John Calvin Teal

By John J. Law

The people of early nineteenth century America were a people in motion. Many moved to improve their financial or social status, for upward mobility was possible and even probably in the West. Others planned to begin life fresh in a new land with few restraints; where a man could become anything he was man enough to become; where children could grow strong and tall, free from the diseases of city slums; where women could safely walk the streets, day or night; where people were free to worship as their own personal convictions led them to. The freedom of religion was the most basic freedom of this new land. It was the cornerstone upon which everything else was built.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J.C. Hulsey Books
• Release date: Dec 8, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223372530

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

At the first sign of spring, the wagon train was set to pull out of Independence Missouri and head for Santa Fe, New Mexico on the trail that bore that name. It had been pioneered by William Becknell in 1821 and was a vital commercial and military highway. Many of the immigrants on the train planned to make their homes in or around Santa Fe.

This particular wagon train was made up of over two hundred immigrants from the eighteen eastern states and from nations all over Europe. They were carpenters, farmers, medical doctors, and preachers. They were family men, single men, old men and young men. They came with their wives, their children, their hopes, and their dreams.

The people of early nineteenth century America were a people in motion. Many moved to improve their financial or social status, for upward mobility was possible and even probably in the West. Others planned to begin life fresh in a new land with few restraints; where a man could become anything he was man enough to become; where children could grow strong and tall, free from the diseases of city slums; where women could safely walk the streets, day or night; where people were free to worship as their own personal convictions led them to. The freedom of religion was the most basic freedom of this new land. It was the cornerstone upon which everything else was built.

The western migration was an important force in the development of America. From the time the English settled along the banks of the James River in 1607, the setting sun had drawn them ever westward. A mass migration was under way, and neither man nor beast nor climate nor hunger nor even death could stop it. Though their pasts were very different, they shared a common present, for they looked beyond the man-made boundaries of their settlements to the unsettled regions of the west where only a divine act could hinder their march.

The advancement of civilization required a continuous supply of adventurous individuals willing to brave the unknown and, in many cases, what was worse - the known.

America had been founded and was being developed upon the belief that divine predestination was at work, and that it was their destiny to brave the elements, to tame the wilderness, and to settle the land from coast to coast. This was a people, a society, a culture, a dream in motion, taking with it both the good and the bad of the old world.

So it was in the spring of 1836 that Reverend Marcus Teal and his family left Independence, the ‘jumping off place’, and headed west.

There was a bite in the early spring air, for it was the middle of March and patches of snow still lay in shaded areas and a thin film of ice still covered the water in the wooden barrels that hung on the sides of the wagons.

Though most of the wagons on the train were ordinary farm wagons fitted with white canvas covers, many were the heavy Conestoga wagons. These were said to have originated with the German Mennonites of what was now Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Reverend Teal’s wagon was typical of this style, for it was pulled by a dozen oxen and would average as much as fifteen miles per day. As all Conestoga wagons, its floor curved upward to prevent the contents from tipping and shifting. It was eighteen feet long, eleven feet high, and four feet wide. During the week before the train left Independence, Reverend Teal and his two young sons had stuffed the seams with tar to protect them from leaking while crossing rivers on their westward journey.

Mrs. Teal had spent much of her time deciding what to take and what to leave behind, for Mr. Cartwright, the wagon master, had given strict orders that they were to trim their loads to no more than a thousand pounds, including the people, though most of them would walk the long, endless miles to what they hoped would be the land of promise.

One of the things Mrs. Teal insisted on keeping was a text book on the geography and history of the American southwest. Every evening before bed time, she would read to her children from the Bible, then from this book. If we’re going to live in the West, she was fond of saying, "we’ll not be ignorant of its geography and history, for that’s what makes it what it is.

Young Cal was fascinated by the history of the region, especially that of the area called New Mexico, for this was to be their new home. He learned that the name, Nuevo México, was first used by a seeker of gold mines named Francisco de Ibarra who explored far to the north of Mexico in 1563 and reported his findings as being in ‘a New Mexico’. Juan de Onate officially established the name when he was appointed the first governor of the province in 1598. The same year he founded the San Juan de los Caballeros colony, the first permanent European settlement in New Mexico.

One night, Beth, Cal’s fourteen year old sister, read aloud to him: Around 1608, the settlement of Santa Fe was established at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

That was a long time ago. said Cal, when Beth had finished reading.

That’s right. she said, And some day off in the future, this time that we’re living in, the settling of the West, will be in the history books too.

The next morning, Beth asked, Will we be leaving today Father? The sun was just lightening the horizon in the east, but the Teal family had been up for some time. Her father was not one to linger in bed when there was work to be done, and where Marcus Teal was, there was always work to be done.

The preacher prided himself on teaching his children, not only the Word of God, but a practical application of that Word to their own lives. He was especially fond of citing 2 Thessalonians 3:10, which says, If any man would not work, neither should he eat.

Yes Honey. responded her father kindly, as he began the long process of hitching up the dozen oxen that he hoped would take them all the way to the new lands of the west, We’ll be leaving as soon as we all get hitched up. The word came down after you children went to bed last night. Today is the day we’ve waited for!

Mary Teal was putting away the dishes from breakfast. They had belonged to her mother, and her mother before her. They were among the few things Mary had left from the old country. She had never seen Ireland, for she had been born in a cabin in the hills of Vermont. Now she was far west of her birthplace, and preparing to go still farther. She wondered what it would be like. She’d heard so many stories about the land and the Indians, and many of them contradicted each other. She knew that God would take care of them, and that their lives would be shaped by the land around them.

Then, as she often did, Mary reminded herself of the great opportunity awaiting them to minister to the countless souls that needed the preaching of God’s Word in this new land. Her husband was a preacher, a fiery preacher with the heart of an evangelist. Though he intended to build a church in a settlement, the desire of his heart was to ride from place to place to share the Gospel.

News for you Reverend. This from a man they had seen around camp who seemed to be an assistant to Mr. Cartwright.

Continuing his work of hitching up the oxen, Reverend Teal nodded to the messenger and said, I hope it’s good.

No Sir it’s not. said the other. "We’ve all been hearing about the ruckus going on down on the Mexican border, well we just got word that about two hundred of those Texicans made a stand in an old Spanish mission called Alamo, just outside of San Antonio de Bexar. They held out for thirteen days, but were finally overrun. It took just about the whole Mex army to do it, but they finally wiped it out. Let a few women and children go, then slaughtered the wounded. Bowie, Travis, they killed them all."

That’s bad news indeed. said the preacher meditatively. How many did the Mexicans lose?

They came with around fifteen hundred, but left over six hundred graves behind. That’s over a third! Those Texas boys sure made a good accounting of themselves.

Yes they did. said the parson, Thank you for the news.

Will we have to fight the Mexicans Pa? John Calvin Teal, named after the great seventeenth century French reformer, was tall and strong for his seven years. He was a lot of help to his father, especially in the caring for and handling of the oxen. From his earliest years, young Calvin, Cal for short, had shown a leaning toward the outdoors life and, to the utter dismay of his mother, a total lack of interest in the lessons she insisted on teaching him and Beth every day.

I don’t think so son. said Marcus Teal, They’re pretty far south of the route we’re taking. Then as an afterthought he added, But if we do, God will take care of us.

It was shortly after sunrise that the call came, Stretch out – ho!

With the call came the squeaking of harness, the rattling of wagons, and the beginning of the long westward trek that would take them over a thousand miles of seemingly endless prairie, flooded rivers, dry deserts, Indian attacks, and countless other heartaches and discouragements. Hardly a train made it through without leaving freshly dug graves along the way, having babies born to take their places, and seeing at least one couple joined in the bonds of holy matrimony.

The days grew long and hot. Immigrants and animals alike fell into the routine of the trail. The days and weeks passed, one much like the one before.

How much longer will it be till we get to the really high mountains Pa? asked Cal one evening as they unhitched the team and prepared to camp near a coulee or shallow ravine.

Every day, when they made camp, they ringed the wagons in tight, unhitched the mules and oxen and, sent them out to graze under the watchful eye of several of the men and older boys. It was Marcus’ turn to do guard duty on the livestock till midnight, at which time another team would relieve them.

I don’t know Son. he replied. Probably any day now.

Ready Marcus? This from the leader of the guard team that he was part of. John Worthington had been a neighbor of their’s back home and had been instrumental in getting Marcus Teal to take his family west. Worthington was a stalwart man of forty with a wife and five children. Two of his sons were old enough to do guard duty and were driving their stock ahead of their father.

In a second John. With that, Reverend Teal kissed his wife and Beth goodnight and said to young Cal, Gather up all the buffalo chips you can before dark Son, and take care of the family for me. I’ll be in about midnight.

Cal always felt proud when his father gave him such instruction, for it made him feel like he was trusted. His father knew that to teach responsibility was to give responsibility; that a person learned to be responsible through being given responsibility.

I will Pa. Good night.

As her husband drove their oxen out onto the prairie, Mary got the strangest feeling she had ever had. It wasn’t fear really, but it was close to it. It was almost like a premonition of some sort that this was going to be a life-changing night for the Teal family. As she watched her husband out of sight, she felt an unearthly dread for what lay ahead.

Darkness fell suddenly on the prairie, for when the sun went down, it was almost as if someone had blown out a light.

Worthington had spaced the men and boys out to encircle the mules and oxen, though the weary beasts had no desire to wander. The oxen went straight to the grass, while the mules looked for a dusty place to roll before settling down to graze hungrily on the deep prairie grass.

Cal lay awake in his blanket under the wagon. Ever since his father had first mentioned the prospect of going west, he had dreamed of what it would be like. His dreams of seeing the beauties of the West from the high wagon seat, had become mile after weary mile of walking alongside the big Conestoga and constantly searching for buffalo chips to throw in the sling hanging under the wagon for that purpose. His visions of sitting around a beautiful log fire at night had turned into the reality of huddling close to the burning buffalo chips to ward off the chilling cold of the early spring nights.

Yet he dreamed. Cal envisioned himself a teamster, an Indian fighter, a buffalo hunter, and finally a successful cattle rancher. But before he could be any of these, he had several years ahead of him. These years would be filled with watching and learning all he could from his father and other men. His father being a preacher was not conducive to Cal’s learning to be a rancher. He knew he would have to learn about cattle and horses from other sources.

It was with this in mind, that he crawled quietly out of his place under the wagon and, shivering from the cold, crept into the dark-shrouded prairie shortly before midnight. Young Cal didn’t pass up an opportunity to watch the men and older boys at work with the animals. It didn’t matter what they were doing, as long as they were with the animals, Cal figured there was something he could learn from them.

It was almost time for the guard to be relieved, so he only went close enough to watch the men. He knew that if he was caught out here, if he wasn’t shot by a skittish night guard, he would be severely punished by his father. The night was dark, as Cal eagerly eased into position about twenty yards from the nearest guard. He knew the chance of being seen was slim, for the sky was cloudy and there was no moon.

Suddenly, from between Cal and the guards, they came up from the ground with hair-raising screams, their faces painted hideous colors, and their arrows flying with all-to-perfect aim! No one seemed to have had any indication that it was about to happen. The shrill shrieks of the attackers joined with the wails and outcries of the