Chapter 8 - Having a Coffee with Running Fox
I headed back to the Twisted Tree to give myself a little break. I was getting to know a few of the townsfolk by then and had hoped to socialize a little. All the real company I had had in the last few days was Abe. I needed more.
I was in luck. Running Fox was sitting over at a table all by himself. I bought a pot of hot coffee and went over to sit down a spell with him. He seemed genuinely glad to see me. He had just come back to town after acting as a guide for two fishermen up from Kansas. He said he had another job tomorrow with the same two. They were paying him $3 each trip so he was quite proud of himself.
Ever since I arrived, I had wondered how the town got its name but I was too concerned with other matters to ask anyone. Now I finally had a chance and I asked Running Fox about it. He told me that many years ago, an Indian tribe had lived here before the white man came. The gods were angry with the tribe and sent an unknown illness to them. Twenty children died and there was heartache everywhere. He thought that happened somewhere around 1820 but nobody knew for sure.
I was told the white man only came six winters ago. An old prospector found some gold and then others came. They brought their families and some businesses followed. It didn’t take long before the town became one of the biggest settlements in Wyoming. The gold didn’t last long. Seems the old prospector hadn’t hit a mother-lode. But most of the people had stayed on as the soil was good for farming, the rivers and lakes were good for fishing and there was lots of timber. A large sawmill was built and it was able to employ many of the folk who didn’t turn to farming.
Running Fox had been living here for the last four years and was making a decent living as a fishing guide.
It was getting past four in the afternoon when I bade farewell to my Indian friend and went back to my office. Well, I mean to say the Sheriff’s office. He said things were pretty quiet and told me to call it a day. If he needed me, he would have somebody go and fetch me. So off I went to 12 Elm Street to relax for the night.