The men on night herd, Travis, and all the other cowboys who slept light that night hit the trail a little sleepy-eyed the next August morning. The herd is rounded up and the Major leads as usual.

The next five days prove long and arduous. No sign of the riders on the hill and after a day or two, the cowboys can't do much more than shrug about Culebra and the Major.

The trail boss presses on a little longer each day, perhaps a full 2 miles extra by this, the 39th night. When asked at camp he simply says "Puts us in better position for the crossing."

As it happens, the Major and Rojas begin to relate some information about the river crossing at tonight's campfire. The Major says it is used by a number of cattlemen and Rojas chimes in that is a narrow section that doesn't require too much swimming. Relatively flat and open on both sides of the water, he adds. It is a known crossing and in fact, the same crossing taken by Randy and Cole in previous drives.

"Eat well. We cross the river in two mornings and we will need our strength in Indian Territory," says Rojas.

He laughs and fills himself a bowl of the stew he has put together. The meal provides a welcome change of pace--it is still in the Mexican's spicy repertoire but has a different flavor. He also doles out some dried apples.

So what should we expect in Indian Country?  Do we share a few heads so they'll let us past or is this just a bad idea in general?

Travis chuckles as he finishes the thought.  He looks to Meri...

What Tribe are we near.  I know it aint Apache country.

In reply to Travis Sunday (msg #966):

Smiling, Cole responds,...

We've made it through before, so bad idea or not, looks like we're fixin' to do it again.

Cole then gives Jack a friendly scratch behind the ears.

Pierre pipes up. "There are several tribes in the territory. Have you heard of the five civilized tribes?"

"Hey Pierre, we ain't had much troubles last couple of times we run this route with injunes.  You think they's any to worry about this time around?"  Randy takes his thumb and pushes the stew smear from his stubbly chin to his mouth.  He licks the appendage.

"Fact is, I figgur, we ain't had much troubles for a bit.  Maybe, we is due."

Just at that moment, Randy rears back and draws in a mighty amount of air.  With a fluid motion, and expulsion of the like, he sneezes loud enough to startle the remuda.  "A-choo, woo, woo," he wails involuntarily.  His plate flips off his lap and lands face down in the dirt.

The big boy looks absolutely devastated.  He examines the plate pensively before scooping it all back together.  Picking a chunk of meat with his finger, he pushes it into his mouth.  He frowns, but chews satisfactorily.

edit: sp
This message was last edited by the player at 03:33, Wed 27 Jan 2010.

Pierre seemed about to reply, then watched in amazement as Randy marinated his food in the Texas dirt and then resumed his chewing.

"I never said I thought there would be trouble. I was just answering Travis' question about the tribes. The five civilized tribes were moved to the territory years ago. Lezzsee if I can remember dem: Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole . . . eh, there is one other with a 'C' that I can never recall . . . ."

Chickasaw

Travis drinks his coffee and enjoys the company.

Pierre snaps his fingers and points at Travis. "That's the one."

In reply to Travis Sunday (msg #971):

Cole immediately perks up with a wishful look on his face...

Chicken? Did someone say chicken? Boy, I sure could use one of those right about now. Roasted, in fact...

Would be mighty nice...

On the 40th day out of San Antonio, the Major guides the herd toward the Red River. At one point during the day, the cowboys get a glimpse of the river from afar. There's no doubt that the No Buffalo Outfit will reach the river the next day.

After pressing on an extra mile or so today, the Major and the men at the point coax General Washington to turn slightly west and bring the herd to grazing. Cole and Randy recognize this area--it is a sort of natural way-station for cattle before the crossing, perhaps 2-3 miles from the water.

"We camp here and cross the river tomorrow morning," says the Major, to Cole and Quirley.

Soon the men are gathering at camp--leaving their horses with the remuda and preparing for supper.

-----------

OOC: I will be closing this forum soon and opening another one, but we can use the remaining messages for any further conversation on this 40th night before the No Buffalo Outfit leaves Texas.

Travis gets that itch in his back again and sleeps slightly apart from the others a nice defensive position with a good fields of view and fire.

Paraniod? He replies to Meri.

Maybe.  This is the sort of place I'd look for if I were on the shoot.

In reply to Travis Sunday (msg #975):

Feeling a bit restless, Cole decides to stretch his legs a bit and take a bit of a walk with Jake. Provided, of course, he does not have night herd duty. While walking about he decides to stop by the cowboy riding night herd to keep him company for a while.

He stays for about an hour or so, then heads back to camp to get some shut eye.

The night herd belongs to Meri and Miles tonight. Meri, who is on duty when Cole takes his stroll, welcomes the company; it's a slow night.

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg #977):

JEB sleeps soundly this night.

In reply to James E. Beauregard (msg #978):

OOC:  JEB wakes up dead.

The August sun makes itself known early the 41st morning out of San Antone. The cowboys round up the herd and the Major leads the way toward the Red River.

Rojas is still cleaning up after breakfast, as usual, when General Washington starts the herd moving. The chuck wagon will follow the beeves. And Major Gray instructs Randy and Silas to cross with the Remuda after the herd crosses--he says to choose a flank for the 2 or 3 miles to the river.

The Major, Quirley, Cole and General Washington reach the crossing and begin to funnel the beeves as on previous crossings. JEB on the right flank and Travis on the left move up to the south side of the river, as instructed by the Major, while the leaders cross with the front of the herd. Yellow and Meri are further back on the flanks, still funneling cattle toward the crossing. Meanhwile, the men at the drags are a ways back still, keeping the herd moving as usual.

Rojas and the chuck wagon are well behind the herd. Randy has slowed the Remuda and moved off to the flank, waiting.

As Cole and Quirley hold the point on the north side of the river, with the first hundred head already across, the Major joins them. He seems to be in a rush--in fact, he rides up up the slight slope waving his hat. Cole and Quirley look north and see a group of riders galloping toward the herd.
---------------

OOC: The following map is the starting point. State your first single action, roll initiative and make any related roll for action, if applicable. Despite what the map says, the scale is 60 ft per square. The chits are out of scale; made them larger than they should be for ease of use. Each chit assumes a rider and mount. If a chit is off the color portion of the map, it is off the map and will need to move to reach the map. For the men in the No Buffalo outfit, it should be easy to figure out, mostly, who is who based on the starting positions, but I will post a key for the NPCs soon.

http://www.doghouserules.net/d.../goin/red_river1.pdf

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg #980):


Cole pulls out his rifle and immediately looks towards the woods to the east to make sure there is no one coming from the flank. He also motions to the rider immediately to his south to look keep in eye out on those trees, as well. He shouts out:

MAKE SURE NO ONE IS COMING FROM THOSE WOODS, EITHER!

Provided he sees no one in the woods to the east, he then urges his mount to a full speed gallop across the front of the herd to confront the on-coming riders. He is careful to make sure he doesn't get too close to the lead cattle so as to not impede their forward progress.

Once on the other side of the herd, he keeps himself in between the riders and the herd but, for now, will not close the close the distance. He brings his rifle to the ready.

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg #980):

Noticing action at the head of the herd, JEB consults his field glasses to survey
thr situation and then spurs his horse to cross the river towards the Major.

Free Action: Take out field glasses and scan to the north of our position.

Move Action: Cross to the north side of the river towards Major Gray.

Combat Action: None.

Since Randy is far out of position with the remuda and Silas, he's not yet able to take any actions.

Free Action: This is not good.  We're all spread out.

Move Action: Cross the river at best speed

Combat Action: Hold

Travis Sunday rolled 21 using 1d20+10. Initiative.

Major Gray continues his ride through the cattle toward the point. Quirley spurs Clementine, riding along the left flank. Cole yells out to his companions, scanning the woods to the east and then turning back to find the riders appreciably closer. General Washington leads the other beeves just past Cole's position but he instinctively slows when the riders approach.

In fact, it appears as if these riders--yelling unintelligible cries as their horses gallop--are attempting to make a pass across the front of the herd, heading southeast.

Jack and Travis raise their ears and end their olfactory tour of the south river bank. Hearing his master, Jack runs and leaps into the water. Travis follows.

Travis Sunday spurs Horse and forces his way amidst the beeves into the line of the crossing. JEB takes out his fields glasses but realizes he'll see nothing of value without time to study, so instead he urges Diablo toward the water, edging in amongst the cattle preparing to cross.

Seeing their companions on the flanks moving forward, Meri and Yellow also edge north, but continue their task of funneling the beeves toward the crossing. Yellow waves his hat, trying to get the attention of the men at the drags.
--------------------------

OOC: General Washington will have a chit to represent the lead of the herd in the next map. As above, he is about 60 feet farther north than Cole and Major.

http://www.doghouserules.net/d.../goin/red_river2.pdf

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg #985):

Free Action: Remove the Spencer rifle from its scabbard.

Move Action: Cross the river on horseback, holding his rifle aloft with one hand and the reins with the other.

Combat Action: None.

19:48, Today: Randy Oldman rolled 9 using 1d20+2. Initiative.

OOC: No actions yet.

Moving to Chapter 4
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:27, Tue 02 Feb 2010.