"But don't you think you were the
only restless man on board. When I backed out into the river the other
night I had to leave four of my best deckhands either dead or wounded
on the bank. I will never forget the way you walked out through the
crowd with that pair of guns in your hand. I have heard of the
execution these weapons can do when they get in action."
When we stopped at Kansas City I telegraphed to Leavenworth that we
were coming. As the boat approached the Leavenworth levee my soldier
friends were out on deck in their dress uniforms, and I stood on the
deck, my bride on my arm. Soon we heard the music of the Fort
Leavenworth band and the town band, and crowds of citizens were on the
wharf as the boat tied up.
The commandant of the fort, D.R. Anthony, the Mayor of Leavenworth, my
sisters, and hundreds of my friends came rushing aboard the boat to
greet us. That night we were given a big banquet to which my soldier
chums and their wives were invited. My wife had a glorious time. After
it was all over, she put her arms about my neck and cried:
"Willy, I don't believe you are an outlaw at all!"
I had reluctantly promised my wife that I would abandon the Plains. It
was necessary to make a living, so I rented a hotel in Salt Creek
Valley, the same hotel my mother had formerly conducted, and set up as
a landlord.
It was a typical frontier hotel, patronized by people going to and from
the Plains, and it took considerable tact and diplomacy to conduct it
successfully.
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