at a good price. The new stones had been used in only a few pieces of jewelry which had sold at a little better than average price, but then the colors were new to a lot of the shoppers.