When the wife seemed anxious and trailed off, Lee Mak-san asked.
“Do you know which tribe those Indians were from?”
“If it’s around here, it must be the Navajo.”
Yi Mak-san nodded at his wife’s words.
The Navajo are the most powerful, wealthy, and adaptable of all American Indians.
Lee Mak-san continued speaking.
“This attack must have been impulsive. Someone must have incited them after seeing that the carriage had stopped. But it failed, and fortunately, no one was killed, so wouldn’t it just be overlooked?”
‘I’m not originally like this.’
If it were Jo Yoo-gang in his previous life, he would never have spoken so nitpickily.
But now is the time to get closer to them.
I had to instill trust and faith.
But my son asked if it was a little too hot.
“Is that all there is to it?”
“First of all, the Indians who attacked were young. They must have acted on their own in the heat of youth, so they must have wanted to hide their failure.”
“You speak as if you saw it.”
‘I saw it. In the book.’
The Indians had been fighting wars for hundreds of years, so the older they were, the more they knew the white man’s habits.
That a clumsy raid will have after effects long afterward. Even if it fails, the raid must be planned carefully and covertly.
It doesn’t matter even if the book is wrong.
If it’s a foolish rascal who raises dust and attacks from the plains, wouldn’t it be safe to say that?
James, who was driving the carriage, looked at Mt. Imak with curious eyes. It was for the same reason that he had chosen to rest here.
‘What an interesting Oriental.’
The hastily made Molotov cocktail and his calm demeanor while fighting the Indians were quite impressive.
The group decided to spend the night next to a large rock.
James, who had just gotten out of the carriage, extended his hand to Max.
“James Harris.”
‘My name is···’
A new name was needed that was neither Cho Yoo-gang nor Imak-san. If it was to take root in America, it needed a name that was easy to pronounce and remember.
So, the name was born by honoring Mt. Imak and adding the surname from the previous life.
“Max Joe. I’m from Joseon.”
“Nice to meet you, Max. But Joseon?”
‘Of course this is the first time you’ve heard of it.’
At this time, more than ten thousand Qing people came to California due to the gold rush.
At the time, most Asians were thought of as Chinese or Indian.
“Joseon and China are completely different countries. Like England and France.”
“Hmm. Anyway, thank you for what happened earlier.”
James shook hands with Max and introduced his family with a smile.
“This is my wife Mary and her son Cornel.”
“Thanks for the oil earlier, Cornel.”
“It’s nothing more than that.”
Cornel rubbed his nose and giggled.
“By the way, I’m curious about your outfit.”
It is a word that contains many implications.
For the sake of their future relationship, Max explained the situation to avoid any misunderstandings.
The James family listened with interest to the story of how they came to be here from the distant land of Joseon.
“I almost ended up as a slave on a southern plantation.”
“I’m not good at picking cotton.”
Cornel giggled at Max’s words, and when Mary noticed, he covered his mouth with his hand.
Although no one in the family asked him to join, Max naturally fit in with the white family.
It is an undeniable fact that the ruling class in the United States is white. I was able to get close to them faster than I thought.
‘It’s all thanks to the Indians.’
James used the wagon as a fence to make a campsite. There was a hollow rock behind it that seemed like a good place to sleep.
While making various preparations, Max obtained some small information through conversations with them.
We could tell that they were Irish immigrants, had been in California until recently, and were currently in Utah.
Utah has a variety of climates, from desert to tundra. It was quite chilly in September, and the daily temperature difference was so great that the temperature dropped sharply at night.
Knock, knock.
James lit a fire using buffalo dung as fuel. Warm air spread around.
Mrs. Mary prepared a meal of bacon and beans on bread.
After making three, she glanced at Max, who was munching on the jerky.
And then I made one more.
Max’s mouth watered when he saw that.
After a while.
We had dinner around the campfire.
‘Bread and meat in a stomach that used to only eat beef jerky.’
Max was so full that he almost cried, leaving the taste aside.
He looked at his wife with reddened eyes.
“There is no more.”
Max’s face turned sullen.
At this point, James asks with a smile.
“So Max, where are you headed?”
“Anywhere I can go.”
“So that means there’s no destination. Why don’t you just go back to California? There’ll be a lot of Asians like you there.”
The saying was that it was hard to survive among white people.
Max shook his head.
“Even a gold mine has its end. It’s obvious when you go back, and the road there isn’t easy.”
“Yeah. That’s why I left too.”
Many people came to California in pursuit of the gold rush, but only a few succeeded. Most squandered their wealth and lived miserable lives without any income.
Even if gold was mined, it was common for outlaws to come and loot it, and even that was mostly brass.
There were quite a few people who thought it was gold and tried desperately to protect it, only to end up dying.
Present-day California is no El Dorado.
Reality was just a cesspool.
‘Gold was discovered in Nevada and other places, but it was several years later.’
While Max and James were talking, their son Cornel suddenly sat up.
“I’ll go take a rest and come back.”
“This kid is eating.”
Mary rolled her eyes, and the hasty Corny ran to the side of the carriage and pulled down his trousers.
Swaaaah.
The cool sound of peeing. But there was something subtle and different mixed in. In an instant, Max’s head turned and he pulled out a knife from his waistband.
“Wh, what···!”
James and his wife looked shocked, and Max jumped up from his seat and threw the knife.
Whirlwind. Phu.
It was only when the knife was pointed that I realized what was happening.
The snake’s head was writhing on the sword.
“Ow, yuck! Rattlesnake!”
Cornel hurriedly pulled up his trousers and ran into Mary’s arms.
Max leisurely retrieves the knife stuck in the snake.
“You didn’t pee, did you?”
“at all!”
Max chuckled at Cornel’s words.
James said, his eyes shining with admiration at the amazing knife throwing skills.
“You don’t seem like a soldier by your age, but you have amazing skills in many ways.”
“That’s too much praise.”
James nodded as he looked at Max.
I feel secure when we’re together.
He thought for a moment, then opened his mouth.
“If you have nowhere else to go, why don’t you come with us?”
A skilled person to join you on your dangerous journey.
But isn’t the other person a stranger from the East?
It was not an easy proposition for a white person.
It was possible because, although Max had his sights set on it, James, unlike most white people, had no racial prejudices.
I looked at my wife.
She doesn’t seem to object either.
Now the important question was where they were going.
Max asked James.
“Where is your destination?”
“Kansas. It became a state this year along with Nebraska.”
To become a state of the United States, you must first be a territory. Before that, you are nothing, just a territory of the United States.
Even if one becomes a junju, it can take several years at the shortest and several decades at the longest to become a lord.
‘Kansas…’
Some of the major events in America’s short history include the Revolutionary War and the Civil War.
And the place that ignited the fuse of this Civil War was Kansas.
The next few years would be marred by brutal violence, so much so that it would later be referred to as “Bloody Kansas.”
Whatever.
From Max’s perspective, isn’t it equally dangerous wherever you go in the West?
Kansas, where the world’s attention is focused, is a terrible hell for some, but for Max, it is also a place of opportunity to soar.
Max nodded after finishing his thoughts.
“Let’s go together. Kansas.”
I’m still hungry.
The next day.
The group, which had set out early in the morning, was only able to join the stagecoach train stretching along the Oregon Trail around lunchtime.
The Oregon Trail is a road that runs from Missouri in the central United States to Oregon in the westernmost part.
It was a migration route for western immigrants before the construction of the transcontinental railroad.
Cornel said, looking at the stagecoaches tailing each other.
“Are you all going to California?”
“Some may go to Oregon, or they may be Latter-day Saints heading to the Great Salt Lake.”
Max stared blankly at the procession as the hats chattered.
Go, Go West!
The gold rush may have died down, but the flow of people heading west continues to grow.
In particular, members of the Church of Latter-day Saints, known as Mormons, migrated west for many years to escape discrimination and persecution. And Salt Lake City, Utah, where they settled, later became the headquarters of the Mormon Church.
As Max searches through the knowledge in his head.
Bang! Bang!
Max’s nerves were on edge at the sound of gunshots coming from somewhere.
“Most rattlesnakes are caught with a gun.”
The vast plain was teeming with snakes and locusts.
“The image of Max killing a rattlesnake with a knife came to mind,” Cornill said, chuckling.
“Where are you coming from?”
Everyone I meet asks the same question.
“California.”
“But why are you coming back?”
“I have something to do.”
People who go forward with hopes and dreams of making a fortune overnight.
Was it really necessary to say such pessimistic things to them? James’ answer was wise.
“But isn’t that a coolie?”
“That’s right. I heard that a lot of Asians are moving into California. I guess it’s true.”
The reactions of those who saw Max varied.
‘I can’t stand to look funny.’
Max didn’t avoid eye contact, as if he was ready to pull out his gun at any moment.
Conflicts arise when the opponent appears weak.
On the contrary, when it looks strong, it passes quietly.
Your own hopes and dreams. And your family.
Those who set out on a long journey have much to protect. So they knew that fighting the Orientals, who had nothing to lose, would only harm them.
When it got dark, the settlers would fence their wagons. They would park their wagons around them to protect them from Indian attacks and wild animals, and they would eat, rest, and sleep inside.
If you can’t fit into the network of those migrating west, you’ll have to make camp a little further away from the crowds.
“Mom, we don’t have any meat?”
Cornel whined to Mary as she prepared dinner. The smell of meat and smoke from a barbecue party wafted through the room.
“Hey. Where did the meat come from all of a sudden?”
“It’s been two months now, it’s either bread or beans.”
Max nodded at Cornel’s words.
Little bacon hidden in the bread.
Moreover, the amount of bread was so small that I was always hungry after coming to the West.
Max, too, had a hard time resisting the temptation of the smell.
‘I want to eat until I burst my stomach too!’
If you eat well, you will gain weight and build muscle.
The withered and twisted body showed no signs of recovery.
What kind of physical training is this?
‘Come to think of it, if you want to eat well and sleep well, you need a home.’
In a past life or now.
I can’t get away from money.
No, rather, the situation was more serious now.
How can one escape starvation in the land of opportunity?
‘Where does that guy with a huge bounty show up?’
Could this be called the lottery of this vast wilderness?
It’s a bounty that you get by killing someone,
What good is money for quality? Quantity is what counts.
‘Let’s fill our stomachs first.’
American bison and buffalo on the Great Plains.
The James family only had four people in their party, so all they did was watch others hunt.
But I can’t stand it any longer.
‘I have to hunt tomorrow, even if it means going alone.’
The next day, in the slow hour when the sun was setting, Max spoke to Mary.
