Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, etc.
Wild West gunfighters are moving toward Pikes Peak one after another.
This also included a large number of Chinese people who were in California.
< Come on in! > End
< Is this your country? >
Nathan Rohr first discovered gold at Black Hawk Rose Gold in the eastern Rocky Mountains.
The problem is when the gold was discovered.
It was mid-August, the height of summer, and the news spread throughout the United States two months later, in November.
Those who arrived early to secure a spot were met with frozen ground, a stream, and the Rocky Mountains, turned white by fluttering snow.
A cold front hits western Kansas.
In contrast to the excitement of the gold rush, the mines experienced harsh winters.
“Fuck···.”
Deep sighs came from the mouths of those who had come to the gold mine early. The newbies who had no experience in the California gold rush faced the problem of having to endure until the end of winter.
Even if you wanted to pitch a tent, it was difficult to obtain materials, and the same was true for food.
But at this time.
[Civil Engineering Construction Worker Hiring. Daily Wage: $1.20]
It was less than $10 a week, but it was a godsend for those who couldn’t go back.
With the U.S. economy in shambles, people flocked to construction sites to mine for gold, hoping to make money while also getting a job.
[SHERIFF OFFICE]
Max’s stake is the center of the earth.
The first sheriff’s office established to provide public safety was the self-appointed sheriff’s office, with seven sheriffs.
Peach is one of them.
She muttered, looking out the window.
“I asked when they would build a building on this vast land, and they showed me this.”
Max naturally absorbed the people who had come to dig for gold into the construction site. The timing was astounding.
“You planned it all out, right?”
“Don’t you know Max yet? Look at the pre-planned plan. I’m so shocked now I can’t even speak.”
Colin shook his head. The two watched as the wooded and grassy environment quickly turned into an empty lot, and the land was filled with buildings.
Since when have I been thinking like this?
“How can we be so different when we are both human?”
“Ask him yourself. I’ve given up on thinking.”
“I want to give up too. But my curiosity keeps growing.”
The window was covered in frost. Peach, who had been drawing Max’s face with her finger, turned her head and looked at the office door.
The door opens with a loud bang and a group of men come in.
There were three men: Hickok, Cody, Lore, and Joe Jim Jr., and the men they had dragged in.
“what?”
“I caught you because you were causing trouble.”
“The Indian bastards started the fight first!”
Ah, warm.
Hickok hit the glaring man on the back of the head.
“Don’t be so petty. Didn’t you know that was a company-owned mine?”
“Mom, I told you I didn’t know!”
“Not knowing is also a sin. There are signs posted here and there, but are you blind?”
Hickok kicked and pushed the men into the cage.
“What are you going to do with us?!”
“Inspector Junju will take care of it.”
They create their own cities and are responsible for public safety, but unilateral law enforcement can easily create resentment towards mining companies.
Just to show that the city was functioning properly, Marx asked John Geary to send him a judge and three auditors from the Kansas Territory.
– But didn’t you say there were seven sheriffs?
– I heard that too. They’re all deputy sheriffs except one.
– So which one of them is the sheriff?
– ……How would I know?
The men who had been whispering inside the bars shut their mouths under Hickok’s fierce gaze.
The Sheriff Max they were talking about is guarding the north side, not this office.
What was unusual was that instead of an office, he built a fortress. It was a fortress with a three-meter high wall on three sides, a three-kilometer long wall on each side, and guard posts in the middle, with its back facing a steep cliff that towered high into the sky.
Inside the entrance, there was a fairly large space where a bank for exchanging gold, a parade ground, soldiers’ quarters, a blacksmith shop, etc. were to be located. Currently, the skeletal construction was in full swing.
Max’s office in the castle.
A middle-aged man with a square build and about 170 cm tall sat across from Max.
He had a handsome appearance, long yellow hair, and light blue eyes that could be terrifying in some situations, and he had a sharp aggression towards Asians.
He was Kit Carson, a western hunter, explorer, and the first Indian agent for the United States.
After the cliche conversation about Asians, Max asked,
“You had business in Kansas?”
“It was a personal matter. Your reputation there was quite famous.”
“Who complimented me like that?”
“The governor and a friend of yours also said the same thing.”
‘The Governor and the Holidays.’
I was curious about their relationship, and now Kit Carson has joined the mix. What on earth do these three have in common?
“Anyway, I heard Simpson said he was going to give me the gold mining rights. Is that true?”
“Of course.”
“It won’t be free, right? I guess the condition is that you solve the Indian problem.”
To prevent conflicts as much as possible, to persuade the Indians to submit to the will of the government, and to solve problems arising from contact between the whites and the Indians.
It was a mission given to Kit Carson by the United States.
“You could think of it as an extension of the Indian Agent mission.”
“Hmm. I heard from Simpson. He said you spoke to Little Raven, the Arapaho chief, about coexistence. Even I, who knows the languages of fourteen tribes and has lived with the Indians for over a dozen years, have never uttered the word coexistence.”
“Are you saying it’s impossible?”
“I’m saying this because I can see through your true intentions. You wouldn’t have even thought of it with other chiefs. In that sense, choosing the Arapaho was a wise choice.”
A sneer appeared on Kit Carson’s lips.
He considered Max a swindler, someone who would one day strike the Indians in the back of the head.
Max was calm, but deep down he was also laughing at Carson.
‘You were the one who drove the Indian to his death.’
Even though that was the government’s intention, it was Kit Carson who later took the lead in waging war against the Indians.
The man who drove the Navajo out into the harsh New Mexico wilderness sees Max as a fraud.
It was a truly outrageous thing.
‘I’ll put it in for now because I need it. Let’s see what happens in the future.’
The duality of being friendly with the Indians and yet leading the way in their eradication. It remains to be seen which is the real story.
A white hero who drove out the California Indians and opened the Oregon Trail.
Marx wanted to use Kit Carson’s fame to keep the city free from Indians and federal intervention.
“Carson, you just have to actively resolve the conflict with the Indians.”
“I see. If I receive something, I should give something back.”
After finishing his conversation with Kit Carson, Max went to find another meeting place.
Mineral Explorer Shareholders Meeting.
Attendees included investors in mining and urban development.
Among them was John Geary, who sat down here, leaving Kansas issues behind, and showed no intention of leaving.
– I plan on going back to Recompton in the spring.
– Don’t you usually come then? You do the opposite.
– I’m here because it’s the road to Kansas.
Gold would save Kansas’s shattered economy.
So, what he meant was that even if the governor were to die here, there would be no one to tackle him.
– I’d rather stay here than suffer under slave owners in Recompton.
Not long ago, the pro-slavery advocates promulgated the Lecompton Constitution, but when news of the Pikes Peak gold mine spread, the public’s attention was completely ignored.
The Great Depression also had a serious impact on the slave-owning southern landowners, and as the issue of making a living became more important than the slavery conflict, the pro-slavery advocates also had no choice but to flock to the gold mines.
Max opened his mouth, looking at the map on the table.
“If you look at the people who are coming in now, most of them are from here and the border areas. Kansas, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Texas.”
Even if you come running right after hearing the rumor, the distance is considerable.
Moreover, perhaps because of the learning effect of California, the wise people who know that winter is just a hair’s breadth away will be waiting for the warm spring to come. That is why the number of people gathered here at present does not exceed 2,000.
“We need to get the infrastructure in place before spring comes. Since we’ve taken the central land, we need to focus on building shops and accommodations.”
“How are your financial situation?”
Charles Robinson asked.
Since a huge amount of money was being invested, it was true that it was difficult to handle with the $100,000 that the shareholders had invested in common.
For that reason, Max had already dug a tunnel through one side of the gold mine to avoid being affected by the seasons.
It was part of a mine monopoly owned by the Mineral Explorer Company, and the miners were abolitionists from Lawrence and nearby towns.
The condition is that 20% of the mining proceeds are taken as salary, and after three months, a mining license is issued.
The difference with those issued in Lawrence was that they had the advantage of mining in rich gold mines.
“As of yesterday, we have mined a total of 8,242 ounces (233 kg). At the current price of $20.67 per ounce, if we take everything else out, we have secured $140,000 in funds.”
$140,000 a month. And that’s just from digging a single tunnel.
Mineral Explorer’s shareholding structure is 53% owned by ‘Max Invest’ and 47% by the rest.
In any case, the investors could not help but smile as they had extracted more than their investment from the gold mine in just one month.
I knew that even if the money was reinvested and I couldn’t touch it right away, it would return in bigger profits in the future.
“As things stand, the city will soon be established, but it will still have to be named and formally approved by the President. Even though the area is currently part of the Kansas Territory, it will certainly become independent.”
Everyone nodded at Charles’ words.
Even small towns have names, so it made no sense that cities being built on such a large scale as today wouldn’t have names.
“What would be a good name for a city?”
In the future, it would be called Denver, but that was just the name of the governor at the time. Now, a different name was needed. While everyone was thinking about it, Max made a suggestion.
Colorado is a Spanish word that has been used since ancient times to mean ‘red’ because of the abundance of ‘red sandstone’ in the area. You can take it as is.
“It used to be called Colorado, so let’s use that as the state name. How about calling the city Junto? It means ‘together’ in Spanish.”
“Oh, this is a city we are building together.”
“I like both the feel and the meaning.”
Everyone nods.
‘No. It means I will be with the Indians.’
Either this or that.
I don’t necessarily want to stop you from making mistakes.
Anyway, thanks to Max’s suggestion, the NBA team ‘Denver Nuggets’ would later change to ‘Juntu Nuggets’.
*
The year changed and it was already January 1858.
An Arapaho Indian came to Max’s office while he was contemplating whether he should hold a New Year’s ceremony.
According to the interpreter, there were Orientals similar to Max in danger on the way to Juntu.
‘The Chinese are here already?’
Where they were was California.
In terms of time, it is clear that they started as soon as rumors of a gold rush broke out.
Max, who was worried, led his men and followed the Indians.
Clatter, clatter.
In the midst of bitter cold and a snowstorm.
Ten carriages are moving in a line.
They followed the California Trail to join the Oregon Trail, eventually crossing Utah Territory and descending south along the Rocky Mountains.
“If we keep going like this, we’ll all freeze to death. Let’s warm up first and then go again.”
“It’s too open. We’ll soon reach the mine. Just hold on a little longer.”
“Yang Yan’s body is boiling. If he keeps going like this, he might die!”
A woman’s scream finally caused the lead carriage to stop.
The wagon train soon formed a circle and took a break. They cleared the snow away and built a bonfire with the dry firewood they had taken out of the wagons.
What’s odd is the composition of the group. There are quite a few young women among the group.
They warmed themselves by wrapping themselves in a thin blanket and hugging each other.
But at this time.
Taang!
Taang!
As soon as the gunshot rang out, two men in the group fell to the ground, bleeding.
“Hide behind the carriage!”
A hail of bullets rang out, accompanied by someone’s shout. The group huddled close to the carriage, some pulling out their guns and starting to return fire.
The carriage was hit by bullets, and the women crouched, bowed their heads, and covered their ears.
“How dare you coolie bastards try to dig for gold on someone else’s land.”
A voice chuckling as he fires a gun. The sarcasm grows louder as the angry Chinese man shouts.
“Oh my god. Why do you dumb kids come to a foreign country and cause trouble?”
The Bread Gang, active in California.
These are the guys who know that if you go to the mine in the middle of winter, there will be nothing to eat.
So they tried to spend the winter by attacking the settlers approaching the mine.
“You take the kids and go back to the other side. Close in on both sides and kill them…”
Taang!
With the sound of a gunshot, the leader Brad spurted blood from his mouth. He fell forward and there was a hole the size of three fingers in the back of his head.
When the gangs are shocked.
Max’s voice rang out.
“Is this your country?”
“Hey, what kind of kid is that!”
Taang! Taang!
Shaeeeeek!
One by one, they began to fall to the bullets flying from behind and the arrows of anger.
The number is eight.
In an instant, an entire gang was wiped out.
< Is this your country? > End
< This is Lee Mak-san, a Korean >
As of now, the region with the most gang activity is California. Those who dreamed of making a fortune during the gold rush but were turned down formed gangs and robbed gold mines, banks, and stagecoaches.
The just-decimated Bread Gang had also moved its operations to Colorado as the California Gold Rush waned and economic hardships struck.
Colin clicked his tongue as he saw the corpses.
“These guys, they’re just a bunch of rascals. They must have had a hard time robbing people in California, too.”
“That’s right. The enemy numbers were far greater, so why did you attack the carriage? And right in front of the mine?”
“They just don’t think about it. Or they look down on me because I’m Asian.”
“Oriental···.”
Peach, who was talking to Colin, glanced at Max. Not only her, but the other members who came with her also expected Max’s dramatic reaction to meeting an Asian.
But Max’s expression is calm.
His gaze swept over the crowd in the carriage.
The distance from the Chinese people is about 50 meters.
Max suddenly turned around, wrapping his scarf around his neck.
“Colin, I’ll be back, so lead them to Area 17. And you guys, keep my presence a secret for the time being. Peach, come down with me, I have something to tell you.”
Colin hurriedly approached Max, who was about to leave, and whispered to him. It was because his prejudice against Asians was strangely ingrained.
– Aren’t they all like you?
– If it were me, I wouldn’t have been treated like that.
– Right? I only believe what you say.
After expressing his gratitude to the Indians, Max returned to the fort with Peach.
If he were an Oriental, wouldn’t he have strong fighting power like Max? Shaking off this ominous feeling, Colin led his men and approached the carriage procession.
“Anyone who speaks English?”
“Me, me.”
At Colin’s question, the young man stepped forward hesitantly.
