Chapter III - The Street of San Marcos (Charlie & Ezekiel)

[Bluetongue]

'Sarge' Ezekiel

"Connected? Not directly. I came into the county on the heels of rustlers. Charlie there was in a posse organised by the Sheriff following horse thieves this side of the county lines.

Well, we got together to see if we can amicably settle another horse issue. You speak Tonkawa or Commanche? Need help translating?"

[Rex]

Charlie

Charlie moves up and looks everyone over to see what they are dealing with.

"Howdy, can we be of help?"

[jemmus]

A dog comes running up through the scattered trees and in front of one of the ranchers' horse. The rider is the rougher looking than the others, and he's carrying a shotgun rather than a rifle. The stops, eyes the Tonkawa dogs, lowers its head and growls a low but wicked growl. The pack answers with evil-sounding growls and some frenzied barking by the younger whelps. The old Tonkawa sergeant issues a sharp command and the pack quietens down, sits belly to dirt, ears up, and growls low, constant, bass range growls. The rough-looking rancher rider says to the dog, Heel, Caesar! Where ya been, anyway? Chasin tail?


The oldest of the men, a man with the bearing of someone who has been a military officer, or at least an employer of boss of rough cowboys, says, We heard about them rustlers. The Wiley boys from Stringtown stole the outa town men's horses and sold em to the rustlers. The outa town fellas somehow found em out on the prairie and shot em up. Makes ya wonder if they wasn't somehow connected to them horse rustlers. Then one of em led the deputy sheriff to the site and somebody shot em both dead.

In any event, I don't think we need any translatin. Tonkawas have been livin around here fer years, they speak good enough English to git by. They got a horse with the symptoms of anthrax. Yeah, y'all heard me right, anthrax. We gotta make sure they put their horses down and properly dispose of the carcasses. Tonkawas is dirt poor, it ain't somethin we want to have to do. But there ain't no way around it. That anthrax gits around to livestock around here, it'll mean the ruin a many a family. A whole generation a hard work and hard time, set back ta nothin in just a coupla weeks. And that's not to mention the people who would die of the disease. Yeah, it can go from a cow or horse to a yuman. Most often it's the old folks, expectin women, and little children who die of it.

Y'all seen the horse? Y'all and your horses been around it?

Behind them, the Charlie and Ezekiel hear the old Tonkawa man quietly but urgently speaking in the strange language to a group in the distance. The turn their heads and see older group of children dash toward the six healthy-looking horses at the far end of the corral.

Actions?

[Rex]

Charlie

Charlie doesn't react, hoping the cowboys are slow to react.

[Bluetongue]

'Sarge' Ezekiel

We gotta make sure they put their horses down and properly dispose of the carcasses. Tonkawas is dirt poor, it ain't somethin we want to have to do. But there ain't no way around it. That anthrax gits around to livestock around here, it'll mean the ruin a many a family.

"Problem may go deeper than you think. We can help each other out if we do this right and that must include the Tonkawa too."

How does he suggest killing the diseased horses and dealing with the bodies? I would like to make a suggestion. If these Wiley fella's are all dead, get some legal thing in motion to requisition the cabin, corral, etc to be set aside to use as the 'Anthrax Abattoir' (diseased horse knackers yards). Call it whatever. When horses are discovered diseased, they get taken there for disposal. "Shoot them and burn carcasses in a barn-oven"

by that I mean inside a barn or stone built place you dig a well or shaft that a horse is lowered in to using a sling pulley. Shaft is deep, 40'ft. Once there horse is shot. The wood or coal piled over, carcass burned. So deep, contaminated ashes have less chance to spread. Unless you got a deep, disused mine shaft to use for horse and cattle disposal?"

The next consideration is recompense for the Tonkawa and engaging them in the process. Losing horses threatens the tribe survivability and presently, these natives act as a s buffer to stop Commanche raids on outlying farms and settlements. You kill all Tonkawa diseased horses and not replaced them, eventually you will have a bigger issue to deal with.

It may be obvious the sick horse is diseased. The ranchers can take that as the first, I won't stop them but will insist in some recompense.

"What say we all work together. There are eight 'concerned' citizens here, you six and including Charlie and myself. We each pitch in a dollar piece, Chief gets paid for his sick horse and these kids get food and clothes."

There are a few more suggestions and ideas. Basically I want to look at some solutions and see how to investigate the issue beyond just forcibly rounding up suspected disease carriers and shooting them regardless.

Sarge Ezekiel: Stature (7) [1d20]=11

[jemmus]

Ezekiel says, Problem may go deeper than you think. We can help each other out if we do this right-- The rancher with the shotgun and the dog interjects, What the hell are them kids doin? He spurs his horse toward the corral and his dog barks and takes off sprinting beside it. Y'all kids stop right there! He fires his shotgun in the air at a gallop. The seated women who'd been chopping sticks look on with alarm. The boys running for the hobbled horses hesitate, uncertain what to do. The old Tonkawa yells to the kids,Kayog! Dawmmu meel! The boys stop. The other five ranchers briefly look at each other and gallop after the rancher and the dog.

The six rail-thin Tonkawa dogs bark start running to intercept the trespassing stranger dog. Or the dog, the horse, and the rider too. The old man yells at them, Kayog, nye'en! Kayog! But the dogs can't help themselves, their compulsion to act against the violent intruders overpowers their discipline and their obedience to the old male human. The rancher reins in his horse in alarm. Barking hysterically, the village dogs fall on the ranch dog, circling, lunging, biting and snapping. There's a loud yelp and a cacophony of vicious snarling and barking. The rancher's dog twists to bite a dog that has snapped its flank, and takes a bite on its right shoulder, followed rapidly by another on its neck, and another at the base of its tail. It and two village dogs go down in a rushing, tumbling, snarling ball, but in a blur are up on their feet, the four standing village dogs lunging to land bites on the intruder.

The rancher turns his horses head, quickly chambers a shotgun round, sites, and fires. A chunk of sod kicks up. The whirling, swirling, snarling, yelping combat combat continues at blink of the eye pace, the ranch dog furious and hateful and able to retaliate with some vicious bites, but with its eyes starting to show some fear at the desperateness of the situation. The five other ranchers rush up to the scene and stop their horses 15 feet out. One cocks his rifle and raises it to his eye, muzzle pointed at the chaotic fast moving fray.

[Rex]

Charlie

"I wouldn't bother wasting your ammo."

[Bluetongue]

'Sarge' Ezekiel

Spits in the dust. The ranchers are too impetuous. We could work between us to solve the Anthrax issue, help the Tonkawa prosper and use them to secure the border against Commanche raiders, rustlers and scout as auxillary Texas Rangers.

I want to intervene before the situation gets out of hand. The ranchers start chasing kids or shooting horses which escalates into the Tonkawa in despair, attacking the ranchers; now or later.

Sarge Ezekiel: Rifle (4) [1d20]=7

(17 Coordination)

I will shoot a dog. An indian one. Hopefully the others will scatter and peace can be restored.

Sarge Ezekiel: Stature (7) [1d20]=9

"Cook the dog. Good meat, let it not go to waste." he says to the women. "We neef check your herd Chief. Clear those not diseased. Sure these concerned ranchers will compensate for any loses."

[jemmus]

The mounted ranchers fire their rifles into the whirling, snarling, yelping dogfight. At Tonkawa dog yelps, tumbles, stands on three legs and limps away. Two others drop with loud yelps, as does the one shot by Ezekiel. The remaining three dogs turn and run, the Tonkawa dogs toward the village, the ranch dog behind is owner's horse. The man chambers a shell into his shotgun and finishes the limping, gravely wounded Tonkawa dog off.

Ezekiel says to the women, "Cook the dog. Good meat, let it not go to waste." he says to the women. The women don't make a move to approach the scene of the gunfire. But the two scouts Charlie and Ezekiel have no doubt about what the Tonkawa will be dining on today.

The ranchers ride up to the old Tonkawa man. The one who seems the one who tends to speak most for the independent ranchers says, We're sorry about yer dogs. We'll git ya some new ones. Another man says, I got a dog that's about to whelp. Good dog, full-blooded Catahoola Cur Dog. Them's good fer herding cattle, don't know if the half-blooded pups will be. I'll give ya four of em fer yer dogs we killed. The old man in the Army jacket and hat nods and says, That good. We.... He waves his hand back and forth between himself and the ranchers. ...Not have trouble cause of little dogs. He pauses. You come cause Tonkawa horse is sick. One horse.

Ezekiel says, "We need check your herd Chief. Clear those not diseased. Sure these concerned ranchers will compensate for any loses." The cattlemen are tight lipped and stone faced at the moment, none comments about that.

The old man says, Come to my lodge, we smoke and talk Wait for Tonkawa men come back. The ranchers exchange uneasy looks, as if the idea of entering the village and staying in a lodge for very long is something they don't especially relish. The spokesman rancher says, Chief. Ya have to put down that sick horse. And according to this fella U.S. Army scout, (he nods toward Ezekiel) ya got to burn the body. I've heard the same said, and it makes sense. Disease from a sick horse like can spread and kill horses and cattle. Wipe out entire herds in a matter a weeks.

Another cattleman speaks up. Chief, anthrax kills everthang. Dogs, cats, maybe chickens even. But the main thing is people. Old people, babies, expectin women are especially weak to it. Y'all are in danger of gittin wiped out yerselfs from anthrax. Ya gotta kill that horse, and all a them horses over there. And them two survivin dogs. And burn em all of em.

And a third rancher thinks and says, I suppose the county Cattleman's Association could git together for a day a cuttin and haulin dry wood and brush fer burnin. I could see about gittin everybody and their wagons together. The spokesman nods his agreement.

The old man hears all of this and says, We wait fer Tonkawa men come back. Before sundown. The men look at each other, and the spokesman holds his saddle horn, leans forward in the saddle, clears his throat and says, Well, chief, we don't have time fer that. Y'all don't have time fer that. That sick horse is droppin diseased horse sh*t and horse piss as we speak, right in yer village. He looks at the other mounted ranchers. They nod. All six ride to within 30 yards of the horse panting and heaving in the shade of the tree. Five rifles and a shotgun fire, and it drops to the ground, kicks once, twice, and lies still. The horses in the corral whinny, run around circling, shaking their heads, whites of their eyes showing. The ranchers chamber rounds into their weapons and ride over to within 20 yards of the corral fence. The old man, women, older kids, and little look on silently as they empty their firearms at the horses. The men immediately reload them. As is everyone's habit along the frontier. Then it's quiet as the cattlemen grimly sit their saddles in silence for a moment.

They one by one turn their horses' heads and ride back to the old Tonkawa man. The unspoken spokesman says, We're awful sorry we had that, Chief. I'd recommend that ya not eat that horse meat. Or that dog meat either. I know it's temptin, but who knows what might happen to ya.

The rancher who mentioned bringing firewood says, We'll bring wagons with fuel fer burning em tomorra. Might not be til past noon ar even past sundown. But you'll git the wood ya need.

For the first time, the old man's stone-faced expression breaks. It seems that he is pondering many things, about the present, the near future, and perhaps the farther on future.
He says, Good man says give us pups. You give us horses too? No colts, no old no-good horses. Horses to ride. Comanche know Tonkawa have no horses to fight or run, they happy. They kill us all, easy. And no burn horses or dogs. He adds, with some surprising ironic cynicism. No burn dead Tonkawa old people, babies, women with babies coming.

The mounted cattlemen again look at each other, then look down. This time, there is no one to speak for the collective group. The rancher firewood and wagons sits up in the saddle and says, The members of the county Cattleman's Association will discuss that. As soon as possible. Seems like y'all need-- firewood, and a lot a it. And protection from the Comanches by the U.S. Army. We'll see what we can do. The other ranchers look at the man with some surprise. It seems they'd never him take initiative before. He addresses Ezekiel and Charlie. Either a y'all hard-ridin lookin fellas got any ideas?

[jemmus]

Bump

[Bluetongue]

Sarge Ezekiel

Either a y'all tough hard-ridin' lookin fellas got any ideas?

Well it is a bit late ... since you actioned this ...

All six ride to within 30 yards of the horse panting and heaving in the shade of the tree. Five rifles and a shotgun fire, and it drops to the ground, kicks once, twice, and lies still. The horses in the corral whinny, run around circling, shaking their heads, whites of their eyes showing. The ranchers chamber rounds into their weapons and ride over to within 20 yards of the corral fence. The old man, women, older kids, and little look on silently as they empty their firearms at the horses.

Despite me suggesting this ...

I would like to make a suggestion. If these Wiley fella's are all dead, get some legal thing in motion to requisition the cabin, corral, etc to be set aside to use as the 'Anthrax Abattoir' (diseased horse knackers yards).

Call it whatever. When horses are discovered diseased, they get taken there for disposal. "Shoot them and burn carcasses in a barn-oven"

Just shooting the horses dead here goes totally against any management of the anthrax problem. Sure horses are dead. But now they bleed out on the Tribe's land where kids play and goats graze and folk live. You are contaminating this land quicker than waiting for a diseased horse to drop dead.

What you have to do now is:

Dig deep pit.

Put in dead horses.

Burn to ashes.

Cover pit with lime to seal in contaminated earth to eliminate ground seepage of potentially infected earth from spreading anthrax virus.

Relocate Tonkawa, they cannot live here anymore.

Compensate Tonkawa with replacement horses.


"You got any spades?" he infers that we will be digging lots of graves here. The horses, the Tonkawa and possibly the ranchers sooner or later.

My only suggestion is now to get some wagons, load dead horses upon them and complete my first thought.

Otherwise, it may kick off an ongoing Tonkawa vs Ranchers conflict and if that is the case I will ride on and leave them to it.

Sarge Ezekiel: Stature (7) [1d20]=3

[Rex]

Charlie

"Going to be risky business, handling infected horses, best to herd them away from here and kill them in a dry canyon or grotto with nothing around."

We as players have excellent info on the risks of anthrax available to look up, I am not sure the characters would have anywhere near the level of knowledge in the mid 1800's.

[jemmus]

To clarify, the ranchers shot the sick horse and the healthy-looking one.

The rancher with the shotgun and dog says, I don't reckon we got the time fer digging a hole for six horses. That would be a sizeable hole and hard to git very deep.
The rancher who mentioned Army protection says to the old man, Y'all start gatherin dry wood and brush. We'll be back by tomorra mornin with wagon full a firewood to burn them horses and dogs. He turns to the other ranchers. Can y'all spare some a yer cowhands choppin and haulin wood? Then to Ezekiel and Charlie. Either a y'all interested in some work this afternoon and tomorra mornin? Cuttin and haulin wood and burning them horses. Pay's a dollar fifty fer the job. 50 cents more than a cowboy makes for a full day's work.

[Bluetongue]

'Sarge' Ezekiel

Pay's a dollar fifty fer the job. 50 cents more than a cowboy makes for a full day's work.

It is a derisible offer. I thought my offer made sense. Taking the sick horses off-site to deal with them and in such a way that the Tonkawa work in agreement with it. But this shooting here and now is just foolish in my view. It will more likely ignite the Tonkawa into desperate measures.

"With respect Sir. You have made you bed, you lie in it."

I will leave the ranchers and Tonkawa to sort themselves out. I will ride back to San Marcos with a view to either take on any 'bounty hunting' if that is practical or ride on further to Austin.

The various occupations; train guard, Stagecoach driver might do for odd jobs but not a roleplay career. Lets see what the town brings.

[jemmus]

Stagecoach driver and shotgun man could work for two PCs. And it could insert Ezekiel and Charlie into the trouble with the Wells Fargo stage lines west of Austin.
Could be pretty dangerous though. Might require some strategic and tactical thinking.

Per the rulebook, civilian scouts for the U.S. Army earn $75 per month. That's as much a county sheriff or U.S. marshal. That would involve Indian fighting farther west on the frontier, of course. Also plenty dangerous. Charlie's half Comanche, so the Army would probably assign the scouts to a unit trying to find and wipe out one of the two Apache bands, who are the Comanches' enemies. Both PCs have Scouting and Indian Contact, so they might make kind of an ideal dream team fit.

The PCs know that Hays County has no lawmen at all now, with sheriff Behan shogunned-up and deputy Riney dead. San Marcos has the two policemen, but the county has no law enforcement at all. Hays County probably has plenty of action of its own, as we've seen.

There's the shooting contest in Austin coming up in a couple of days. It's been kind of hyped up, so the prize money might be decent. More on that in tomorrow's newspaper.

Charlie's response to the rancher's request or his action?

[Rex]

Charlie

"I agree with Mr. Sarge here, time for us to be a going."

I would prefer the bounty hunting but could live with the scouting or Hays county lawman.

[Bluetongue]

Ezekiel

Let's check out the scouting link.

[Rex]

Charlie

Scouting it is then.

[jemmus]

Charlie and Ezekiel both know about the Indians of Texas, their locations, and their politics. Map: https://www.unseenservant.us/forum/view ... 53#p619553The Comanche nomadic buffalo hunters are the masters of western Texas, eastern New Mexico territory, a lot of the Indian Territory, and parts of Colorado and Kansas. Map:https://www.unseenservant.us/forum/view ... 68#p670868 They are allied with the Kiowa, also nomadic buffalo hunters, in the Panhandle of northern Texas. Both tribes are intent on preventing Anglo settlers from driving farther west onto the bisons' range. Neither have made peace with the State of Texas or the U.S. government, and both are determined not to be resettled to reservations in the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). The U.S. Army is charged with making them do just that. Or if that's not possible, exterminating them.

The Comanche are feared for their sudden strikes settlers and U.S. Army details and patrols. And for the grisly slow deaths they inflict on male captives. Women and children are often taken captive, though, lead peaceful lives as wives and adopted children. And according to the Civil War hero and accomplished Indian fighter Gen. George Armstrong Custer, there are no better horsemen in North American than the Comanche.

The Lipan Apache were formerly also buffalo hunters in the same high plains areas as the Comanches and Kiowas, but those tribes drove them out of the area and to south. They now roam the semi-arid along both sides of Texas's Rio Grande River border with Mexico. But the Lipan Apache are far from defeated. They also have refused to comply with the U.S. government's quite difficult to enforce order that they report to a reservation in the Indian Territory. As such, the Lipan Apache fight simultaneous wars with the U.S. Army and the Comanche and Kiowa. And the Federales police force of Mexico as well. The bands can only survive by mobility, stealthy cunning, and striking fear and terror into the hearts of the enemy.

It is said that an Apache village can be in two places at once. The Indians say it's because of their reputation for having particularly astute and wise shamans. Whatever the reason, the U.S Army has worn out many men and horses trying to locate a band of camped or mobile Lipan Apache men, women, or children of the Lipan Apaches. And that the torture of an Apaches captive is terrible indeed. The worst there is, and unbelievable even to the other Indian nations. No captives, no matter the age or gender. Charlie once heard an old Comanche say, "The Apache do it because they're few. They want everyone to think an Apache is a crazy man or woman. They want to drive our young man away with fear of crazy Apache. It is a good strategy."

The Tejas of the piney woods of eastern Texas are a part of the "Caddo Confederation" with roots in Louisiana, Mississippi, and farther east. They live their own lives along the mosquito-thick areas along the Red River bordering Texas and Louisiana. They have treaty with the Comanche for harvesting buffalo in the west for skins, meat bladders, hooves, horns, etc. Nobody thinks to pay them any attention.

The story of the Tonkawa, Ezekiel and Charlie already know. They're few, and poor. There's something about making fatefully decisions during the war, and getting driven by the other tribes into a corner....

[jemmus]

According to latest newspaper journalist stories, the northern branch of the Lipan branch of the Apache just a little west of Fort Hudson