Wea: I will talk with Cameahwait before we leave. He may know a tribe who can show us a trail east. If he does, I will ask him to send smoke signals to ask for their help. He says that the most appreciated gifts would be knives. The guns would not be useful for long because they don't have the ability to make bullets.
Sacagawea township you mean Meriwether for we are honoring the little Shoshone squaw who put her life aside to guide us thru some of the harshest yet beautiful parts of this young and emerging nation with not a word of concern for her safety only others.. including her baby girl Pompy and husband Tous. Now I think I'll take a dip in the ocean too. I am so delited that you met your long lost brother Wea and that he posed no danger to us...............
Knives it is then Wea. How about some steel axes and a spare sabre I have? Town Sacagawea is fitting William, but let's see how things pan out on the return trip.
We will return Meriwether I give you my word. We are nearing the end of our adventure. Only several thousand acres still to be surveyed and mapped. As the new town is in honor of his sister, Cameahwai has offered to lend us 15 of his men to aid in the building of the town. We will leave 10 of our men here plus the five Frenchmen we located as Cpl Watson, who will oversee the preliminary construction, and four of his men, plus two of the Frenchies are carpenters by trade ....
Wea: so we leave Sacajawea in the good hands of our worthy friends and turn southward. We travel down the coastline where the going is easy. The Indians are peaceful and supply us with food in return for trinkets. As we go further south, the temperature becomes warmer. A few weeks later, an Indian offers us a pretty shiny rock in return for a knife. Gold! We have no use for it here but people back east might be interested in it. So we will take it back with us.
Gold! Now that'd get Jefferson's heart beating. Our citizen miners Watts and Adams are very excited about the find but claims must first be first ratified by our Federated Legal System of our United States, now having taken claim of these territories. However, to increase enthusiasm and morale of all in exploration and gathering of information for William's maps and my Log, I want to allow the men to spend some free times panning or digging for gold with William Surveying, my Log, all aided by Reed's fine hand, and local knowledge from friendly Indians.
Be blowed surveying I am panning for gold too Meriwether. Always wanted to be a prospector like my uncle. He found sufficient to live a comfortable life and not have to work himself to an early grave like his brother, my father....
So we allowed the men to pan for gold until they all had a small sack of gold. They will all be rich when we get back to Washington. Now we must get back to our duty. After stocking up on smoked salmon and other foods, we turn east. At first, the going is easy but soon we come to the Badlands. The temperature soars to over 100ยบ. There in no shade. The Indians have told us that the Giant Sequoia cactus have moisture in them. We eek out our water supplies by cutting them and capturing the moisture. The heat is almost unbearable but we struggle on.
We had best keep any eye out for the savage Dakota tribes. One of the Frenchman was telling me that two of his expedition were captured and scalped, with the war braves hanging their gruesome trophy from their hut's roof..
Just taking time out from our story my two best SoC friends to make a special wish. .. one for Shirley ..and an Aussie one for you Terry.
And a very merry Christmas from me too. I've really enjoyed our journeys together but have been quite busy lately. Sorry. Fixing a $60 air pump I trod on my expensive glasses totally wrecking them, I just paid $839 for two new identical pairs. It gets worse and much better in other ways health and money wise... We celebrate Christmas for the birth of Jesus, not to buy, buy, buy, ...I just send my grandkids $50 each for Xmas and birthdays. My youngest is trying to get pregnant too and plans to keep her surname like mine, and for her babies. God bless Craig and Shirley, Terry
Meanwhile, back in our story, our courageous explorers have survived savage attacks, sweltering heat, hunger, and thirst. And maybe a couple of rattlesnake bites. They are back in Washington and part of history. So, on to our next story............