Dry Gulch Bugle

The Oak Hill Gang and Sheriff Tom Caylor (and posse) ride towards Black Horse. But as they come into town, they see it on fire. The Sheriff asks the gunslingers for help putting out the fire. The gang agrees and quickly begins organizing the townspeople into a bucket brigade. Several buildings are already well on the way to being destroyed, including the local Pony Express office.The Boys see the local manager hurredly taking packages, boxes and satchels over to the Black Horse Savings & Loan for presumed safekeeping.

While Ezra and Jack battle the flames, Royce sneaks away from the bucket brigade and peers in through a back window of the bank.  He watches two men (presumably the bank manager and Pony Express manager) secure the packages in the bank safe.  Louis joins him and manages to artfully make his way through the window. By low lamplight, Louis cracks the safe and rifles through its contents. He retrieves the letter and sketches of Jack, Jobe, Shady and himself, as well as a map to the Dreamcatcher Temple mentioned by Lloyd Watsbough.  This satchel is all that Louis takes from the safe.

Meanwhile, Royce investigates a lifeless body he spies just outside a nearby church. He sees it’s a preacher, badly burned with multiple sear-points. It seems evident the preacher has been dumped just in front of the door.

Louis exits the bank, being careful to leave as little trace of the heist as possible. He burns the letter and sketches. This theoretically once again puts him, Jack, Shady and Jobe in the clear. 

Louis and Royce tell Sheriff Caylor of their body discovery at the church’s steps. He agrees it should be investigated, but not now’s not the right time. 

Royce and Louis hear singing coming from the south. They investigate it and find the Kossuth worshippers seeming to celebrate the “cleansing fire” that is claiming Black Horse. They don’t offer to help put out the fires. And again ask The Boys to worship with them. They do so, but then eventually leave their camp to help put out the fire. The town exhausts itself. But the fire is extinguished.

The next day, The Boys talk with Sheriff Caylor, who again gets their story on what happened at Gene Elliott’s farm and with Carrie Shuss. Royce again insists  he did not pay Carrie Shuss. The sheriff doesn’t quite seem to believe Royce and company. He suggests further investigation is needed and asks The Boys to stay in town a bit longer. 

As the gunslingers leave the sheriff’s office, they see the Kossuth worshippers leaving town. Louis helps the sheriff put two and two together, suggesting that last night’s fire might have been caused by the fire god worshippers. “And you oughta talk with those folks before they leave town…”

Caylor agrees and rides out to the small wagon train. From a distance, The Boys see Caylor ride out ahead of the wagons and stop in front of them. Words are exchanged between the lawman and Father Rastus, the pilgrim leader. Jack notices the sheriff’s horse getting a little too nervous as tensions rise. And then suddenly, the gang sees several bolts of fire energy leap from the fingers of Father Rastus. More fire comes from other Kossuth worshippers. And before Caylor has too much of a chance to react, firing some wildly placed shots into the air, he falls from his horse, dead. 

The caravan rolls on.

After exploring the modest mine under Beacher’s Mill, The Oak Hill Gang rides back to their base of operations, Dry Gulch. They look forward to a drink, a bath and a hot meal. As they enter town, they come across a wanted poster. It offers up a bounty of $1,000 for the live capture of Lloyd Watsbough, wanted for payroll robbery on the Arizona Express. 

Jack and Louis immediately recognize the man featured on the poster. He was the man guarding the payroll on the train. Jack and Louis had let the man go. A brief conversation with the local sheriff, Bill Meacham, suggests that Lloyd was last seen in nearby Black Horse. On good terms with The Boys, Sheriff Meacham suggests they should hurry to town if they’re interested in the bounty because others have demonstrated interest. He also lets them know that the bounty is usually high. And this one is actually not sponsored by the territory. But through the man wronged by the crime: Retired Colonel William Cooley. It was his payroll, after all. 

After spending the night in town getting some much needed R&R, The Boys set off for Black Horse. The first day and night are uneventful. But on the second night, they come across a wagon caravan parked around a huge bonfire. As they come upon it, Jack, Ezra, Royce and Louis hear singing and what seems like…preaching?

Yes. Preaching. Approaching cautiously, they see a small group of people around the bonfire… The Boys are welcomed into the camp. For this is a group of pilgrims, led by Father Graham Rastus. It’s clear Father Rastus has been drinking. He is drunk as a fiddler’s clerk. His disciples, too, seemed particularly jocular. While the good reverend was going on about the Kossuth, the God of Fire, The Boys got a sense that the disciples seemed fairly harmless. They eventually learned this group of pilgrims was spreading Kossuth’s word from town to town. Occasionally, they’d add a follower to the cause. 

As the group sits around the fire, each one of the Oak Hill gang is given the chance to praise Kossuth. Father Rastus asks them to accept Kossuth into their lives. And to a person, they accept. Our intrepid adventurers also learn that the pilgrims are headed to Black Horse in the morning. So after a hearty trail breakfast the next day, they decide to ride into town with the newfound zealots.

Black Horse is a typical small town on the Atlantic & Pacific line. A combination of adobe and wood buildings fan out from a crossroads. The town visitors see a few taverns, two hotels, a church and more of the like.

The Kossuth worshippers set up camp on the south side of town. The Boys have a drink at the Dusty Spur saloon. Inside, they see a beautiful woman, pretty as a speckled pup. The soiled dove is prospecting. She is chatting up a man who clearly looked to be a local cowhand. 

There are a handful of other locals. The gang also sees two groups drinking at separate tables. One of the groups is made up of four rough & tumble types. They’re armed. And a bit loud. 

They demand The Boys buy them a round. Jack refuses. Things begin to get a little tense. Hands slide under tables. Distinct, soft clicks of gun hammers are heard… 

To de-escalate the situation, one of The Boys eventually buys a round for both tables. And Ezra takes the initiative to cast charm spell on a member of the rough & tumbles. And with the wave of a hand and muttering of soft words, Ezra has a new friend.

Over a drink, The Boys learn their new table mate is part of The Red Ribbon Gang, a group of bounty hunters looking for Lloyd Watsbough. They’ve been in town for a few days. But have no luck finding said wanted criminal. They have noticed, however, a lack of wanted posters in town. The Red Ribbon Gang is not the only group of bounty hunters in Black Horse. The two men sitting at a table on the other side of the saloon is also looking for Lloyd. 

The Boys see the soiled dove leave the Dusty Spur and follow her. In the street, Royce ends up confirming the woman, Carrie Shuss, is indeed a prostitute. And while Royce declines Carrie’s services, he ends up learning more about Lloyd Watsbough. 

Turns out Lloyd was in love with Carrie and would see her frequently. He’d been in town for a couple weeks now, making a new life for himself. But has recently left Black Horse when the wanted posters started showing up. For $125, Royce learns the location of Lloyd’s hiding place: the Elliott farm two hours out of town.

At the farm, Louis and Jack hide north of the farmhouse while Ezra and Royce ride to the farmhouse, barn and cattle pen. Royce and Ezra claim to be weary from the road and seek water for their horses and a home-cooked meal. The farmers are amiable enough. And while Royce and Ezra dine with the Elliott family, Louis Toadvine and Jack Kollrath explored the barn.

The Boys tracked Lloyd down with one intent: to kill him. For they know the truth: that Lloyd in fact did not rob the train. They did. Lloyd was guarding Cooley’s payroll.  Lloyd’s an innocent man. But a loose end.

Once the Louis and Jack came upon Lloyd, the wrongly accused man tried to bargain for his life. He did so by saying two things…

…that he has a standing order for a Pony Express rider to deliver sketches of Jack, Louis, Shady and Jobe (along with the story of what really happened on the train) to the sheriff in Liberty. He must see the rider every week or the rider sets off for Liberty. The Boys didn’t believe him and suggested that it would be his word against theirs.

Lloyd also told the men he knew the location of something Colonel Cooley has been seeking: the fabled Apache Indian Dream Catcher. The Boys noted this. But it wasn’t enough to save Lloyd’s life. Gunfire was exchanged. And Lloyd fell. 

As Lloyd and Jack and Louis were discussing their situation, the Red Ribbon Gang arrived at the farmstead. They were also looking for Lloyd. 

Instead of finding him, they found lead. An intense gun battle broke out as The Boys defended the Elliott farmstead. The Red Ribbon Gang was killed.

As the Oak Hill Gang was running through their story to ensure all were on the same page, the Black Horse law, Sheriff Tim Caylor, showed up with a posse. They were after the Red Ribbon Gang. Because they had roughed up Carrie Shuss to learn of Lloyd Watsbough’s location. Jack, Louis, Ezra and Royce offered up the same story they offered up the farmer; that they were passing through and Lloyd was killed by the Red Ribbon Gang as he defended himself.

Unfortunately for the Oak Hill Gang, this story didn’t quite square with what Carrie had told Sheriff Caylor: that The Boys had paid her $125 for Lloyd’s whereabouts. Based on this, the sheriff asked the group to ride back into town so they could sort this out. While The Boys were hesitant at first, they came to the conclusion they had no real excuse to make the two-hour ride back to Black Horse.

So off they went, leaving the deputy and a posse member to round up the bodies littered across the farm.

Now that the Wyatt Cooley and his gang have been defeated and the mess cleaned up, the townspeople of Privilegio throw a small party. Copious amounts of whiskey are enjoyed. Everyone celebrates the heroes of the day that rescued them: the Oak Hill Gang. 

As the party winds down, Jack Kollrath pages through Wyatt Cooley’s journal and sees two things of importance: a morse code key and a riddle:

–    Blue, wet, wild and quenching. 
Drink me to stop kvetching.
It does not ring, whisper or stink
It can’t be eaten, nor make one wink.
One must think and sound it out
Find what’s like to lose all doubt.
It creaks, echoes, cools and delights
When one employs just a touch of might

What could it mean?

The Boys – Jack, Ezra, Louis and, now, Royce – ride to Wyatt Cooley’s place. There they see a damned up stream and a two-story ranch on a small plateau. A hired gun sits outside the home, whittling. A whiskey bottle is nearby. Ezra takes position on a low butte. The rest of the men ride up to the ranch. Jack, Shady and Louis man the gatling gun while Royce rides alongside the wagon. The newest member of the gang suggests there shouldn’t be too many men at Wyatt’s home because most of them were with the leader in Privilegio. Ezra shoots the hired gun. The gatling gun blasts away the front side of the home. Royce quickly dismounts and runs up to the side of the place, just ducking under a window.

Part of the gang keeps the men pinned inside the house. Royce hears the men inside and exchanges gunfire through a busted window. Ezra takes shots at the man guarding the makeshift damn.

Eventually, The Boys kill Wyatt’s remaining men. They search the main house and the bunkhouse. They also use some dynamite to destroy the damn, bringing much needed water to Privilegio and the surrounding area. 

Ezra figures out the answer to the riddle from Wyatt’s journal… a well. Which happens to be on the property. Louis is lowered down on a rope and narrowly avoids being bitten by a rattlesnake. He climbs up with a scroll tube in his hand. Written on the parchment inside is morse code which reads, “Dry Gulch Graveyard Midnight.”

After leaving the gatling gun with the citizens of Privilegio, the gang returns to Dry Gulch. After enjoying a drink at The Hard Knock, they set up a permiter around the graveyard. At midnight, they see a glow coming from one of the tombstones. The tombstone reads Lucian Cooley. They dig, being illuminated by a full moon, until their shovels hit something. A coffin is revealed. But no body is found. 

Instead, they find a map to Beacher’s Mill, located about ten miles up the road… 

The Boys (Jack, Louis, Shady & Ezra) have accepted a courier assignment from Bill Cooley: take some mining equipment to his brother, Wyatt, in nearby Privilegio. Things don’t quite go as expected…

En route, Louis picks the lock and opens up the crate. He discovers it’s not mining equipment. But a gatling gun with 500 rounds.

Through the heat waves they see a small village to the north. As they approach they hear the bells of a small church begin to ring. Just outside town are emaciated cattle trying to feed on the dry grasses of the desert while ahead of them, a few chickens scatter. In the distance they see a mother rushing her two children indoors as she steals fearful glances in The Boys’ direction.

The Oak Hill Boys pass through a rickety gate where a sign swings gently in the wind declaring the village as Privilegio, which is Spanish for “Privilege”.  Straight ahead of them is a small church, its bells now silent, and in front of it a crumbling well. 

Among several dilapidated buildings are a saloon, general store, stables and a small seemingly abandoned sheriff’s office. If not for the fear filled faces peeking nervously out of windows, you would swear you were entering a ghost town.

Just outside the village, and off the map, are a few fenced off areas holding cattle, some shacks, and a few more building hovels. Scattered farms and ranches can be found even further outside the village, some of these have been burned to the ground.

The Boys being the boys, after seeing no one speaks English at the general store, they head to the saloon / hotel, the largest building in the small town. They have a drink.

As they sit at the bar the swinging doors are suddenly kicked inward. A boy of no more than 12, with bandoliers hanging loosely about his shoulders, levels a rusty shotgun at Louis. He is obviously scared but speaks boldly with a heavy Spanish accent.

“Everyone may be afraid of you but I’m not! I’m not going to let you take any more from us or hurt anyone else, cerdo maloliente!”

As he sights down the barrel the shotgun it is pulled out of his grasp by a gaunt man with a ragged oversized sombrero. He yells something in Spanish at the boy and cuffs him upside the head. The boy runs off holding his ear. The man sets the shotgun against the wall and comes up up to the boys with his head bowed and his hat in his hands.

“Please don’t hurt my son, he is only a boy and doesn’t know any better. You know we never give you any trouble”.

The man’s name is Eduardo and The Boys talk him up. When Eduardo finds out the semi-heroes aren’t part of Wyatt Cooley’s motley crew is more than willing to talk. This is his story:

“…Things were good before Wyatt Cooley came. He claimed most of the grazing land, dammed the river, and put up fences around this land, most of which he had no legal right to. Those of us who cut the fences and tried to herd our cattle to water were shot, and our cattle stolen.

Many farmers and ranchers have been murdered, and many of the villagers simply left. Some of the troublemakers even joined his men. The rest of us have nowhere to go, so we stay and pray for a miracle.

Now Wyatt and his banditos come and go and take what they please, our money, our food, and sometimes our women. Anyone who stands up to him is shot dead! But, what can we do? He is too powerful with too many men and guns….”

The Boys now must make a decision: deliver the “mining equipment” to Wyatt…or defend the town, ridding it of Wyatt’s wicked ways?

A plan is formed. Men, including a few townspeople, fan out into several positions around town. Some high, some low. Women, children and the local priest are secured nearby.

Nestled up on a high, rocky peak on the outskirts of the town, Ezra spies a cloud of dust on the horizon. It’s a large group of riders galloping into town. At high noon, Wyatt and ten of his men pass under the “Privilegio” sign swinging in the wind.

The men ride to the center of the town, surrounding a well. They see a buckboard wagon carrying a single crate. Standing near the wagon, a calm Jack Kollath. Dressed a little sharper than the rest of the men, Wyatt looks at Jack and says, “where the hell is my gol’ durn crate?” But it’s nearly the last thing he says as a single shot rings out. Wyatt is hit by a high velocity round fired from Ezra’s bolt action rifle.

The shot triggers Shady to ride out with another buckboard. With Louis and Eduardo…and the gatling gun. An intense gun battle ensues. But the Wyatt’s gang of hired hands is no match against a constant stream of bullets from the gatling gun, along with well-placed rounds from Jack and Ezra. The Boys sustain some injuries. Eduardo, unfortunately, dies as the gang concentrates shots on the trio operating the gatling gun.

Wyatt is killed with most of his gang. One of the two living members is identified as a rapist and the townspeople get their revenge. The other identifies himself as Royce Hyatt, a hired gun who had already been looking to leave the gang. Royce joins The Boys.

The dead are gathered. Bodies are searched. Someone finds some whiskey. And on Wyatt’s body, a journal is discovered…  

Note

This adventure loosely based on The Gatling Decision

 

(These are notes from memory. Covering what happens immediately after the Train Robbery Session Notes (see previous entry) and through the attack The Boys make on Bill Cooley’s men as they raced to Tucson. I think this happens over mutiple play sessions.)

…having robbed the train, The Boys prepare to leave. The Boys: Jack Kolrath; Louis Toadvine; Jobe Lakamp and Shady McCoy. But just before they leave, one of them spies a head ducking down from a window in the caboose. They carefully investigate, finding a caboose man and a small boy.

After some discussion with all, Louis ends up shooting the caboose man dead. The small boy wets his pants and is dressed in the caboose man’s overalls. The child is taken with the gang as they ride southwest into the hills. 

There, Jack and Louis hide $4,000 in two separate $2k stashes in the hills. They keep the remaining $1,000 from Cooley’s payroll for walking around money. 

The group gives the boy a story to tell what happened on the train and send him on his way to Billings, where he is from. He’s given enough food and water to make the journey home.

The Boys then drive to Dry Gulch, where they drink at the Hard Knocks Saloon & Brothel. Through Billy Rise, they find out that William Cooley paid a visit to the newly widowed Mattie Townsend and again demanded to buy her mine. She refused. But Cooley doesn’t care. He tells Mattie it doesn’t matter. Because he’s already sent a group of riders to the Arizona territory capitol to file paperwork to claim the mine as his own. These papers are false, of course. 

Mattie is crushed. Despondent, she doesn’t know what to do.

Jack, Louis and Shady also learn from Billy Rise that the riders left for Tucson two days ago. The Boys swing into action and say they’ll try to help. The saddle up and immediately pursue the riders, pushing their horses hard and fast.

After five days, and after being attacked by three chupacabra en route, they come upon the riders just as they settle down for the night. The Boys see what looks like three men. Jack and Shady take an elevated position several hundred feet from the campsite. Louis moves silently through the night, from boulder to boulder, until all are in position. Jack shoots one of the men with his lever rifle, instantly killing him. Louis attacks. 

A night gun battle ensues. Cooley’s men are unsure of just where the shots are coming from. So they try to leave. But are eventually gunned down by Jack, Louis and Shady as they try to escape. 

The bodies are searched. And on an exceptionally well dressed body, they come across some legal-looking documents. The documents are forgeries, designed to look like the deed to Mattie’s property. The Boys also find a trussed up man, who identifies himself as Ezra Greely. Ezra was on his way to Dry Gulch to deliver some money to a family member when Cooley’s men came across him. They took him prisoner, thinking they could ransom him later. Ezra tells The Boys everything he knows, including the names of the men The Boys just killed: Vern Holtz and Noyes Briscoe. The well turned out gentleman was Vint Cooley, Colonel Bill Cooley’s son.

With Ezra joining them, Jack, Louis and Shady continue the trip to Tucson. When they arrive, they begin the process to formally draw up legal papers for the Townsend Mine (with the proper owner, Mattie Townsend).

The Boys head back to Dry Gulch. On the way, they come across a stagecoach being robbed. The Boys quickly dispatch the two highwaymen. (But not before Ezra tries to blend into the surrounding countryside by pretending to be a cactus.)

And from the stagecoach emerges Catherine Cooley, Colonel (retired) William Cooley’s daughter. She is grateful to The Boys for foiling the robbery.

Catherine is visiting her family from college. She attends the University of Louisiana (precursor to Telane) in New Orleans. Now that the stagecoach driver was killed in the attempted robbery, she needs a ride home. And asks The Boys to give them a ride to her parent’s ranch, which is not too far away.

The Boys are suspicious of this. With Shady, they quietly discuss their options. A plan is hatched. Shady, alone, drives the stagecoach to an area within sight of the ranch and then leaves Catherine to finish the trip. 

Jack and Louis head to Dry Gulch. There, they learn the sheriff of Liberty is investigating the train robbery. Mattie is pleased to see them. As is Billy Rise, who has been spending a lot of time with Mattie. While Mattie is grateful to hear the mine is now legally hers, she is missing seed money to begin the mine. The Boys end up buying a share of Mattie’s mine with $500. Using his legal expertise, Jack documents the transaction. 

Shady joins Jack and Louis at Hard Knocks after ensuring Catherine got home safely.

After a while, The Boys are approached by Wade Hardinger. He explains he’s the right hand man to William Cooley, a retired US army colonel and well-known landowner. Bill Cooley needs a shipment of mining supplies delivered to his brother, Wyatt Cooley, in Privilegio. Are the boys looking to earn a little extra money? Wade gives them $100 and says the other $100 will be paid by Wyatt upon receipt of the mining equipment. Wade offers to go with the men, but The Boys refuse. Wade takes them out to the supplies, already loaded up on a single crate in a buckboard wagon. The crate weighs about 300 pounds with a sturdy lock. And Wade is adamant the men are not to open it. Just get it to the center of town in Privilegio at noon in two day’s time. 

The Boys accept the bargain and ride out…

Here are highlghts of what happened in our last adventure…

Jack Kollrath and Louis Toadvine are drinking with Billy Rise the Medicine Man at the Hard Knocks Saloon (Dry Gulch, AZ). They learn that Glenn Townsend was murdered three days ago. Billy thinks the person behind the murder is Colonel William Cooley. Cooley found out that Glenn and Maddie have a sizable quantity of silver on their property.

Jack and Louis ride to the Townsend farmstead to learn more. They meet Mattie, who’s understandably saddened by events. The boys learn that Cooley approached Glenn awhile back to buy the farm. But Glenn and Mattie ultimately refused, wanting instead to mine the silver themselves. They just need money. Upon further investigation, Jack and Louis learn that Glenn had been poisoned. When found, he was pale, stiff as a board and had blue splotches on his face. Jack spies a small hole cut into the roof just above where Glenn was sleeping.

Jack and Louis leave, but then watch the farm for the night (fearing Cooley would come back to kill Mattie). But nothing happens. They go back into town the next day, sharing what they know with Sheriff Bill Meacham. Meet Doc Eugene Gordon, a drinker and the town surgeon, dentist and barber.

Billy Rise suggests that one way to bring justice to Cooley would be to liberate some money coming in to him via train.

Colonel Cooley gets a regular shipment of cash coming in via Atlantic & Pacific line (the Hollow Rock Route From Yucca to Sanders, AZ (West to East) with many stops in between, including Liberty, AZ. Liberty is between Billings and Navajo Springs). Money goes from Liberty to Dry Gulch via stagecoach as part of a wagon train traveling with US Army for additional protection.

After Kollrath, Louis, Meacham and a relatively sober Doc Gordon confirm Glenn had indeed been poisoned, Kollrath investigate a few leads. But don’t learn much. After some soul-searching, Jack and Louis decide it’s alright to relieve Cooley of his money. They catch the train at Carrizo and then make a plan to rob the train.

At the next stop, Billings, they buy equipment to separate the train cars. This plan takes advantage of Louis’s mechanical ability and Jack’s knowledge of trains. They send two other members of their gang, Shady McCoy and gun-for-hire Jobe Lackamp, to get horses. The plan is to separate the boxcar and caboose from the rest of the train. This is to be done about halfway between Billings and Liberty.

The boys make their way through the bar car, passenger car and viewing car. They get to the coupling between the viewing car and boxcar. Between the cars, the boys find the train to be loud, noisy and fast. As they begin uncoupling the train, Jack spies the back of someone walking down the top of the boxcar. Seems a robbery is already taking place!

Jack climbs the ladder and sees he and Louis are indeed not alone. They’re between two thieves. A gunfight ensues. Bullets whiz by Jack’s head as the train chugs along. Louis is successful in separating the cars. Forcing the thief on the top of the viewing car to make a desperate jump to the boxcar. He sprints and leaps…but fails. Landing close to Louis. He and Louis face off. While Jack has his hands full with a ladder, a pistol and the other thief.

As the boxcar and caboose begin falling away from the rest of the train, the four men fight. Louis shoots his man in the leg. But doesn’t prevent a grapple and then, surprisingly, Louis is thrown off the train. Jack and his thief exchange shots, Jack having the advantage as he shoots twice as fast as the thief. This thief is just as lucky as his associate, though, dealing grievous wounds to Jack. Ignoring these wounds, Jack shoots the man below him. 

Things become very touch and go for Jack and Louis.  Louis eventually gets back on the train. And with a final shot that finds its mark, kills the man on the platform, sending him off the train. Jack ends up killing his man, too, with a shot that blows a hole in the back of the other thief’s head. 

The two men heal themselves. From the top of the railcar, Jack opens the trapdoor (a railcar feature we see in all western movies) and parlays with the lone man guarding a large strongbox. Hearing the gunshots from above earlier, the man (Lloyd Watsbough) accepts Jack’s offer to step away from the strongbox in exchange for his life.

Jack and Louis are met by their friends Shady and Jobe. The money is loaded into saddlebags. And the gang determines their next step…