The army led by Colonel Sumner is at war with the Cheyenne. The first battle is at Solomon’s Fork, not far from where we are now, on the Solomon River.
“I’m George Simpson, the man who ran El Pueblo Trading Post! I’m just on my way back to Oklahoma on business, no other intentions!”
Colin explained to Max that he knew El Pueblo.
“I saw it during the Mexican War. El Pueblo is an old trading post where trappers and merchants traded with the Indians. I don’t know if they still do it today.”
“Where is El Pueblo?”
“I think we’re headed south to the Rockies, huh?”
‘Then that area will be crispy.’
The Rocky Mountains are a vast mountain range that begins in northern Alaska and extends through Canada, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico in the United States.
It was also a place where trappers and explorers, who are indispensable to American history, traveled to and from the Rocky Mountains and created numerous legends.
The path they paved became today’s Oregon Trail, enabling many people to travel to California and Nevada.
George Simpson and his men were also the last of a long line of trappers.
They were also well versed in the geography of the Rocky Mountains and the Indians there.
“Let’s join.”
*
Knock, knock.
We sat around the campfire and started to eat meat.
After eluding the pursuit of the Indians all day, George Simpson and his men gorged themselves on buffalo meat as if possessed.
George Simpson wasn’t particularly surprised to see an Asian.
“When I was in California a few years ago, I saw a lot of Chinese people. But this is the first time I’ve heard of Joseon.”
“It won’t be much.”
I can’t say that there aren’t any at all. They might have secretly mixed in with the Chinese, like Imaksan.
“But are there any Cheyenne tribes left here? I heard they were driven out because of the war.”
George Simpson continued, chewing his meat.
“There are six Cheyenne tribes. One of them attacked travelers last year, and this war is targeting that tribe.”
He also said that because it is so widely spread, it is not strange for it to suddenly pop up anywhere.
“The Cheyenne tribe may be warlike, but they don’t attack blindly.”
“It’s because a white man killed a Cheyenne Indian man a few days ago. I’m sure he’s after us to get revenge for that.”
The Indian next to George Simpson intervened.
Charles Ottoby was a man of complex heritage, with white and Indian blood, like Joe Jim Jr.’s father.
And the fact that the white man he spoke of who killed the Indian was William Quantrill. Max had a slight suspicion of the possibility, but had no way of confirming it.
“But where do you all come from?”
“Lawrence, Kansas.”
“You came from a hot place. It’s been really noisy there lately. Are you mixed race too?”
Ottoby continued his conversation with Joe Jim Jr., seemingly intrigued by him.
There was another Indian in Simpson’s party besides Ottoby, a Delaware Indian named Paul Leaf, also known as the “Falling Leaf.”
He was a former scout for the US Army who was obsessed with eating.
“But where are you guys going?”
“Near Pikes Peak.”
“……”
The meat-eating movements ceased and an uncomfortable silence soon followed. George Simpson exchanged glances with his companions, and there was a strange tension and wariness.
‘You know something about gold mines.’
Max opened his mouth to try to float away.
“Do monsters live there? It looks like something big would happen if you go there.”
“That’s not it. I was just surprised because it was similar to our destination.”
“Why are you surprised?”
“…… Well, it’s a coincidence, that’s for sure.”
Max stared into George Simpson’s eyes without saying a word.
The bonfire in his eyes created a strange sense of fear. However, George Simpson was also a man of many years. He was not easily shaken and tried to just let it go. But Max shook him again.
“Actually, I’m on my way to explore a gold mine.”
“gold mine?!”
George Simpson’s eyes widened.
It was a reaction as if something hidden had been discovered.
‘Iza is the second person to discover gold.’
Gold was discovered in the Colorado goldfields in 1950, 1957, 1958, and 1959, with the largest discoveries being in 1959.
What Simpson found was a paltry amount, barely enough to be an appetizer.
Amidst the strange tension, George Simpson let out a small sigh.
“It seems the rumor has already spread. Well, I expected it anyway. We found gold in the stream a few months ago.”
“Is that Cherry Creek, by any chance?”
George Simpson’s eyes widened as he asked how he knew that. Cherry Creek means stream, and Cherry Creek is the future center of Denver.
In his previous life, Max had passed by there while traveling.
‘It turned out well, as I was just about to buy land there.’
Even if you know the general location, it is not easy to find Cherry Creek in its original state before the creation of the world. But it is easy to find someone who came from there.
‘I need to strengthen my relationship.’
“Actually, it was a place that had been rumored among the Indians for a long time. Many people had searched for gold but failed. But by chance, they found it in Cherry Creek.”
“I guess there weren’t many sheep.”
If there were a lot of them, would there be time to wander around like this?
It must be urgent to protect it.
As Max had guessed, George Simpson nodded, his mouth watering.
“There aren’t many of them near the stream. So I’m taking this friend to explore the area.”
The man next to George Simpson was a mining expert named Barclay who worked in the California gold mines.
Until recently, he was digging in Oklahoma, exploring a mine that didn’t even exist.
Max spoke to George Simpson to try to calm his guard.
“I’m not interested in the gold in the stream. Besides, even if I explore the mine, there’s no overlap, and my goal is to create a new settlement village.”
“village?”
“Yes, I would like to buy some land if there is a suitable place near Pikes Peak.”
“I heard NEEAC is establishing towns all over Kansas. Looks like they’re planning on expanding there.”
George Simpson looked displeased.
Being inside Lawrence, I have a positive view of the company called NEEAC.
He actively helped to purchase suitable town sites and to encourage the migration of abolitionists to Kansas in order to make it a free state.
However, if you look at it from a slightly critical perspective, NEEAC could also be seen as a land speculation company.
Even in Lawrence alone, the value of the land he had purchased for a pittance had now increased several times.
Every time new settlers bought land, the difference was made, and the Lawrence Commission gave it back to the NEEAC. They were doing this all over Kansas.
Real estate speculation using the Kansas slavery conflict.
If you look at it critically, it wasn’t a wrong statement.
“It has nothing to do with NEEAC. It’s something I plan and decide.”
“You, an Asian?”
“I receive help from people around me, but I have the authority to make all business decisions.”
George Simpson looked over Max and his group.
They are all white, except for Joe Jim Jr.
They nodded as if to give Max strength in his words.
“What a great friend you are. Anyway, I hope you have good results.”
That night, I set a night watch and stood guard.
As Simpson said, the number of Indians increased, so there were no raids.
*
It’s been a fortnight since I left Lawrence.
Finally, a peak soaring high into the sky came into view.
“That’s Pikes Peak.”
The party rode their horses in the direction Simpson pointed. Towards the east of the Rocky Mountains. Max couldn’t help but feel a sense of wonder as he crossed the trees and fields.
‘I have no idea.’
It was a stark contrast to the densely packed skyscrapers I had traveled through in my previous life. All I saw were vast expanses of land, forests, and the occasional lake.
Max’s gaze was turned away from Pikes Peak and toward the mountains further north.
The Colorado gold rush was later called the Pikes Peak Gold Rush, but gold was actually discovered elsewhere.
However, it was called Pikes Peak because it was the first peak visible to people who came from the east following the gold rush.
It also served as a kind of compass.
But even when you actually see it, the distance is quite far.
On the way to Cherry Creek.
As he passed the beautiful lake through the grass, Max found himself in a different dilemma than before.
I felt uneasy as I looked at the beautiful scenery.
“I am the vanguard in destroying this.”
“What are you talking about? Since when did you care about that? When I look at you, it’s like you’re holding a gold mine. I really envy your confidence.”
When Peach pouts,
A series of events triggered by the discovery of the gold mine unfolded like a panorama in Max’s mind.
The white people who flocked to the gold rush would build camps and towns here and there, and the trees they cut down would devastate the area.
In addition, chemicals are used to pollute the land and water to extract even a little bit of gold mixed in the quartz.
And there will be a massacre to drive out the resisting Indians.
A picture of hell was drawn in Max’s mind.
Max let out a long sigh and tried to shake off his uneasy feelings.
‘Someone’s going to find out anyway. I’m just going to do it first.’
The party soon arrived at Cherry Creek.
A stream untouched by human hands. The huts built around it blend in well with the beautiful nature and have their own charm.
“It’s a house that was built a few months ago. Well, it’s more like a studio than a house.”
Around the hut were scattered tools for gold mining.
“If you’re not going to move today, stay here and go. If you’ve received help, shouldn’t we do something about it?”
“Then I will do so. But does this land have an owner?”
“There’s nothing special. Indians have their own place to stay, and they just put a stake in and call it their land.”
Even on maps provided by land surveyors for the Kansas Territory, this area was marked as public land, part of the Indian territory.
Under current U.S. land law, you can claim ownership if you live on the land and farm it for four years.
Of course, it’s not free.
At $1.25 per acre, each person could purchase between 80 and 320 acres.
Max looked at Simpson and asked.
“Are you going to live here?”
“……”
The Simpson family lived in Pueblo, 150 kilometers to the south.
It was only a brief stop because of the gold mine.
But strangely enough, the moment Max asked, I felt an urgency to buy it.
“Just wait a moment.”
Simpson went into a meeting with Ottoby, Polliffe, and Barclay. The point was that if gold was found here, people would flock there and the land would surely go up in value.
After much deliberation, Simpson said:
“We decided to get 160 acres over here.”
“Okay, then let’s just take it, excluding this area.”
According to Simpson, there are no settlers within a 20km radius. That’s enough.
Max looked at the group and said.
“Let’s make a stake.”
“How many?”
“Four will do. Just make sure to carve an M on the stake.”
“all right.”
Joe Jim Jr. answered, and the group went to get the tree.
‘We have to move all the employees here.’
The staff that Max thought of were young Jayhawks, including Ryan. There were 82 of them.
Based on 320 acres, it covers a total of 25,600 acres (30 million pyeong).
‘Because Yeouido is a little less than 900,000 pyeong.’
It is an area 33 times larger.
Since I will be here for at least 4 years, meeting the conditions will not be a problem.
The problem was money, which the country was conveniently able to pay in four installments over four years.
If payment is overdue, the land will naturally be recovered.
That means, to buy 25,600 acres at $1.25 an acre, you’d need $32,000, and this year you’d only have to pay a quarter of that, or $8,000.
‘John Crenshaw even bought the land.’
It’s a little lacking, but we can get through this year.
Anyway, I’ll just sell the gold next year.
Consultations with Governor John Geary have already been completed.
If only the mines were discovered, the place would be teeming with people and they would monopolize all business.
Once the stakes were made, Max rode out on horseback, leading Peach and his men.
Then Max raised his hand and stopped it.
“It won’t work. Let’s drive the stakes slowly.”
96km long and wide.
Come to think of it, driving a stake was a long way off.
The next day.
The group split up and drove four stakes into the ground.
The land that George Simpson had in it was like a piece of hay. It would later become a yolk land, but there was no need to be greedy for it.
No, rather, bringing George Simpson in was a stroke of genius.
Simpson and his party had extensive knowledge, especially when it came to Indians. Even Joe Jim Jr., who was Indian in name only, was able to learn from them.
In the future, Max intended to actively utilize them for trading with the Indians.
*
It’s been a month and a half since I left Lawrence.
Max and his men were hard at work today, picking stones near the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains.
Bang! Bang!
Pok, pok.
“Fuck, oh man, this is tough! The weather is so fucking hot again.”
“I have a hunch. Let’s dig a little deeper!”
“That guy’s intuition. It really pisses me off.”
Following Colin, Hickok also expressed his anger.
“Fuck, I’ll buy you gold instead!”
“You don’t have any money, so you’re just bragging. Stop talking nonsense and go dig some land.”
Peach came over, trudging, as if she was tired.
“If there’s gold found in Cherry Creek, you should be looking around there, right?”
“Oh, no.”
“Tch. It’s always been this way, then. Huh? I guess it’s not here. Huh, this is only a day or two, it’s already been over a month. But Max···”
Peach, who had been irritated, spoke with a sly smile like a manic-depressive patient. It was a little creepy.
“I don’t need gold mines or anything. You’re already a proper western man with land. Just tell me. I’m ready.”
“Stop whining and pick up the pickaxe.”
“Ahhhhh!”
Peach grumbled and hit the ground with her pickaxe.
At this moment, Nathan Lore, who had been quietly digging with a pickaxe, started shaking like a madman.
“Oh my, are you peeing now?”
Peach clicked her tongue, saying that she finally got the taste.
And at this time.
Nathan Rohr shouted with his eyes wide open.
“It’s gold!”
A nugget of gold embedded in a rock.
